Which format cutting machine to choose. Review of the best models for furniture makers

Device, principle of operation

In order to cut the sheet blank into parts of future furniture products, they are placed on the movable table of the machine. It is located on the left side of the structure. The cutting size of the sheets is fixed with an adjustable stop, after which the saw unit is started. When its cutting disk reaches maximum speed, the movable table with the workpiece begins to move forward.

There are three main settings you can set on the machine:

• position of the sheet blank;

• cutting angle;

• depth of cut.

Format cutting machines consist of five main units:

1. Beds are the foundations of a structure. More massive beds better absorb equipment vibration during operation, which affects the accuracy of cut dimensions.
2. Saw unit . The module consists of two saw blades: slotting and pre-sawing. They ensure cutting of sheet blanks without chipping or uneven edges. Most machine models have a saw angle from 0 to 45°.
3. Work tables : fixed and movable. The first one houses the saw unit. The second serves to feed the sheet blank for cutting.
4. Carriages – the mechanism guiding the movement of the left table.
5. Stops and rulers . They are on the tables. With their help, sheet blanks are placed in the desired position.

How to prevent chipping from chipboard

A material such as laminated chipboard has the harmful property of leaving chips on the ends after cutting.
The only way to avoid such trouble is to increase the rotation speed of the saw or slowly feed the saw onto the material. However, not all so simple. Chipboard sheets consist of pressed sawdust and a laminating layer. The laminating layer is a thin but very durable material, and the pressed sawdust is a thick and soft layer. Using a powerful motor, the soft sawdust is cut like butter, causing the hard laminate to simply chip off. The solution is to use 2 saws at different rotation speeds or cut slowly.

Everything is clear with the speed at which the saw feeds onto the material, but using two saws is worth understanding. It is worth noting that here you will need drawings of format cutting machines. To achieve the desired result, the laminate cutting disc is placed so that it cuts no more than 2 mm, and the rotation speed is achieved by reducing the disc or using a more powerful motor.

Cutting part

To cut the base layer, a large disk with a cutting depth of up to 40 mm is used. It is worth noting that this version of the sawing mechanism allows you to achieve a cutting speed of 1 m in 10 seconds.

Types of equipment and features

Format cutting machines are professional equipment.

Based on performance, they are divided into three main groups:

1. Lungs . The simplest designs with no additional functions. Designed for continuous operation for no more than 5 hours. Designed to equip furniture workshops and small-scale production.
2. Average _ The most common type of machine. Designed for continuous operation for 8-10 hours. Designed for small- and medium-scale production.
3. Heavy . Multifunctional equipment capable of working without interruption for 16-20 hours. Designed for large-scale production.

Expert opinion

Kokovin Dmitry Vasilievich

Furniture restorer

According to the type of design, machines are: vertical, horizontal and CNC. Vertical models use working space most efficiently. Compared to other equipment, they are smaller in size, can work with large-sized material, and maintain high cutting accuracy.

Cutting quality of laminated chipboard

Supporting Information.

Machines for cutting sheet materials

TO

category:

Woodworking machinery

Machines for cutting sheet materials

Next: Mixed cutting machines

Machine design. For trimming furniture panels on four sides and cutting sheet materials, TsTZF-1 and TsTZF-2 machines are used.

Slabs measuring 1850X3750 mm are opened on a program-controlled TsTMF machine, and format processing of panel parts is performed on TsF2 machines.

The three-saw format-edging machine TsTZF-1 consists of a welded frame with two rail guides mounted on frame posts.

A carriage with the material to be cut is installed on the guides. On the side of the machine there is a control panel, a hydraulic station and a hydraulic drive. Two longitudinal supports with saws and a transverse support with a saw for cross-cutting are mounted on the traverse.

Calipers allow you to lower or raise saws using handwheels, depending on the diameter of the saws and the thickness of the bundle of slabs being cut. Longitudinal supports on the traverse are set to a given width of the parts being cut manually using a handle through a chain drive.

The cross-cut caliper is fed along the traverse from a hydraulic motor through a system of pulleys by a cable.

Rice.

