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Precision wood machining centre uses 28-axis CNC system from NUM

When it comes to the highest level of precision in engineering wood construction, the name of Krüsi has been a mainstay over the past 50 years. Paired with a CNC controller from NUM, Krüsi Maschinenbau AG located in the beautiful Appenzell region now offers a CNC woodworking machine of superlative quality. The MC15 CNC wood machining center comes with up to 28 axes and a maximum of 6 machining heads, each of which can be fitted with 4 machine tools. Wooden bars with dimensions from 65 cm wide and 30 cm high, and with a variable length of up to 1200 cm and a weight of up to 1.5 tons can be machined easily and quickly from all sides.

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It would not have been possible to build visionary wooden structures such as Metz’ Center Pompidou in France, the Tamedia building in Zurich or the Nine Bridges golf club in South Korea without Krüsi CNC machines. Such structures consist of several hundreds of individual parts where it is rare occurrence that any one piece is like another. The precision systems from Krüsi process all wooden elements, regardless of how complex or delicate the construction is.

Krüsi Maschinenbau AG employs a workforce of about 20 and, like NUM, is an internationally operating Swiss company with its registered office in Schönengrund in the Appenzeller region – just a few kilometers away from NUM’s company headquarters. Apart from high-tech systems for free-form beams, the company’s range of products includes longitudinal circular saws, chalet construction machinery and trimming machines.

Top view of the CNC wood machining center of Krüsi Maschinenbau, equipped with a NUM CNC controller.
Top view of the CNC wood machining center of Krüsi Maschinenbau, equipped with a NUM CNC controller.

The initial cooperation between NUM AG and Krüsi Maschinenbau AG took place in the middle of the 80’s. At that time, the first fully automatic CNC-controlled trimming machine in the world was successfully brought to market. The new MC15 CNC wood machining center, redesigned from the ground up, has been developed jointly as the result of close cooperation between Krüsi and NUM. The highly modern CNC wood machining center enables workpieces of all kinds to be sawed, milled, planed, chamfered, beaded, drilled and grooved from all sides. The MC15 is suitable for all work pertaining to modern and conventional wood construction engineering, which demands stringent quality and precision.

A look into the core of the CNC-controlled wood machining machine with a view of the machining heads above and below the workpiece.
A look into the core of the CNC-controlled wood machining machine with a view of the machining heads above and below the workpiece.

The MC15 is modular in design, i.e. the number of machining heads and even the dimensions of the loading and unloading station can be adapted as required. The current MC15 is itself built on a gigantic scale in order to machine the aforementioned wooden bars at the maximum dimensions of 30 x 60 x 1200 cm. With a length of 28 m, a width of 3 m, and a height of 3 m above the ground and 1 m depth below the floor, the modern CNC wood machining center cannot be overlooked. In order to move the heavy wooden bars weighing up to 1.5 tons, the X-axis has four motors, two on each side of the rough beam. These are controlled independently. However, in most cases they are used synchronously. The 6 machining heads are each moved laterally on the Y-axis, each having its own motor. They are mounted on two portals, one above and one below the workpiece. The portals are positioned at the height of two Z axes with 2 motors each. The 6 machining heads, each of which is provided with a spindle, can be fitted with up to 4 tools per head.

NUM CNC controller operator unit with 19" touchscreens. 
NUM CNC controller operator unit with 19" touchscreens.
The routing of the workpiece through the wood machining center. 
The routing of the workpiece through the wood machining center.
In front of the Krüsi CNC wood machining center are (from right to left), Mr. Urs Iseli, CEO of Krüsi Maschinenbau AG, Mr. Kurt Plüss, NUM Sales and Mr. Konrad Näscher, application Engineer at NUM.
In front of the Krüsi CNC wood machining center are (from right to left), Mr. Urs Iseli, CEO of Krüsi Maschinenbau AG, Mr. Kurt Plüss, NUM Sales and Mr. Konrad Näscher, application Engineer at NUM.

The 28 axes are controlled with the help of a NUM Flexium+ CNC controller. Apart from the integrated safety controller, the CNC wood machining center has NUMDrive X drives to control the axes and SHX single cable motors to drive the axes, as well as an FS192LS touch-sensitive screen to control the machine. All these components come from NUM, since this is the only way that proper and precise start to finish machine operation can be ensured.

This newly designed CNC wood-machining center has already awakened the interest of a number of customers and orders for several machines have already been received. At the industrial Trade Fair for wood in Basel, Holz in 2016, the MC15 was showcased for the first time to a wide audience. A larger machine on which wider wooden bars can be machined is already in the planning phase. This is always done in order to give customers a competitive edge in an increasingly tough market.

(September 2017)