Good Help Isn’t Always Hard to Find

“What, if anything, have you paid to have a CNC machine installed, or was installation included in the purchase price?”

That question was asked in a recent post on the Cabinet Makers Association’s discussion board, CMA Collaborate. The post also asked members if they paid for training, and if so, how much? And most insightfully, the poster asked if they needed training.

I’ve just been through the process of buying and installing a brand-new CNC and to be frank, there were a lot more questions than those.

My first surprise was discovering that there’s more to installing a new air compressor than I had imagined. I’ve had several compressors over the years, and their installation pretty much involved hooking up power and hoses. This new compressor has an integrated dryer, and the salesperson shared that “an onsite startup of your air compressor is included with your purchase. The startup consists of checking the power supply, inspecting the installation and equipment, setting the unit’s pressure band, testing… and training.”

When the technician arrived, I learned that he would be tuning the dryer to operate at the higher elevation here in Colorado. That was not a trivial process because he had to partially disassemble the unit to make the adjustment. Thankfully, he had instrumentation to verify that it was adjusted properly. In hindsight, I realize it was invaluable to have an experienced expert on hand to ensure the installation was completed as required. Had the compressor started up with some unusual noise, I might not have known that anything was wrong.

This is one of those cases where you don’t know what you don’t know, so it’s helpful to have an expert involved.

An industrial CNC router is many times more complex than a compressor. There are a multitude of things that might not be just right, including some oversight in manufacturing or perhaps the stress of transportation. Having an experienced technician involved in the initial startup is good insurance.

For example, the technician will know how flat is flat enough. Most CNC routers have four or more legs. When the CNC router is installed on a typical concrete shop floor, how should those legs be adjusted to conform to the floor and establish an exceedingly flat surface for the bed of the router? How would I know if it is flat enough? What if there is some small twist in the floor beneath the machine? Do I have the tools to measure that flatness or detect that twist? I certainly expect the bed of the router to be flatter than the concrete floor. This is the sort of task I expect the factory technician to handle as part of the installation.

Alongside the physical installation is the task of learning about the physics of the new machine. How much and what kind of training a new owner requires will depend a lot on whether this is the first CNC router in the shop. If it’s not, is it a new and unfamiliar model, or a clone of one that is already in production?

Training begins with the locations of the various controls, and how are they used.

Cutting a sample job on your machine in your shop as part of the installation, with a factory technician present, is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with the machine, and ensure things are working as expected. This is valuable with any new CNC, even for shops with plenty of experience.

So, what about shops that are installing their first CNC router?

There are several topics to cover, such as how to set up stock for cutting, and how to select the right tooling. These may or may not be included in training from a manufacturer, and if not, they’ll be on-the-job training. Learning from others in your industry via shop visits, online forums or classes, or picking the brains of tooling suppliers can be invaluable.

One of the CNC routers at the college has automatic tool changing, and that uses compressed air. The air supply at the school contains moisture, so dryers are installed in the line to remove that.

The factory installers impressed upon us that the first step every day that the machine will be used is to drain that filter. It always spits out a few tablespoons of water.

Maintenance of the machine is critical for keeping it operating reliably. Preventive maintenance will likely involve lubrication, cleaning and replacing filters, tightening electrical connections, and so forth. Training on how to manage the preventive maintenance is likely to have long-term benefits.

The largest training topic is going to be the software.

CAD/CAM software vendors usually offer training, and this may come in several forms. The vendor may offer in-person training at their facility, or they may offer that same training at your facility. They may also have training manuals and/or videos available online.

I’ve attended several classes at Stiles University (stilesmachinery.com) to learn how to use CNC routers that Stiles placed at the MiLL, a training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. I was also able to attend training at Legacy Woodworking for a CNC router purchased by our community college.

The in-person training was excellent and helpful, and it provided the opportunity to ask questions in real time.

As an educator I have benefitted from the generosity of woodworking industry associations, including the Architectural Woodworking Institute and CMA, that offer teacher memberships at a reduced fee. That has opened doors for me. n

Ted Bruning is a furniture maker and college instructor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

This article was originally published in the June 2023 issue.