Custom Cutting MDF On a CNC Router

CNC Router

The industry of interior design is growing with a high pace day by day. Thus, demands for better and new designs for increasing the aesthetics of the houses are becoming more and more. There are different factors which are essential for satisfying customers need in having beautiful livable facility. These factors include bedrooms, living rooms, kitchen etc. which can have effect on the human’s visual consciousness. However, these subjects cannot be singly effective. This means they need extra flavor and additional design in order to intensify the elegancy of a home. The characteristics of interior doors which are utilized for separating portions from each other, kitchen cabinet doors and other furniture are considered as the most important elements of the internal design.

Nowadays, wood and its substances products are very popular and widely used in giving the house a new breath. MDF is one of the materials which is extremely applicable for different interior projects. However, there are other products which can serve the cause with having the highest quality such as slab doors, flat panels and raised panels. These materials are mainly used for both kitchen cabinets and interior doors.

There are many types of furnishing products which can help the home builder to have more functionality and organizing system for equipment and cloths. These products are often made of wooden materials and include custom wall units, custom closets, custom kitchen cabinets etc. As it is obvious, having custom products is an essential factor for renovating a room or a house. MDF materials are perfect for producing this type of products due to their unique specifications. However, there are different methods for processing these materials. One on the methods which is very popular among the carpenters is using CNC routing machine for having custom cutting.

Steps of Custom cutting MDF on a CNC Router

Every manufacturing procedure which should be done on a specific material, requires knowledge and standards in order to have the best result with highest functionality. Most of the procedure in industry follow some predefined steps for producing a design or product. Followings are important steps to know before starting the custom cutting process.

Knowing and learning MDF material

First of all, the word MDF stands for Medium Density Fiberboard which is material with high affordability and versatility abilities. This material is an engineered wood product which can trump other materials in some cases due to its easy working specification. This substance does not have any knots, grains or warping and its smooth and flat surface allow the carpenter to cut it easily and quickly.

MDF is made of saw dust, shavings and other pieces of extra wood which are being dehydrated and then mixed with wax and resin in order to be formed as a board. These materials turn into compressed rigid boards with a hard shell after being under intense pressure and high heat. They have silky and smooth finish due to the last stage of manufacturing which is sanding these panels with giant machines.

MDF boards are generally darker brown and have the thickness of ½ inch or ¾ inch. If a board is marked or stamped with a blue or red marking, then it is considered as a fire resistant material. A green marker refers to moisture resistant characteristic.

There are many advantages which the fiber board brings with it. Working with these materials is as same as working with a natural wood. In fact, it is much easier to use CNC router on the MDF for custom cuttings and creating unique furniture. They are perfect material for small projects and applications such as bookcases and kitchen cabinets.

Having Information About The CNC Router Machine

CNC is short statement of Computer Numerical Control which is defined as a machine which has been incorporated into variety of manufacturing system and technologies. One of the most popular machines which is widely used in industry is the CNC router. It is a system which is very similar to handheld router which is utilized for cutting different materials. Greatest things about this machine is its accuracy, waste reduction, high pace and productivity.

CNC routers are extremely large in comparison to other cutting systems thus they can take a noticeable amount of space. However, many woodworkers prefer to use them for creating custom products. This machine works with numbers which are generated from the geographic coordinate of the placed MDF under the router which requires cutting and customizing. The CNC welding and cutting can create more accurate circles and squares in comparison to laser cut and it works for both 2D and 3D applications. These machines are also superior to other cutting systems when it comes to pocketing a material for a specific project.

Learning and Understanding Feed Rate, RPM and Chip Load

After knowing the basics of MDF material and the CNC routing machine, it is time to introduce the other important step which is understanding feed rate, RPM and chip load. The feed rate or cutting speed refers to the speed difference between the surface of the MDF which is being formed and the cutting tool. RPM is used for defining number of turns in period of on minute. Chip load is used to define the size of the produced chips during the cutting procedure. The goal is to reach the maximum load in order to increase productivity and reduce MDF and cutter heat and in addition prevent dulling. Typically, 18000 RPM is enough to have efficient cut of the material but the feed rate must be adjusted depending on the thickness of the product. Feed rate has a range of 7 to 11 m/min.

