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Yeti CNC

That's a cool rig indeed. :thumb: And I've not checked pricing on a lot of large table CNC machines, but at about $12,700 for the full Monty (including the Yeti Pilot speed/rate control software), that doesn't seem unreasonable for a busy cabinet shop.
 
I could definitely see it making sense for a bespoke custom builder. It wouldn't take that many built ins to basically pay for itself. I'm not sure how much value removing the shop round trip time adds - that would be pretty highly job/location dependent I think. It's a cool idea in either case.
 
Looks cool.

It is dog slow.

I suppose being portable is kinda cool. I would not want it for the intended purpose.

I know a few full pro cabinet makers on Vectric forum and they have machines that are seriously much faster.
My machine was a fraction of the cost - but that was 2015 - and is seriously faster but not as fast as some of the cabinet makers machines.

Is it really such a great idea to move a machine like that to a customers setting and to design and make cabinets on site?
The guys I know build the cabinets in their shop in machines far more capable and a lot faster.

I guess I am a wet noodle, but I don't see it.

It is cool !
 
Leo, I have a friend who's a full-time cabinet maker with a large (12' x 6', I think) CNC machine in his shop. I'm curious to get his take on the Yeti. It is indeed slow, but it seems it might be handy on jobs that are not near the shop when one or more pieces have to be cut to fit after the cabinets are partially installed, or if something was measured and cut incorrectly back at the shop. Not sure if it'd be $12K worth of handy, but I can see the potential uses. Definitely wouldn't be ideal for designing and cutting a full set of cabinets on the jobsite, though.
 
I would LOVE to know what your friend thinks of it. Either post his response or even email it to me if it's not postable. I absolutely LOVE manufacturing, and any associated processes or evaluation of processes. I can be absolutely wrong about my opinion and would love to hear from a pro cabinet maker what they think. That stuff makes me tick.

I spent my working life in the factory looking for ways to improve manufacturing efficiency. That is what I got paid to do. I loved what I did for work. The workplace politics is a completely different subject.

I have evaluated lots of different machines for many manufacturing purposes.

I also owned a Mr Handyman franchise for a few years. Gives me little insight to a contractors world.

Doesn't mean I really know a lot about a professional cabinet makers shop, but I do have a good idea on how I would want to set up a manufacturing process to produce cabinets somewhat efficiently.
 
On that machine compared to a resonably skilled finish carpenter or cabinet maker I would bet on the later.

I would go old school there.
You know me by now - I am a CNC guy.

Even in industrial manufacturing there are a lot of time I would go old school vs CNC

A couple of saw horses, portable contractors saw, SCMS, and held router 1 hp or so. Circular saw, jig saw. Stuff like that, with jigs and stuff.
I have had handyman techs in my franchise that would run circles around that machine, for onsight work of that sort.

I do NOT have that skill level.
 
Leo Voisine said:
I would LOVE to know what your friend thinks of it. Either post his response or even email it to me if it's not postable.
Click to expand...
I'll let you and the gang here know what he has to say. He's kind of old school...he's a good ol' boy who built cabinets for years the traditional way with a tablesaw and router, but got the CNC a few years ago and was amazed how much his production increased.
 
Leo Voisine said:
Thank you, I would love to hear his take on it.
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Here was his reply:
I’m not familiar with this machine, I use the same two softwares he is using, Mozaik and VCarve. Very good powerful software. I’d have to know how much the machine costs to say if it’s worth it. The plus with this machine would be that you’re able to cut 4x8 sheets, the bad part is it would take you a long time to get there. Where a CNC shines is cutting things that are hard or time consuming to cut by hand such as those corbels, letters, other curved parts. Cutting cabinet parts on one of these would make you want to go back to the tablesaw, because it would be faster.
Click to expand...
 
Leo Voisine said:
A couple of saw horses, portable contractors saw, SCMS, and held router 1 hp or so. Circular saw, jig saw. Stuff like that, with jigs and stuff.
Click to expand...
I built some cabinets *not entirely unlike* like that with my track saw and router on a track setup .. and that was basically it. It didn't take super long, maybe 3 or 4 hours total for two 7' tall by roughly 2' wide and I'm very much NOT a cabinet maker. I didn't need to use anything else other than clamps and a pin nailer to kind of make the glue up easier. I could see a jig saw if you had to do many inside cut outs. That was from rough 4x8 sheets. These were shop cabinets so they're not edge banded or face framed.. but I'm not sure this CNC setup would help much with either of those either (and maybe that's the big question is if you have to go back to the shop to do the face frames anyway.... IDK.. I guess there are portable edge banders so if you're doing frameless cabinets... perhaps..).

