Why are CNC routers also called “a milling machines”? This is due to the fact that the material is machined with a mill – a cutting tool.
A horizontal CNC wood router has a horizontal flat table and a spindle. The material is placed on the table, and then the spindle makes movements in three axes: X, Y and Z. Thanks to the movement of the spindle, the main tool in which the cutter is placed moves.
To understand the construction of a horizontal CNC wood router machine we suggest to divide its components into five categories.
Construction
The structure includes the frame of the machine (frame) and the portal of the machine. The quality of the frame determines the service life of the machine.
Each frame on WATTSAN CNC wood routers machines is subjected to a long heat treatment (annealing) at about 600 degrees Celsius. Thus, micro stress is removed from the frame. The technology guarantees a long tool life.
The second part of the construct is the portal. All portals have internal stiffening ribs to withstand high loads. Additional stiffening ribs made of thick cast iron are inside the portal and have excessive rigidity. The same portal can be used in combination with one spindle, with two or with four.
When designing Wattsan CNC wood routers (especially the models intended for processing wood), we assume that the portal will have to work with four spindles. However, as a rule, it works with one. Thus, the portal has a phenomenal safety margin, which significantly extends the service life of the machine.
Kinematics
Kinematics of cnc router machine includes all parts of the machine involved in its movement. These are:
Stepper motors allow the machine to move along the axes X, Y, and Z.
Machine tooling
The main tool of the CNC wood router machine is the spindle. Depending on its power, it has a particular collet into which the cutter is mounted.
The collet is a part of the spindle that changes optionally, depending on what the cutter will be used for.
CNC
Numerical control can be compared to the brain of a CNC wood router. The CNC executes the commands coming from the controller and transfers them into progressive and rotary movements of the tool.
Working area of the machine
The working field is in the X-axis and Y-axis coordinate system.
The spindle arrives at the coordinates set by the control system. Coming to a given point, it has a certain rotation and feed rate. The operator sets these parameters using tool sensors or manually.
