Giant CNC Panel Processing Machine a Show Star

Standing 18 feet tall and weighing more than 40 tons, C.R. Onsrud’s machine was a standout on the IWF show floor.

“All of our machines are beefy,” said Rich Guerin, director of operations and controls for C.R. Onsrud. “But the High Rail dominated the floor of the recent International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta. Visiting manufacturers and everyone in our company came to see it. One guy said it is larger than his apartment.”

The 1,000-square-foot CNC machine stood 18 feet tall, had a 42-inch saw blade and was built to process TerraLam cross-laminated timber (CLT) for Onsrud’s customer Sterling Structural, a division of Sterling Site Access Solutions. “We use steel for every base, column, bridge and gantry to give customers the rigidity they need for high-speed and accuracy, said Guerin. “This machine captured attention.”

With the High Rail CNC machine, a cutting process which had taken several hours now takes minutes, the company said. While one spindle performs all the milling operations, the other does the sawing. The High Rail requires several skilled technicians two weeks to install, align and prepare for production and includes training the Sterling’s operator. The High Rail is built to order and engineered for a customer’s specific application, Onsrud said.

Said Michaela Harms, senior director of mass timber for Sterling Structural, “Our customers expect reliable and seamless installation of our CLT products, and with this modified, domestically-produced, 5-axis CNC, we can deliver even more buildings across the country.”

C.R. Onsrud, Inc., based in Troutman, NC, specializes in CNC machining centers and inverted routers along with a full line of tooling and accessories for CNC machinery. More information on the company is available on its website at https://cronsrud.com/.

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