Cabinet Problem!

[Terry Davis]

We got our router set up last week and the first big job is a dozen video cabinets for a local store chain. The photo I have attached shows the rear of the cabinet that has a recessed door that gets screwed into place after wiring is completed. The cabinet cuts out and goes together well but its the access hole and mating door thats giving us all the problems. To make the access hole I took the back into part editor and pocketed the hole area 3/8" deep then I constrained another rectangle into place and cut it the whole way through, the problem is when you send it to the router it wants to cut it out the same way, pocketing the whole 11 x 21 hole then cutting it through this takes a while plus its probably shortens the bit life. I also tried drawing a rectangle, going into profile editor then made a 2" straight bit and ran that 3/8" deep around the perimeter of the hole, that took 20 minutes to cut at the machine.
The cover for the hole doesn't want to work either because it has 1/2" radiused corners on it and when I try to profile the edge it says " This operation is not possible". Any help would be appreciated

[Glenn Van Reason]

I have had this problem from day one, there may be a way to get it doen and I'm pretty sure it is with the Thermwood machine not eCabs, it may pay to post your question there as well.

[Glenn Van Reason]

Doing a little playing I can't explain why it is taking so long with the rabbit profile round the hole.

Your other problem of the rounding of the corners can be done by increasing your radius, this means that you have to round the corners of your rectangle hole the same as the profile you get to work on your insert panel.

[Terry Davis]

Thanks for the reply Glenn, it seems that this type of rout is a problem, I talked to tech support and was taught a new way to draw it but it still pockets the entire area before cutting it out. I created the 2 parts as a DXF file and they worked great routing out as they should, an extra step but it is still better than making a jig like we did not so long ago!

[jerry johnson]

Terry, if your pocket starts from the center of the cut out, which it should, you can block stop after the bit enters the panel and scroll down in the program a ways and restart cutting. You will get a cut across the panel but if you restart at the right place it won't matter. This will take a bit of experimenting to find the right line of code to scroll to but it works and is a lot faster than pocket cutting the entire hole. Good luck!

[Jody Wilmes]

I know this won't take care of your problem completely, but if it is doing the pocketing first, you could set it to spiral outside-in with no cleanup amount. Once it pockets the rabbet area, block stop and arrow down to the next Z movement which should be a retract....press start. <Feedrate Override Knob is your friend> Just watch for blowout due to spiraling outside-in. This will affect any other pocketing you may have also!