Does Millwork 360 Have a CNC Machine?

• 1
  Does a Millwork Shop Have a CNC Machine at All?
• 2
  How CNC Routing and Metal Machining Differ
• 3
  Where the Tolerance Line Sits for Metal Parts
• 4
  Matching Part Geometry, Volume and Setup Count
• 5
  How to Verify a Shop Before You Send a Drawing
• 6
  Which Machine Class Fits Your Part

When someone asks whether a millwork company has a CNC machine, they usually mean something narrower: can this shop cut my part to a drawing, repeatedly, without a human eyeballing every edge? The answer depends on what the shop cuts. Millwork covers doors, frames, mouldings, stair parts, panels and casework. Most of that work is wood, MDF, plywood or composite, and it is cut on a CNC router, not on a metal machining center.

A CNC router and a CNC machining center share the same idea: a controller moves a spindle along programmed paths. The difference is stiffness and spindle speed. A router spins a 6–18 mm cutter at 12,000–24,000 rpm and feeds it through soft material fast. A machining center turns a 6–20 mm end mill at 3,000–12,000 rpm and takes lighter passes in metal. Put a metal part on a router and the tool pushes off; put a wood panel on a machining center and you waste spindle speed you already paid for.

So the honest answer to does Millwork 360 have a CNC machine is: yes, a millwork operation almost always has CNC equipment, but it is routing equipment sized for sheet goods and solid timber. That matters to you only if your part is wood. If your part is aluminium, stainless, titanium or engineering plastic with a tolerance callout of ±0.05 mm or tighter, a router is the wrong machine and the shop will either subcontract or decline.

One more distinction. Some millwork shops run nested-based routers that cut whole sheets of cabinets in one program. Others run a small 3-axis router for one-off architraves. Both are CNC. Neither is a substitute for a machining center when the drawing calls for metal.

The engineering difference between routing and machining comes down to stiffness and thermal behavior. Wood and composites cut with low cutting forces, so a light gantry can move fast over a 2,440 × 1,220 mm sheet without deflection becoming a problem. Metal cutting generates far higher forces. A machining center uses a cast iron or polymer-concrete base, linear guides and a short, rigid spindle to hold ±0.005 mm across a batch.

Tooling follows the same split. Router cutters have two or three flutes and large chip clearance so sawdust clears the kerf. Metal end mills run four to six flutes with tight tolerances on runout, because a 0.01 mm runout on a 6 mm cutter shows up directly in the wall finish. This is why you cannot simply slow a router down and cut steel on it.

Heat is the second boundary. Aluminium conducts heat into the tool and the part, so coolant or high-pressure air keeps dimensions stable. Wood does not conduct heat well, so the cutter edge burns if the feed is too slow and the rpm too high. A shop that mostly cuts MDF has its speeds and feeds tuned for MDF. That tuning is not transferable.

Workholding rounds out the picture. Routers hold sheets with vacuum tables, which suits flat panels. Machining centers use vises, fixtures, chucks and tombstones, which suit prismatic parts that need five faces cut in one setup. If your part is a flat panel with pockets and holes, a router is efficient. If it is a bracket with holes on four sides, you want a machining center and a rotary table.

Tolerance is the fastest way to decide whether a shop's CNC machine fits your part. General millwork runs on ±0.5 mm to ±1 mm, because wood moves with humidity and nobody measures a door frame to a tenth. Sheet metal and general machining commonly hold ±0.1 mm. Tight work such as mating bores, bearing seats and valve bodies can reach ±0.005 mm.

That last number is not a marketing claim; it is a process capability. Holding ±0.005 mm requires a temperature-stable room, a machine with linear scales, sharp tooling changed on a schedule, and inspection with a CMM or optical comparator. A shop that quotes ±0.005 mm without a metrology room will struggle to repeat it across 500 parts.

Surface finish travels with tolerance. Ra 1.6–3.2 μm is a normal as-machined finish. Ra 0.8–1.6 μm needs a finishing pass with a smaller stepover or a wiper insert. Ra 0.2–0.8 μm usually means grinding or a dedicated fine-finishing operation. If your drawing calls for Ra 0.4 μm on an aluminium face, plan the operation sequence before you plan the price.

Ask for the inspection method, not just the number. A first article report with measured values tells you more than a certificate. If the shop cannot say which instrument measured the bore, the tolerance on the drawing is a guess.

The number of setups drives cost more than the machine brand. A part that can be cut from one side needs one setup. Add a hole on the back face and you either flip the part, which introduces a second datum and a stacking error, or you move to a 4-axis machine. Parts with features on five faces are the classic case for simultaneous 5-axis work, where the table tilts and rotates so the tool reaches the feature without re-fixturing.

Volume changes the answer again. One prototype is usually best served by 3-axis milling plus hand finishing, because programming time dominates. At 100 parts, a fixture pays for itself. At 10,000 parts, you should compare machining against die casting, and the crossover depends on wall thickness, draft and the finish you need on as-cast surfaces.

Size sets a hard limit. A 4,000 mm travel handles long extrusions and frame rails. A 500 × 500 × 450 mm envelope covers most brackets, housings and manifolds. If your part is a 3,000 mm beam with bores on four sides, only a handful of shops can hold it, and the setup plan is the first thing to discuss.

For a millwork-style flat panel, none of this applies. The panel has one face, a vacuum table holds it, and the router cuts it in minutes. The geometry, not the brand, decides which machine class you need.

Verification is straightforward and takes one call. Ask what machines are on the floor, what sizes they travel, and which one your part would run on. A shop that answers with a machine list and a setup sketch is telling you it has done this before. A shop that answers with adjectives has not.

Ask for the quality system behind the work. ISO 9001:2015 covers general quality management. IATF 16949:2016 adds automotive production requirements such as traceability and change control. ISO 13485:2016 applies to medical devices. ISO 27001:2022 covers information security, which matters if your drawings are confidential.

Then ask about inspection. A shop that inspects 100% of parts before shipment, checks incoming material and monitors in process will catch a drifting dimension before the batch is finished. Reports on request should be the default, not a favour.

Finally, ask who owns the risk on a tight tolerance. The right answer names the machining strategy, the fixturing and the measuring instrument. Anything else is a promise without a plan.