Carriage

A device that drives a movable table. The carriage is the key element of the machine. The cutting accuracy depends on its type and quality (approximately 0.1 mm per 1 m of cut). Moreover, once tuned, the carriage should remain accurate for more than one year!

There are two types of carriages of format-cutting machines:

- roller; - ball.

Which is better? The manufacturers themselves will not tell you exactly, since each type has its own advantages.

Roller carriages provide greater accuracy and can withstand heavy loads, so they are suitable for heavy, hard-working machines, but they are also more expensive. Ball carriages are less durable, but cheaper and more suitable for small production.

The material of the carriage is also important; it is usually a durable and lightweight aluminum alloy. There are “budget” roller carriages, where the rollers are not entirely metal, but partly made of plastic. The service life of such a carriage is lower. Although, if used correctly, the carriage will last over the warranty period of 5-6 years.

What parameters to pay attention to when choosing a machine:

• - type and length of the carriage: the accuracy of the cut and the durability of the equipment depend on the first, the length of the cut depends on the second, that is, the maximum size of the part that you can cut - usually 3200 mm;
• — saw diameter: the height of the cut, that is, the maximum thickness of the workpiece, depends on it;
• — engine power, on which productivity depends, and the installed power of the machine, that is, the sum of the powers of the main and scoring saws.

Additional useful options for panel saws:

— the presence of a protective aspiration system - the machine is equipped with a device that, like a vacuum cleaner, catches and sucks out sawdust during operation. This option is very important for your health, since breathing the smallest sawdust is hardly beneficial!

— the presence of pneumatic clamping of the saw is also important for work safety. The workpiece is securely fixed, thanks to which, firstly, your fingers will not get under the saw; secondly, the cutting accuracy will increase

Modern models of furniture machines have many more different options, but the ones listed are quite sufficient for successful work in a small production.

The best panel saws

Filato FL-3200B

Country of origin: Italy. The model is designed for longitudinal, transverse and angular cutting. It cuts sheet blanks of varying texture densities equally well. The metal frame of the machine is welded from rectangular pipes. It has increased strength and is resistant to deformation.

To dampen equipment vibration during operation, the body of the Filato FL-3200B is reinforced with steel sheets having a thickness of 3-4 mm. The cylindrical type guides are also made of steel. An aluminum carriage moves along them. The machine control buttons are located in the electronic unit, located in a convenient place for access.

Characteristics:

• overall dimensions – 3300x3100x900 mm;
• weight – 1050 kg;

• maximum cutting height – 110 mm.

Advantages:

• the presence of an electronic display and an emergency stop button for the machine;
• reliability;
• durability;
• ease of maintenance and operation.

Flaws:

• high price;
• Difficulties in setting up the carriage.

Bosch GTS 10 XC

Country of origin: China. The model is equipped with a braking function, has a starting current limiter and an overload lock. Designed for small furniture production. The work table has retractable elements that allow you to cut large sheets of material of varying densities.

The design has a well-thought-out slab feeding system, which ensures accuracy and ease of cutting the material. Reliability of sheet fixation is ensured by a parallel stop. The maximum tilt angle is 47 degrees. The machine can produce clean and even longitudinal and transverse cuts. The machine can cut plastic and aluminum profiles.

Characteristics:

• overall dimensions – 635x343x768 mm;
• maximum cutting depth – 79 mm;

• weight – 35 kg.

Advantages:

• smooth start;
• structural strength;
• reliability in operation;
• capacious corner stop;
• the presence of a dust collector and an adapter for connecting a vacuum cleaner;
• ease of setup and maintenance.

Flaws:

• the possibility of backlash;
• high price.

Holzmann TS 315VF-2000

Country of origin: Austria. The model is considered the best professional machine in its class. Designed for longitudinal and cross cutting of slabs. The design of the machine allows you to cut complex configurations from sheets. It features fast, accurate and neat cutting of material.

The machine is intended for equipping furniture and carpentry shops. Can cut chipboard, MDF, fiberboard, plywood, acrylic, composite and other materials. The aluminum carriage has high adjustment accuracy. The stops and marking rulers are made of the same material. The work table is made of vibration-damping cast iron. The body has a welded structure.

