Thread: Help with half rounds

I started reading this & was thinking "Router & roundover bit, line 'em up in a row, zssst, flip, zsst, done". Then I got to the volumes required!

Three thousand in 8 hours is one every 9.6 seconds, unless my calculator has had a brain-fade. This is heavy-duty poduction machine work, & light-years out of my league! Over to the pros.......

Cheers,

I think I saw this being done once - on Discovery Science Channel "How It's Made" show - they used an industrial-robot-fed-spindle-moulder of sorts..... several tens of thousands or more worth I'm sure.....
I think they were making wooden broom heads.....

You have only given two dimentions. If it is thin it could be done with a router and patteren cut. If it is long ,a spindle and auto feed. Also grain direction would help.

I agree with the previous Posts,

With the qty's and the time frame , this will require an automated production system.

Jeff
vk4

can't you make a jig for a table saw. something that clamps at 40mm from the end of the timber and pivots. Then spin it past table saw. Turn it around and then turn it again. If the jig is right you could turn each end in less tahn 10 seconds. Its like a circle cutter on the bandsaw but you can't drill the pivot, so a sled that has the pivot, piece on top to sit on pivot that hold wood secure with a toggle clamp. Just depends how smooth and clean you want the cut.
I'm sure the jig makers know what I mean.

I'll try again, A mitre box structure with a hole 40mm from the end. This sits on a sled with a pin 40mm from blade.
Then put wood into mitre box thing and clamp down with toggle clamp. Move sled to table saw blade (all the way up) and spin the mitre box to cut the end with a 40mm radius.
Then swap wood around to do other end.

This should work for thin material. Not going to work on 25mm thick timber.

Big tongue depressors, for a big mouth?

Depending on thickness, you might manage the quantities with a press and forme cutter, a la cardboard box making. Would probably work neatly to about 6mm thickness, and work beyond that but with a rougher finish to the cut. Throughput should be about on expectation if set up to do both ends simultaneously, or run two presses and formes if you need to do the ends individually. Either way would cost $$$ in machinery and tooling even with cheapish secondhand presses.

Originally Posted by _fly_

I'll try again, A mitre box structure with a hole 40mm from the end. This sits on a sled with a pin 40mm from blade.
Then put wood into mitre box thing and clamp down with toggle clamp. Move sled to table saw blade (all the way up) and spin the mitre box to cut the end with a 40mm radius.
Then swap wood around to do other end.
This should work for thin material. Not going to work on 25mm thick timber.

I really don't think that will work, and actually think it quite dangerous to try and pivot a workpiece into a table saw blade..... sorry....

I have to agree with ASTRODOG, a TABLE SAW is designed to cut STRAIGHT LINES a curve d piece would either be kicked off or jam the blade , not advised.

A spindle moulder with an auto feed and 1 feeding and 1 tailing out could work , but I think you will need at least 4 machines and 8 operators as a minimum.

Jeff
vk4

Don't want to do it on a table saw, do it on a bandsaw, there's no issues there.

A spindle moulder ( shaper) wth a sliding table and moving spindle would do the job you would need to make a template for the machine and have suitable cutters made, this way you would load the machine with many peices at a time (10-12), other wise you could replace the table with a purpose conveyer belt system, all depends on how many dollars you want to spend

Whichever way, the quantity is a lot of product per day, and as already said, would likely be a sybstantial capital investment.

What is the thickness?

If 5mm or so, stack 15-20 (or more) in a jig/fixture to pivot on the table of a bandsaw. At about 1 minute per cut, or two minutes including setup, 8 hours could produce more than 2000.

20 x 5mm = 100mm (even a small bandsaw)
8hrs x 60 = 480 minutes; /2 = 240 cycles.
240 x 20 = 4800; /2 ends = 2400 pieces.

Make the jig/fixture double-ended. Use three jigs; one operator loads, second operator cuts; third operator unloads.

Cheers,
Joe

Saw a response in another forum. This is a commercial venture. The pieces of wood are broom heads.

The OP seems to have left the building in any case....