Delcam’s ArtCAM makes intricate carving easy

Shanfari Trading & Furnishing Co (STFC) has found that intricate carvings can be made easily since the company acquired Delcam’s ArtCAM Pro software. Mr Sulemain, General Manager at STFC, believes that the decision to use ArtCAM Pro has paid rich dividends for his company. He has purchased two more routing machines during recent years, while he is full of praise for the support his company receives from Delcam’s Middle East office.

STFC is a part of the Shanfari Group of companies, one of the largest groups of its kind in the Sultanate of Oman and even the Middle East. It has undertaken woodworking projects for the Divan of the Royal Court and also for museums throughout Oman for the last twenty-five years. It has also provided its services for interior design and other turnkey projects to palaces, commercial properties, high-profile villas and hotels.

Mr. Sulemain recalled the events that led to the purchase of ArtCAM Pro back in 1999. “We had just purchased our first CNC router and needed some three-axis software capable enough to generate intricate 3D carvings and their respective toolpaths.” He had invited various software suppliers, including Delcam Middle East, to give a presentation on their products, focusing on how the software solution would be used to design the carvings and then to machine them. After watching the demonstration of the ArtCAM Pro software, Mr. Sulemain and the staff at STFC were convinced that it could solve all their existing issues concerning generation of the most intricate shapes, including the V-carving used for the palace doors.

Mr Hari, in charge of the CNC department, was particularly impressed with the ease of toolpath generation for intricate 3D carvings and the short learning curve. Within one week, his CNC operators had learnt how to generate the toolpaths for even the most complex carvings.

More recently, STFC has been using its ArtCAM Pro software to program the newly-acquired twin-table, four-spindle, Homag routing machine. With the Reichenbacher twin-table, four-spindle machine and a Fanuc-based, twin-spindle system, this takes the total number of machines at the company to three.

Delcam’s ArtCAM used for giant chandeliers

Delcam’s ArtCAM software enabled Adirondack Studios to complete successfully a project to produce five giant chandeliers for the Mohegan Sun Casino at Pocono Downs, Pennsylvania.

For over 30 years, Adirondack Studios, based in Argyle, New York, has helped to design and build themed environments for theatres, arenas, exhibit halls, ballrooms, parks, restaurants, casinos, amusement parks, supermarkets, museums, stadia and marinas. About a year ago, the company began using the ArtCAM artistic CADCAM software to program the CNC routers used to manufacture the majority of the company’s products.

"The software that we used in the past for CNC programming worked fine for routine jobs but many of the projects that we get involved in are far out of the ordinary,” said Bob Gregory, Senior Router Operator. "We spent too much time watching the clock while we were machining and ran into quite a few bugs. Also, the software developer was not as responsive as we wished when we called in for support.”

"We had heard that a number of our competitors were using ArtCAM with very good results so we decided to give it a try,” Mr. Gregory continued. "From the very beginning we felt that ArtCAM was a more finished product, more robust, with much higher performance. The tutorials make it very easy to take advantage of the many advanced features of the software. The support provided by Delcam has been superlative and they do listen to, and implement, user suggestions for improving the software.”

Adirondack Studios’ designers began the construction of the chandeliers by building a 3D model in AutoCAD. The file was imported into ArtCAM to generate the CNC program to machine a positive shape in low-density foam. This was used by a subcontractor to vacuum-form the plastic bowl segments. These were then painted to look like alabaster.

In a similar way, the casting department used ArtCAM to make a mould to cast the grouse models that would be used to decorate the chandeliers. A black-tinted silicone rubber was used to give the grouse the appearance of wrought iron.

The next step was to create a bird’s nest pattern and weave it around the circumference of the bowl. ArtCAM allowed the ways in which the strands crossed each other to be varied for a more natural appearance. "Birds do not use a CNC machine to build their nests so it took considerable effort to get the correct look,” Mr. Gregory said.

Mr. Gregory generated a CNC program to cut the bird’s nest negative shape into MDF. It took only fifteen minutes to create the program compared with at least four hours that would have been needed with the previous software. The mould was used to cast the bird’s nests from the same silicon rubber used for the grouse. Finally, the birds and the nests were glued to the bowl of each chandelier.

The finished chandeliers were then installed in the casino. They formed part of a $208-million renovation of the site, aimed at transforming it into the area’s leading entertainment complex.