Characteristics:

• overall dimensions – 910x741x104 mm;
• maximum cutting depth – 100 mm;

• weight – 263 kg.

Advantages:

• increased security;
• effective cleaning of the working area from dust and chips;
• fine adjustment;
• high quality cut.

Flaws:

• high price;
• Can only saw small slabs.

ZENITECH FR 1800

The country of development is Switzerland, the manufacturer is China. The model is designed for longitudinal, transverse and angular cuts. The machine is professional equipment. Equipped with a powerful three-phase motor. Provides high cutting accuracy. Can cut wood-based materials of various densities, as well as plastic and composite materials.

The desktop has a sliding structure made of cast iron. The frame is made of the same material. Despite the powerful engine, the machine is quiet in operation. The carriage is made of aluminum. The air cooling system prevents equipment from overheating during operation.

Characteristics:

• overall dimensions – 936x756x1040 mm;
• maximum cutting depth – 100 mm;

• weight – 300 kg.

Advantages:

• high power;
• cutting accuracy;
• high quality cut.

Flaws:

• high price;
• You can only cut one slab.

FDB Maschinen MJ 61232Z-B

Country of origin: China. The model is equipped with a powerful three-phase electric motor. Belongs to the group of heavy professional machines. It has a cast iron frame, which dampens even slight vibration during equipment operation. The desktop is made of the same material. Aluminum carriage. The machine can cut large slabs.

Characteristics:

• overall dimensions – 3250x3150x900 mm;
• maximum cutting depth – 80 mm;

• weight – 790 kg.

Advantages:

• high-quality cutting;
• high performance;
• ease of adjustment and maintenance.

Flaws:

• insufficient thickness of the carriage;
• large mass;
• high price.

FAQ

What is the best way to lubricate the moving elements of the carriage for a consistently smooth ride?

It is extremely rare and mainly for equipment with ball carriage systems that the manufacturer recommends a special lubricant that does not collect dust and sawdust. “Veretyonka” and “Industrial” cannot be used as a worthy alternative, because the dust on them accumulates to a thick consistency.

The only solution is to disassemble the carriage and physically remove all debris. It is strictly forbidden to lubricate the system with “WD” type aerosols. Because this is the main reason why the sealing rubber inserts come off. In the vast majority of cases, the units of format-cutting machines do not require lubrication. Simply blow them off with a stream of compressed air.

Is it possible to customize the format yourself?

Yes, if it is a manual machine. Moreover, for most budget models, monitoring of the accuracy of settings should be carried out constantly. Because of this, independent adjustment may be required quite often (up to daily correction). And each call to a specialist significantly increases the payback period of the machine.

In fact, this process is not the most difficult. Even a novice operator who has no experience in carrying out such work can handle it. To speed up the process and correctly perform the adjustment procedure, it is necessary to determine in advance the position of all adjustment points and prepare a suitable tool. More details about the principles, devices and simplest methods of fine adjustment of mechanical systems are described in the video:

Setting up the operation of electronic units should be entrusted to a service technician with the necessary diagnostic equipment.

Which saws are suitable for the format saw?

Particular care should be taken when using refurbished saw blades (usually sold together with used machines). Overheated, with broken geometry; sharpened without the use of high-precision, highly specialized equipment - all this is a potential threat to the quality of cutting.

New discs are selected in accordance with the specified dimensions (outer Ø, seat Ø) and the characteristics of the material being processed. There are many nuances, each of them is necessarily reflected in the catalogs of equipment manufacturers. Based on the general principles of correspondence between the characteristics of the teeth and the properties of the materials being processed, general rules are formulated:

1. teeth with a positive slope of the working edge are better suited for processing solid wood than others;
2. with a negative slope - suitable for laminated particle boards and aluminum;
3. The more teeth on the disk, the cleaner the cut of hard materials.

What to look for when choosing a “no name” or used machine?

Difficult to eliminate, and therefore not acceptable: backlash in the carriage, violations of the integrity and geometry of the working surfaces.

The package should not be ignored. An unpleasant surprise here will be that for discontinued models, not to mention additional equipment, even original elements from the basic set will be difficult to find.

It’s good if, when comparing the expected load and the machine’s passport data, the reserve potential becomes obvious (high power, wide range of disk revolutions, etc.).

