Large Custom Oval: CNC Routering 5/8″ MDF

CNC routers can do small intricate work but they excell in the big stuff, such as this large custom oval using 5/8″ MDF that I had to fabricate in two parts for shipping reasons.

Having multiple CNC platforms really helps a lot when it comes to providing the best results for our customers, though technically I could cut 5/8″ MDF using my laser, it isn’t the best tool for the job, and the router does short work of it far more efficiently.

The sheet you see in the above photo is 4 ft x 8 ft, you can see there is plenty of realestate for larger sheets at CNCROi.com when it comes to custom fabricating items of this nature.

Nesting the oval optimally also means I wasted very little material fabricating this large custom oval, it was both wide and narrow.

When it comes to shapes, just about any size can be CNC routered, the major advantage of the router is the two-way feedback system that exists with the depth (height) of the router head, it means that I can define how deep I pass throught the material, this also means that there aren’t any real limitations when it comes to the height of what I can cut into my machine, as long as it’s under 9 inches.

CNCROi.com also does a lot of MDF carving… big and small.

For this simple large custom oval, the router made a smoother curve than would ever be possible using manual or power tools, the precision that a CNC machine has is just unparalleled!

Whenver I do projects that take-up a good portion of a sheet, I’ve started to get into the habbit of getting my CNC router to also cut out little squares and rectangles, the reason being, they are actually quite useful as a way to block-off the table vacuum system on projects or to double test certain programming parameters without having to waste material as otherwise, they’d probably just be chopped-up and burned in the fire pit.

Although the Thermwood 5 ft x 10 ft machine I currently have is capable of incredible work, it does a lot of this type of simple work, many companies need a dependable company that can get jobs done, big and small, in a timeline manner and that’s where CNCROi.com excells.

MDF also makes for wonderful indoor signage as it paints very well.

For this large custom oval project, I used a compression bit, basically, a bit that does both upcut and downcut at the same time, thus you see a lot of dust building-up in the hole produced by the bit as this produces a cleaner edge top and bottom of the shape.

When it comes to cutting out things accurately, CNCROi.com‘s CNC router can do this not only in MDF but also plastics and soft metals, such as aluminium – we have other CNC platforms for metals and other materials of course.

As this large custom oval is being cut, realize there is 9 000 lbs moving around here, yet, it looks almost weightless… each one of the 5 ft square tables could easily push a car, this is how strong and resilient this industrial CNC router is.

I also use MDF to make custom furniture and storage elements around my own house and others.

There is a lot more to just pressing a button when it comes to routering, when you see the router dance about, that’s the result of a lot of other work behind the scenes to tell said router to move as I tell it, this is both a good thing and a bad thing, as if I screw anything up, the router will also screw things up.

CNCROi.com has years of experience carving, forming and gluing-up MDF of various thicknesses and sizes, it’s a very flexible material to work with in a whole host of applications.

When I first got this industrial CNC router, I was wondering what I’d do with 19 tools, it was 15 more than my last industrial CNC router, but now I’m taking-on project where I think 19 won’t be enough!

Properly built, MDF is also a very strong structural element, it’s why you’ll fine it in just about every house, often used for cabinetry with a thin wood or formical veneer.

This large custom oval is just about done being CNC routered, the edges are all clean and sharp 90 degrees from the dead-flat spoilboard underneath and head above… love working with absolute precision across X, Y and Z axis!

Although this project is a large custom oval the shape could have been anything, any size (can be easily glued together), shape or material.

MDF is also used for custom molds of all types by CNCROi.com customers.

Here’s what the large custom oval looks like once completed, MDF is very easy to glue together and although this was made into two sepearate elements, the fit is absolutely perfect!

Need custom CNC router work? Contact CNCROi.com right now!