The Thermwood SuperControl is a feature rich, high performance CNC control system. Thermwood, the only major CNC router manufacturer that designs and builds its own CNC control, is a leader in implementing advanced control technology. As a result, Thermwood has been granted more patents on CNC router technology than all other CNC router manufactures in the world, combined.
This control is designed from its very core to operate a CNC router with efficiency and higher productivity. It is a fully multitasking control utilizing a 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i5 Processor. It features a high level of hardware integration, extensive use of reliable surface mount technology and a built in upgrade path for future technology.
Thermwood’s SuperControl currently incorporates more advanced control features than any other CNC control in the woodworking industry. As well as, trims formed parts or machine patterns or molds using full five-axis simultaneous motions within the thermoformed,composite and fiberglass applications.
And, because Thermwood controls all the technology, you have single source responsibility. Thermwood stands behind and supports the entire system and when new technology comes out it can easily be upgraded. The SuperControl is equipped with a 19” full color LCD flat screen monitor and 1 TB hard drive.
With the huge program storage capacity, programs can be stored and excuted with no delays. Complex CAD generated programs can be excuted at high speed without stopping.
The control uses a Microsoft® Windows® 10 Professional operating system, offering the operator choices for program and machine operation display, popup windows for event and information display, pop-up windows for data input, and the ability to operate the machine in the background while doing other tasks on the control. The SuperControl can also create programs directly at the machine with a newly designed Hand Held Programmer.
Operating a CNC machine in the real world involves more than just running a program. It requires a multitude of disciplines including, among others, tooling, maintenance, configuration, error handling, adjustment and support. First generation controls don’t do any of this so you must handle it all yourself. This requires a high level of skill and training plus a lot of downtime as you fumble with problems. Next generation controls have systems for quickly and easily handling all this, many times automatically in the background. First generation controls are less productive, requiring more effort, more time and more training generally resulting in more downtime, missed schedules and more frustration. All these problems in an effort to save a little money and yet the difference in cost is insignificant compared to the cost of a typical CNC router.
Actually, you can argue that Thermwood’s next generation control is lower cost than limited first generation controls. The lower cost comes from the fact that next generation controls perform functions internally that require separate software packages and additional steps for first generation controls. The additional software and less efficient functioning of the first generation approach are substantially higher cost than the advanced processors needed for next generation features.
When you move into more advanced applications, machining complex CAD generated surfaces or three-dimensional volumetric compensation of large envelope machines, no other control can match the QCore SuperControl. It easily executes multi-gigabyte programs that choke other controls, creating complex surfaces to unheard of accuracies. There are even higher level functions reserved for highly experienced programmers and research labs to handle the most sophisticated applications. Whether you are making simple cabinets or the most sophisticated scientific project, no CNC control will outperform Thermwood’s QCore SuperControl.