Interview with Andrew Peerless

Just a couple days after the election celebrations in Chicago, I went downtown to meet with Andrew Peerless. Andrew greeted me on the 12th floor of a high rise near Grant Park, housing the School of the Art Institute’s Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture and Designed Objects. A former student of architecture at the University of Michigan and public relations professional of six years, he is currently a Masters candidate in Designed Objects and designer of the Herd table featured at the Deceptive Design exhibit.

After touring the school’s wood shop which housed a CNC router, laser cutter and fabber among other equipment, we sat down and discussed design - from process to paradigm.

IC: What was the most difficult obstacle in coming from your background in architecture and PR to coming for a degree in product design?

AP: Obviously there’s a relationship between architecture and product design, but I’m seeing a perhaps closer relationship between marketing and product design. In marketing you’re figuring out what people want to hear and how to get it to them which is not that different from giving people the products they want, products that are solutions to their problems.

IC: Is there a unifying theme in your work?

AP: I didn’t set out with a theme in mind, but I’ve noticed that a lot of what I’ve done has picked up elements of things generally considered mundane and tried to elevate them.

With my table for the Deceptive Design show- a cow is, at best, sort of a kitschy motif. You know, cookie jars and cows holding signs that say ‘home sweet home’. And to me it was really interesting to try to elevate that motif to something serious. People enjoy that piece because it’s something familiar, but the finish I think is what makes it a serious piece of furniture.

(The cow legs on Andrew’s table are actually sanded and lacquered wood; I thought they were ceramic!)

IC: How do you work through process; do you sketch, go to the computer or like to get to work with materials?

AP: My process has evolved. I started out sketching, but once I learned how to use 3D modeling programs I started jumping into that. Now, I’ve started to move into sketch modeling: taking analog materials to get massing right, proportional relationships, etc.

(above: production images of Contour Box)

IC: If money and materials were no issue, is there a dream project you would like to do?

AP: You know, not at this time. For me, there’s no ‘been there done that’. I believe anything can be elevated by design, so I would appreciate the challenge of any project that came along. There’s still a lot I would like to learn.

IC: What are some of the highlights of what you’re learning here at SAIC?

AP: I’m in a class now that teaches that just because you’re born into a system, doesn’t mean you have to follow that system. We talked about planned obsolescence today. It was a concept introduced to the consumer system post World War II, and it set the tone for everything that’s followed. It’s what we were born into and what we’re used to, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow. That paradigm has to shift, and it’s the designer’s role to do it.

(above: Drill Lamp)

IC: Speaking of the designer’s role, what are your plans after graduation?

AP: Well, I believe if you want to go out and change the world you should have a good basis first, so I would like to work for a product design consultancy and see where I can go from there.

 

For any companies looking for a talented designer with a diverse professional background, Andrew will be graduating in May. Visit his website or contact him at misterajp[at]gmail[dot]com.

 

Many thanks to Andrew for talking with me and showing me around the studio.

Double S Industries receives $99K grant

When a downturn in the economy reduced the number of jobs available for its clients, Double S Industries decided to create jobs of its own.

The non-profit organization, which provides employment assistance to adults with disabilities, is starting two new businesses after a $99,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

In the past, Double S found work for its clients through various businesses in Erie County. Economic changes within the manufacturing and assembly fields drastically affected those employment opportunities, assistant director Laura Nickles said

"A lot of the opportunities that were out there for our clients are no longer there," she said.

To keep employment opportunities flowing, business manager Charles Wright filed for a USDA grant so Double S could start its own business.

 

On June 5, Double S was awarded $99,000 for equipment and inventory to start its own "green" sign shop and a digital archiving management business. The businesses will employ more than 15 adults.

Nickles said Double S Industries Sign and Graphics is an in-house, self-supporting operation that uses computer technology to create "intricately" detailed, extremely durable signs for the general public, non-profit and for-profit organizations.

 

"The board used for the signs is made from 100-percent recycled plastic milk jugs," Wright said. "The estimated life expectancy of the signs is around 400 years."

"The shavings from the cut sign are sent back to be recycled again," Nickles said.

 

Wright said it was a "win-win-win" situation.

"We're providing employment for our clients, a service for local businesses and organizations, and we're recycling what we don't use," he said.

Wright said he worked with the software before writing the grant, so he was familiar with the application process and how the system worked.