Top 4 MDF Cutting Softwares

MDF Cutting Softwares

In the world of carpentry, there are many tools that make the job easier. In the field of working with MDF and derivatives, it is imperative to observe the details and principles because both in terms of raw materials that are to be used, you will save, and you will have a beautiful and elegant final product that will be delivered jointly. To do the basics of working with MDF, you can get help from software, which has already been installed, and many software have been installed. In this article, we try to review MDF cutting softwares.

CutMaster 2D Pro

CutMaster is one of the most efficient MDF precision cutting software and shows the best MDF cutting modes.

This software is straightforward to work with and allows you to get the exact sizes of MDF quickly. For example, give the required value to CutMaster and then enter the dimensions we want to extract from MDF; now, with a short click, CutMaster shows us the best cutting modes.

It also provides other accurate statistics, and you can see different cutting MDF methods in the report section. No loss and no need for complicated calculations are one of the most critical features of this software.

CutMaster 2D software, due to importing information from drawing software such as CAD, CAM, has made it easy to import and use it in the software by designing in the main space such as AutoCAD.

CutMaster 2D Pro software uses various machines, including CNC, to allow users to cut accurately, ultimately, and optimally.

CutMaster 2D Pro Software Capabilities:

  • Accessible to use and environment
  • Very high accuracy in measurements
  • Provides several different modes in MDF cutting
  • Cost savings chart 
  • Save with all formats
  • Output in XML and DXF
  • Import XML and Excel files
  • Measured in feet, inches, meters
  • Possibility to adjust the thickness of the cutting blade
  • Preview patterns and reports of cutting
  • Rearrange before cutting manually

SmartCut pro

SmartCUT software is one of the software in the CutMaster family, but there are some differences between the two software; one of the leading and distinctive features of the Cut Master is that it allows you to select the cut’s priority. This means that in practice, you can choose the sizes in terms of length and width.

Selecting the automatic option will give the best cutting layout, simplifying the cutting and having the highest efficiency. Select the fast calculation option to finish with the least number of cuts.

Receive adjustable colour output that reduces cutting errors and dramatically increases the accuracy of the work.

Working with this software is simple and has no extraordinary complexity. With the help of this software, you can easily create your cutting designs.

SmartCut Pro Software Capabilities:

  • It has a unit of measurement of inches and feet
  • Easy import of panels via keyboard
  • Quick cut calculation in less than 10 seconds
  • Accurately calculate the panel size for the given parts list
  • Ribbon calculation
  • Design preview
  • Ability to save the design in various formats
  • Adjustable cutting blade

Sketch Cut pro (Fast Cutting)

The point to be considered in use is that this software automatically calculates the cutting of rectangular flat sheets with minimal waste.

This software is designed to cut materials such as chipboard, MDF, Plywood, HDF glass, plastic, and wood.

It is one of the most beneficial software for designing three-dimensional structures. It can be used to create wooden systems, decorations, cabinets, tables, and chairs.

Sketch Cut Pro Software Capabilities:

  • Select and change cutting parameters such as sheet size, blade thickness.
  • Ability to receive order information, materials, order date, order delivery time.
  • Automatic cutting of sheets according to selected parameters.
  • It has two different algorithms used to calculate and optimize the design and select the best cutting method.
  • Can do the automatic calculation for cutting length area, edge strip length.
  • You can download the results in a PDF file for printing.
  • Metric and Imperial unit systems with a simple conversion

CutList Plus fx

The fastest time can calculate the number of raw materials for the project and their price and cost accurately. Select the desired parts and then proceed to advanced cutting.

Increasing waste can sometimes lead to damage to a workshop or factory. To prevent the increase of such destruction, the powerful cutting software CutList Plus fx allows you to make more accurate cuts.

This software helps you significantly reduce losses in your products by determining the cutting lines more accurately.

CutList Plus fx Software Capabilities:

  • Rapid production of precision cutting sheets
  • Save time in producing cutting lines
  • Ability to use a variety of materials
  • Use metric units
  • Produce less waste
  • Report the number of materials used for each project
  • Adjustable on the international SI system
  • Compatible with various versions of the popular Microsoft Windows operating system