by Mike Nolan
President
Windbound Company
Peralta, New Mexico

Using a low-cost, PC-based CNC router to generate cutting paths has brought new possibilities to Windbound Company's work with Dupont Corian® solid surface and expanded business opportunities significantly. Now, in addition to cutting and installing Corian solid surface counter tops and back splashes using traditional methods, Windbound can bring customers' design ideas into its PC-controlled Corian solid surface cutting system to create custom inlays within the Corian surface. The ability to cut designs in Corian solid surface has also allowed the company to launch an entirely new product line, custom-made plaques. The company cuts designs such as corporate logos and text such as wedding announcements into the Corian solid surface plaques, creating unique gift items.

Windbound got started making Corian solid surface inlays when owners of some of the more expensive homes in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe area asked for counter tops and a full-height back splashes with inlaid designs. Typically, Windbound's work had been limited to cutting the raw material, adding the drop edges, and installation. To accommodate customers' requests for special designs, the company purchased a computer-controlled router that converts customers' designs into patterns cut into the Corian solid surface.

After a pattern is cut, a colored liquid resin material is poured into the groove and allowed to set. After it sets and is sanded, the result is a new solid surface. For designs with many colors, the process is similar to printing. The inlay area of one color is cut out and the resin is poured and allowed to set. After it is sanded, the inlay area of the second color is cut out and filled. This process is repeated until all the colors have cut and filled in. Windbound can create custom inlay colors to match a decorating scheme, and can get some nice special effects with color transitions.

The experience cutting inlay designs in counter tops and back splashes led Windbound into the new business of producing custom plaques in Corian solid surface. Most plaques consist of a thin metal, embossed plate attached to a wooden back. This is because most plaque makers use very light-weight machines that can not cut a material as solid as Corian. Windbound, however, can cut inlay designs directly into Corian solid surface, so a metal plate is not needed unless the customer requests it. Some customers have asked Windbound to cut a design in the Corian solid surface that forms a sort of "generic" plaque which is then customized for each recipient by a small metal plate with his or her name. Like the counter tops, the Corian solid surface plaques can have any image a customer desires. The inlay area can be filled in with colored resins to make a solid piece, or the area can be left cut out.

The key to this custom work is Windbound's ability to take any design, load it into the PC either via a disk, Internet, or scanner, and use it to drive the router. This is made possible by the use of a CNC router called the Techno Series III router from Techno-Isel, New Hyde Park, New York. Unlike other machines that cost between $50,000 and $80,000 and were too large for Windbound's needs, the Techno router cost less than $16,000. Designed for production routing and drilling on a wide variety of materials including wood, plastic, MDF, solid surfacing materials and nonferrous metals, the router also handles Corian solid surface.

The router cuts according to instructions from a CNC programming package called Mastercam from CNC Software, Tolland, Connecticut which is included in the system. Although originally designed for metalworking, Mastercam is ideally suited for jobs such as Corian solid surface inlays because of its ability to generate the most complex contours with little programming effort. Mastercam includes IGES, DXF and CADL converters so that geometry can be uploaded from many CAD systems. Windbound can also accept raster images by using a program called Cam-Link that converts from raster data to vector format that Mastercam requires.

With the Techno router, it takes about five to 20 minutes to cut a typical Corian solid surface plaque. Very complicated designs can take up to an hour. The beauty of the machine is that it can be set up to run unattended, so that it is cutting plaques while other work is being done. The router's working area is 49 inches by 41 inches and Z-axis height options range from 4.0 inches to 19 inches. Table technical specifications include a rapid travel rate of 200 inches per minute, a Z-axis cutting force of 200 lbs. maximum. The large table size enables the router to hold a number of individual Corian solid surface plaques, which can be cut one after the other. Or, one large piece may be used. In this situation, multiple inlay images are cut into the large piece, which is later cut into individual plaques. Either way, the machine's 0.0005 inch resolution and repeatability and 0.003 inch absolute accuracy ensure that all inlays in a multiple run are identical.

Windbound's price for a Corian solid surface plaque begins at about $15 for simpler designs. Since most competitors are charging about the same price for simpler plaques with metal plates and no relief, Corian solid surface plaques are an attractive alternative.

Since purchasing the Techno router, Windbound has found a variety of ways to keep it running, currently at about 70% capacity. In addition to the work with counter tops and plaques, Windbound also uses it for a line of furniture. The company produces coffee tables and end tables in southwest designs inlaid in Corian solid surface. Most of this work is done on an order basis, where Windbound matches a customer's design and carries it through into the furniture. The company has also made kitchen tables, dining room tables, and conference tables with inlaid company logos.

Currently, Windbound is exploring another avenue for the Techno router: gift items, such as crosses and inspirational sayings for the religious market, and plaques that say things like, "Welcome to Our House." In the next four to six months, the company intends to take the plunge into the on-line world, offering its services via the Internet. This will allow customers around the world to send their design ideas to Windbound electronically.