The main challenge was really still with measuring and marking accurately and I had to figure out some offsets for the router on a track because it's not really a "stock" offset (and I had to adjust the offset for material width which required a bit of figuring). I ended up 1 or 2 mm off on a couple pieces which was fine for purpose but wouldn't have been acceptable for a nicer cabinet. But that was mostly limitations in my skill level. The CNC rig would obviously remove some of that challenge, but adds some design overhead.. which I should probably invest in regardless.

I *was* working the whole time, so maybe if you can use the CNC to overlap and do work for you while you're doing other stuff... but I also kinda wonder about leaving something like that unattended. Seems like a potential train wreck.

If I was doing it all the time it would have been much faster and easier for sure.... I think a competent cabinet maker could probably have done everything in half the time. And there are some layout guides I'd probably invest in to make layout easier/more accurate.

So.. yeah IDK. A big CNC in a shop for doing cabinets I can see because it potentially removes a lot of human time & effort and you can arguably get some meaningful materials usage efficiency out of it. Price/performance vs something like this it's an interesting call. The prices I see for "cabinet maker" grade CNC machines are more in the $25-60k range so 2x-5x this rig (you can ofc do cheaper direct from china but that requires some know how that I'm not sure is universally expected). You also get a much more rigid and capable machine and at least some of them also give you 3 axis as well which opens up a lot of stair and custom molding options (to Vaughns friends point..).
 
"Cutting cabinet parts on one of these would make you want to go back to the tablesaw, because it would be faster."
---EGGZACTLY---

I am completely down on a cabinet shop with several - even - MANY cnc machines. I know I could set up efficient processes for a cabinet shop. Incoming material, point of use material storage, operations in an efficient workflow and so on. This is a shop for manufacturing cabinets, not a one man shop. A lower skill level operator can make the carcase parts. I can see a full blown shop with 3 4x8 CNC machines and 1 or 2 operators producung a flood of carcase parts. Those operators would also have other minor responsibilities. Then there is more workflow to be set up for face frames, assembly, finishing packaging and shipping.

Even in a one man shop a CNC machine is very useful. I am pretty sure Adrian on the Vectric forum used to be a one man cabinet shop, not sure what he does now. I know he has a Large ?PRSAlpha? Shopbot with a vacuum table. A one man shop "should" have a similar workflow to a production shop.

A decent CNC router in a cabinet shop just makes a lot of sense.
It is like having an added person to help do the work, and they don't get tired or take a break.

My machine is small and I don't have a vacuum table, wish I did. I use it to make cabinet carcases. I use it to make face frames. I am not really good at it but I can do it without CNC. I have absolutely no intention to be a cabinet shop. I don't really like making cabinets.

I don't know if you remember April Wilkerson but I know she has 3 4x8 CNC machines in her shop. By now maybe even more.

This is a START

PRSalpha ATC CNC | ShopBot Tools | Automate Your Bits

ShopBot's PRSalpha ATC CNC router offers the same reliable performance as our regular PRSalpha with the addition of the Automatic Tool Changer. Learn More!
www.shopbottools.com www.shopbottools.com
It will need a vacuum table plus maybe more.

BUT

I would go to my Chinese source and get a machine

QN1325C Ball Screw ATC Cnc Router MachineC - Cnc Router - Jinan Queen CNC Machinery Co.,Ltd

QN1325,Ball,Screw,ATC,Cnc,Rout
www.queencnc.com
My contact is Annie Shen - awesome to work with - great personality.
Seriously Heavy Duty machines
This is where my machine comes from.
 
Nice stuff in the pics - I like the silverware drawer. He does some really nice work.

The pic of the shopbot does not so it justice. They are actually very robust machines. When I was doing my research to buy a machine, I looked at a lot of options. If I was going to buy a machine it was going to be Cammaster. Shop bot was certainly an option. If I was going to build a machine it was going to be AVID pro level machine. When I looked into the Chinese machine and I know people that bought from Annie - it was a winner. I have bought 3 machines from Annie to date. I would love to upgrade to a tool changer machine - but - I would need a lot more money.
 
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