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130   Phone: 516-328-3970 www.technocnc.com CNC Articles Ironwood Designs, a manufacturer of wooden gun stocks, has increased production  200  to  300  percent  after replacing  a  manual  pantograph  with a  four-axis  Techno  CNC  router. Previously,  the  company  used  the pantograph  to  carve  out  inlets  and other areas in the gun stocks. It was a back-breaking process that was both slow  and  inaccurate.  The  four-axis CNC machine can carve the cutouts in about one-fifth the time it took to do them by hand. And since the machine can  automatically  reposition  a  part and  cut  all  sides  in  one  operation, it can run unattended. This lets one employee  to  do  the  work  of  two.  In addition  to  being  faster,  the  CNC is  much  more  accurate  than  hand carving,  giving  Ironwood  Designs a  reputation  for  quality  work.  “The Techno  machine  has  boosted  the volume of our business by letting us take on jobs we didn’t have time for, or couldn’t do accurately enough in the past,” says Matt Shuster, President of Ironwood Designs. Ironwood  Designs,  located  in San  Jose,  California,  designs  and manufactures  replacement  gun stocks.  The  company’s  products, made  of  high-quality  hardwoods, are  purchased  by  individual  gun owners,  gun  dealers,  and  fi rearms manufacturers  to  replace  the inexpensive  plastic  or  softwood stocks of many imported military guns such as the FN-FAL and the AK-47. Ironwood Designs sells a four-piece wooden  set  that  includes  the  butt stock, pistol grip, and an upper and lower hand guard. As one of the few companies making replacement gun stocks for these weapons, Ironwood Four-axis CNC Machine Boosts Gun Stock Production 200% to 300% Designs  has  a  thriving  business. The company’s previous production process had a bottleneck, however, that needed to be eliminated so they could grow. Keeping up with Business In  the  first  step  of  making  a  gun stock,  a  Zuckerman  copy  lathe  is used  to  automatically  carve  a  wood block  into  the  desired  3D  profile. A  Zuckerman  machine  is  the  gold standard in the industry for profi ling; it is the same machine that shapes the necks of Fender guitars. This part of the production process, which  was  handled  by  an  Ironwood Designs  employee,  needed  no improvement. The next step was the problem.  After  parts  are  cut  on  the Zuckerman machine, they need further cutting to carve out the inlets where the stock fi ts into the rifl e and areas where parts such as the swivel and the butt plate are later attached to the stock. After  running  the  parts  through  the copy lathe, which was located in the company’s  shop,  Shuster  took  them to his home workshop where he used a manual pantograph to make these additional  cuts.  The  pantograph  had four spindles so four parts were cut at once. One  problem  with  this  approach was the sheer physical labor involved. Shuster did this work himself. It took an average of 15 minutes to complete the  carving  process  for  four  butt stocks.  If  Shuster’s  hand  slipped, four  parts  were  damaged  at  once. He  estimates  that  he  had  a  loss  of between  10  and  15  percent  due  to carving error. A desire for a faster, more accurate carving process led Shuster to look at other options besides the pantograph. He had researched the technology and knew  that  a  CNC  machine  could  be programmed to automatically cut the shapes he was then cutting by hand. One option was to purchase a heavy and expensive CNC machining center primarily  designed  for  metalworking and  adapt  it  for  working  with  wood. He  had  heard  of  other  woodworking companies doing this, but the $125,000 to $250,000 price tag of these machines was prohibitive. At  a  woodworker’s  trade  show, Shuster  found  a  better  alternative, a  four-axis  CNC  router  machine from  Techno  Inc.,  New  Hyde  Park, New  York,  designed  for  production routing and drilling on a wide variety of  materials  including  wood,  plastic, MDF,  solid  surfacing  materials,  and nonferrous  metals.  This  machine’s complete  system  was  affordable;  it has two 5 HP Colombo spindles with dual rotary stations for high production, and can cut two identical parts at the same time. Shuster also appreciated its  robustness,  which  included  steel stress-relieved  bases  with  hardened steel  linear  ways,  ball  screws,  and One step of the process in creating a wooden gun stock.