Nickles said applying for the grant was a tedious job.

"They wanted to know everything in the application," she said. "We had to prove there was interest in the community and how many clients would be working, along with the basic outline of what we hoped to accomplish."

 

The last equipment for the sign shop was delivered Tuesday. Standing near shelves stacked with 4-by-8-foot multi-colored boards and the expansive CNC router table, Nickles, Wright and support specialist David Baum described how the new businesses will operate.

"We make a three-dimensional sign cut out of colored board through a router system," Baum said. "The computer software tells the router what we're trying to design, and it drills out the info and cuts in the details."

 

Most of the boards are layered with two colors. The computer tells the router how deep to drill, varying the color, size and shape of the images. Baum said the equipment can produce detail as small as the engraving on a piece of jewelry.

 

"The whole process is customer driven," Wright said. "We tell the computer what they want, and the computer tells the router what to do. Customers can send their own designs, or we can create them from this software."

Wright said there's at least four local businesses inquiring about the signs, which are weather- and fade-resistant, affordable, low-maintenance and professional in appearance.

Double S Industries Digital Archiving will offer an alternative to storing files in space-consuming file boxes.

"Our clients take the staples out, tape up tears and scan all the paperwork," Wright said. "It all can be stored on disks."

Wright said the digital shop equipment, which included two computers, scanners and software cost about $25,990. The installation, software and equipment for the sign shop totaled $73,000.

 

"We used all the grant funds to completely purchase what we needed," he said. "It's a great example of tax dollars at work. We want to be better stewards of our tax dollars and be self-supporting."

The shops are taking orders and should be running within the next week or two.

"The whole purpose is to give meaningful employment to MRDD adults," Baum said. "To provide gainful employment for them and an opportunity to make money so they can improve their life through the way they live and the quality of the things they have."

 

Interested in storing your files digitally or purchasing a new sign for your business/non-profit organization?

Call Double S Industries, 419-626-1048 for pricing and product availability.

CAD/CAM and CNC technology boost kitchen-maker’s productivity

M & M Kitchens of Queanbeyan says it has doubled its sales turnover in four years since fully embracing integrated CAD/CAM and CNC manufacturing processes.

The kitchen company installed Planit’s Cabnetware software ten years ago, enhancing its design processes.

According to the company, customers enjoy seeing how their kitchens will look, and Cabnetware’s computer generated drawings are easy to relate to. The drawings can also help clients refine their chosen design before beginning construction of the kitchen.

The company then decided to integrate its computer-aided designing with a CNC woodworking machine, using a Biesse Rover router and borer. The Cabnetware software controls the automated nesting process which cuts, routes and drills the kitchen parts quickly and accurately, minimising wasted material.

Engineered wholly and solely for the woodworking industry, Planit is a screen-to-machine software. It is integrated with the Planit CNC centre, providing a complete screen-to-machine solution which confirms all parts and part operations before sending data to the factory.

Chicago Router Works

Chicago Router Works started in 2001 when I bought a custom made CNC router from a small American company called ShopBot. The machine was one of the biggest they had ever made at twenty feet long and nearly six feet wide, with a cutting depth of twelve inches. CNC routers have been around for decades, but the rapid advance of their design programs means using their full potential quickly gets easier every day.

The first home for my new router was the scene shop at Lookingglass Theatre were I was Technical Director for three years. Here I was able to combine my knowlage of set construction and computer aided drafting to learn not only the basics, but also do a number of more complex jobs. These jobs included making 3D terrain models for an architectural model company, cutting hundreds of pieces for a curved seating system at NBC towers and making a giant forced perspective floor for the Lyric Opera.

After Lookingglass my router and I were hired by a large theatrical scene shop called Hawkeye Scenic. Here the router received its first major upgrade, a heavy duty steel table. At Hawkeye I ran the router day and night for three years. During this time, with the help of the wonderfully creative and talented people who worked for and with Hawkeye, I continued to hone and refine my skills.

A few years later Hawkeye closed. The router and I went back to the property where the Lookingglass shop had been. My stay at this location was to be short lived, as less than a year later the entire property was leveled to make way for a parking lot. Again I moved my operation , this time to the current home of Chicago Router Works.

Well, that's the story of me and my router, but the stories I'm really interested in are the stories of the things we have made together. That story is the one this blog is really meant to tell, so stay tuned...