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What to look for when buying a panel saw

The choice of equipment for furniture production depends on the volume of production. It must have sufficient productivity to provide its material.

Other factors determining the choice include:

• length and depth of cutting of the material;

• desktop size.

To cut long workpieces, it is necessary to purchase machines with a carriage stroke that exceeds the planned cutting dimensions. The maximum cutting width of parts is limited by the width of the bed. To work with large-sized material, it is necessary to purchase equipment with a folding frame. Only standard equipment can ensure dimensional accuracy.

What type of bed does your panel saw have?

FoldingMonolithic

For corner cuts, it is necessary to install format-cutting machines with two saw blades in production. High performance can be achieved by models equipped with powerful electric motors. This type of equipment has a large working resource. The evenness of the material cut depends on the rotation speed of the working shaft with sawing discs.

Other factors influencing the choice of machine model include:

• financial opportunities;
• dimensions;

• maintainability.

Before purchasing equipment, it is better to first determine its required technical characteristics, and then conduct a comparative analysis of models of the required class.

How to prevent chipping from chipboard

A material such as laminated chipboard has the harmful property of leaving chips on the ends after cutting. The only way to avoid such trouble is to increase the rotation speed of the saw or slowly feed the saw onto the material. However, not all so simple. Chipboard sheets consist of pressed sawdust and a laminating layer. The laminating layer is a thin but very durable material, and the pressed sawdust is a thick and soft layer.

Using a powerful motor, the soft sawdust is cut like butter, causing the hard laminate to simply chip off. The solution is to use 2 saws with different rotation speeds or cut slowly.

Everything is clear with the speed at which the saw feeds onto the material, but using two saws is worth understanding. It is worth noting that here you will need drawings of format cutting machines. To achieve the desired result, the laminate cutting disc is placed so that it cuts no more than 2 mm, and the rotation speed is achieved by reducing the disc or using a more powerful motor.

To cut the base layer, a large disk with a cutting depth of up to 40 mm is used. It is worth noting that this version of the sawing mechanism allows you to achieve a cutting speed of 1 m in 10 seconds.

Lifehacks

In order to avoid chipping when cutting chipboard or laminated board, you must first draw a cutting line on the material with a sharp tool. Damage to the decorative layer of the slabs can be minimized by applying paper tape to the surface of the material along the cutting line.

You can reduce the number of chips on the cut edge of material sawed on light machines by reducing the vibration of the equipment during operation. To do this, work tables are additionally attached to the floor using metal corners and dowels.

Format cutting equipment ensures high accuracy of material cutting, which is fundamentally important for furniture production. With their help, angular, transverse and longitudinal cuts are made of particle boards of various densities, as well as solid wood.

Security measures

You can start working on the machine after studying the machine equipment, operating rules and safety precautions.
It is necessary to keep the workplace clean. While the machine is operating, you must not lean on the equipment, perform cleaning, or be between operating components. It is forbidden to work on faulty equipment, therefore, if a problem is detected, the machine must be turned off immediately. You cannot start work if there is no grounding, and you need to stand on a dielectric mat. Electrical equipment must be tested for insulation strength. While the machine is running, you must not:

• transfer items;
• tighten screws, bolts, nuts and other parts;
• replace machine parts and options;
• process workpieces that exceed the technical specifications of the installation;

When working, do not wear loose clothing to prevent it from getting caught in moving parts of the equipment; shoes must have non-slip soles. To reduce noise exposure, use industrial headphones, to prevent eye injury, use safety glasses, and to protect the respiratory tract, use a respirator. It is recommended to cover your hair with a hat.

How to make a formatbook with your own hands

Assembling a table with a movable carriage will be expensive and time consuming. The picture shows a diagram of a formatting machine.

The easiest way is to install a stationary saw unit on a massive table. Stages of assembling the sawing device:

1. A massive table covered with smooth sheet material is installed.
2. A circular saw is placed underneath on a hinged suspension. It is necessary that the working part of the cutter can move upward through the slot in the tabletop.
3. Duralumin profiles are used as guide strips. A series of holes are made in the tabletop for installing workpiece clamps.