CINCINNATI CL-6 laser "good fit, good value" for fabrication of Wood-Mizer bandsaw mills

Laser operator Rick Lecher runs a new batch of parts. Job in foreground was converted from flame cutting, allowing tight nesting and common cut lines for material savings, while eliminating secondary machining and finishing operations.

Wood-Mizer has become a legend among woodworkers over the last quarter-century for its reinvention of the saw mill. It mounted a horizontal band saw on a patented traveling monorail in a compact, portable structure. This made one-person, on-site lumber milling possible and affordable for all kinds of woodworkers. The thin bandsaw blades take a narrower cut for 30% greater lumber yield than traditional circular blade mills, a major advantage in processing premium hardwoods.

Wood-Mizer sawmills have been sold in more than 100 countries. "Me too" competitors have come along, but none can match its selection of saw mills - from powerful hydraulic units for high-volume professional sawyers to manual mills for woodworking hobbyists. And, no competitor can match Wood-Mizer's precision and quality for the price.

The company keeps that edge by applying resourcefulness and cost-consciousness to its manufacturing operations. Laser cutting is a case-in-point. In 2000 the company Wood-Mizer made a search for a new metal-cutting laser for its New Point, Indiana plant. According to Jeff Heidlage, VP-New Point Operations, the company was looking for "good quality, good value, and good fit" to its material mix and processing needs.

After evaluating lasers from various makers, it selected a CL-6 laser cutting system from Cincinnati Incorporated with 5 x 10 ft. table, dual pallets, and 2000W cutting power.

Wood-Mizer saw bigger, faster and more powerful lasers, he says, but decided that the CL-6 best satisfied Wood-Mizer's operational and quality requirements, while providing excellent value for the price. Beyond those issues, Wood-Mizer found CINCINNATI "good to work with" in important ways, he notes.

Four years later, Heidlage has no regrets about the decision. "The CL-6 has been a great machine for us," he says. "It just runs and runs and runs. We turn it on Sunday night at 10, when third shift starts, and turn it off Friday night or sometime the next Saturday. It just runs 24 hours a day, five to six days a week, depending on if we need to run overtime."

One of the first parts converted to laser processing was a 20" diameter fan cover for the blade wheel on the band saws. Originally the part was cut by hand on a bandsaw. Wood-Mizer next got a turret press to nibble out the part, which then required edge finishing. "Everybody loved it when we switched to the laser, because they'd didn't have to cut or sand these parts any more," says Heidlage.

Wood-Mizer's invention of compact, portable saw mill made possible one-person, on-site lumber milling. The Indiana company stays close to customers and woodworking roots; running the mill in the photo is Wood-Mizer's president.

Wood-Mizer offers more than 80 different saw mill models. "There's a lot of commonality between certain models, but that's still a lot of variety for our manufacturing operations and production scheduling," stresses Heidlage.

The CNC laser allowed Wood-Mizer to redesign its parts for simpler fixturing and assembly, according to Heidlage. "You can do tabs and slots and just don't need an elaborate fixture to hold things together," he explains.

Besides its own production parts, the plant does some contract laser cutting for outside companies, Through the end of 2004 it also cut parts for a sister company, Las-Tec. Wood-Mizer's experience with the CL-6 led Las-Tec to order an identical CL-6 laser for its Indianapolis-area plant. "They make articulating lawnmowers for golf course and turf mowing and are expanding into the commercial market," says Heidlage. "They have a patented way of linking and articulating multiple rotary deck mowers so they follow the land contour and don't scalp the top of hills."

The transfer of work to Las-Tec is allowing Heidlage to move other in-plant work to the CL-6. "We've already taken 30 hours a week of work off other machines," he notes.

Heidlage has used the laser to do some creative problem solving. One outside customer had a 3/4" part that Wood-Mizer would flame cut, edge finish, then send to a machining center to make precision holes. When steel costs took a jump, 3/4" plate went up exponentially over all other sheet steel, he says. To try to trim costs, the customer wanted to make a design change to 5/8", but Wood-Mizer doesn't stock that thickness.

Wood-Mizer's solution was to laser cut two pieces - one out of 1/4", the other out of 3/8" - then weld them together. "Now we cut everything on the laser, eliminating edge finishing and hole machining," says Heidlage. "The cost per piece dropped by over 75 percent."

Heidlage turned to the laser for even greater savings when Wood-Mizer needed 27 additional trays for an automated parts storage system. The German manufacturer wanted thousands of dollars for the trays, he says. "I said, 'Forget it, we'll make our own.' We cut them on the laser, then bent them up. It cost us $280 total for all 27 trays."

Wood-Mizer likes to buy American where costs will permit, says Heidlage. He recounted his frustrations when shopping for the laser. An import laser company quoted a price $150,000 higher than CINCINNATI, but said it was negotiable. "I told them, just give me your best price, but they wouldn't commit. CINCINNATI said here's the price - and it was a good price. They're honest and up-front with you. We like doing business with people like that."