Laguna speeds up raised panel production

Laguna Tools has added a cabinet door machine, the Raised Panel Master, to its Industrial Series machinery line. The machine, which the company says can make a raised panel door within two minutes, features three cutters on the same spindle to separately produce the stiles, rails and raised panels.

“The cutters are on a completely normal shaper spindle, tied down with a nut,” says Torben Helshoj, president of Laguna Tools. “When the pneumatically-controlled cutterhead is raised to its maximum height, the turret can be rotated to engage the appropriate cutterhead. The turret, which is controlled by a knob on the outside of the machine, has three settings: one for the cope, one for the stick and one for the raised panel.”

The machine, with the aid of templates, can also produce raised panels with arches. A bearing on the machine follows the template, operating in a similar fashion to a duplicating lathe.

“The template I use has four different settings [for] four different arch widths,” Helshoj says. “The height is the same, but the width of the arch changes on these four. To change to a different template, there is a lock knob that you loosen and then you can lower the bearing to whatever template you want to follow.

“Everything is based from the center. Your arch is in the middle, so you can’t go off to one side. Also, the [hold-down] beam has two pistons, one on either side. You need to have the pressure in the middle. You always want to work from the middle of the machine. There are probably other uses for this machine, but obviously it is a cabinet-door-making machine.”

The three-phase 10-hp machine has a 1-1/4" diameter spindle that is 5" high. The compressed air requirement is 90 psi and the machine is capable of cutting arches as wide as 24".

A two-axis sliding table rides on linear bearings in all directions and includes a pneumatic hold-down clamp for quick setup. The pneumatic EZ fence quickly positions stock for the next cut.

“What really is the selling feature here is in two minutes you can build a door that can compete with any of the manufactured doors out there. You can put your own profiles out and, of course, you don’t have any scheduling to deal with because you have the capability within your own doors.”

The Raised Panel Master, model MDM2050-0148, is priced at $15,000.

Contact: Laguna Tools, 17101 Murphy Ave., Irvine, CA 92614. Tel: 800-234-1976. www.lagunatools.com

This article originally appeared in the July 2009 issue.