On Sat, 30 Sep 2006 08:35:23 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
Tom Gardner wrote:
I need the best, cheapest way to cut a 1-1/2" wide by 3/64" deep slot
across a KD Beech block that is 2-1/4" wide. I need to do at least
2,000/day. I already do this but I won't say how as not to influence you.
We are trying to come up with a better, faster cheaper way.



3/64" deep? I'm curious, why do you need to cut this (I hesitate to
use the word) "slot" anyway?

If I had to do 2000 of these a day, I believe I'd take this old 4"
jointer I have but seldom use, and and grind an old set of knives to
give the 1.5" width. Cut the blocks to length afterwards.

--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland - lwasserm(@)charm(.)net


The blocks are 7" long and I buy them. I can't make them cheap enough
anymore so I farmed it out to an Amish company, they do a great job! I only
have to do 600-800/day but I can't dedicate 8 man-hours to it, only 3-4.

See: http://www.smithrestaurantsupply.com...cfm/4,2134.htm this shows
the parts and how they fit.

A dado stack or molding cutterhead would do the job quickly. Even if
the stack isn't wide enough, it'd be pretty easy to bolt a sacrifical
fence to the miter gauge (or make a crosscut sled) with two blocks
screwed to it as stops at 6.25" from the center line on each side
(assuming a 3/4" dado stack) Run the first cut with the block tight to
one side, then slide the block over to the other side and finish it
off. Simple, cheap, and quick- and you're not going to burn out a
table saw every few months.

If the cut is rough from the dado stack, but needs to be smooth,
easiest bet might be to use the above method, then clean the groove
with a 1.5" sanding belt. Easy to make a jig for that, too- just get
a standard industrial deburring sander and put a couple of blocks on a
mount behind the belt to make sure the depth remains consistant, and a
couple of stops on either side to ensure that the corners don't get
knocked off when aligning the pieces. Same deal as above works here,
too- if it's cheaper or easier to get 1" belts, get them and make the
side stops a little oversized to allow the operator to slide the piece
back and forth. Probably a good idea to make the sanding jig out of
steel- it costs a little more, but will hold up a lot better to
industrial-type use.

Should be able to make 800-900 pieces really quickly that way, unless
your employees are masters at wasting time. Nice thing about what
you're doing there is that you can just make a single jig for each
step and lock it in- no excuses for boneheads to mess up a whole order
of them.

As far as the repetitive motion goes, I don't think you're going to
avoid that entirely unless you make a robot to do it. Which isn't a
terrible idea either- a guy could do that mechanically for a couple of
grand, and then set it to run and walk away. There, the router is
probably the best bet, but you could get a heavy-duty motor and just
mount a collet to it- no need to go out and buy a router with any
bells and whistles if you are just going to mount it in a carriage.

Of course, if these are a real pain the butt for you and you'd like to
outsource,