Woodworking Issues

This may sound simple and basic, but couldn't you load the information in excel or Access? Both programs make sorting and searching easy, but you do need to have someone type in all that data.

Yeah, we have that. I am trying to steer away from this. Its very labor intensive. Someone still has to look thru a vast number of line entries and that doesn't show the profile without making a hyperlink to it. Software looking at the profile telling us witch knives to use would be ideal. We are a custom architectural woodworking manufacturer of windows and doors and the profiles are constantly changing as per our clients demands. This is not going to be an easy fix.

Hi dougc,

Why not place UPC labels on the knives then use a scanner to identify them? That would be the same as pattern recognition and much simpler.

-John

There must be a machine vision system around that would do it. Have a look through Globalspec & give some of the suppliers a call.

Cognex may be able to help - I've used one of their low-end systems, but it only needed to distinguish 3 or 4 shapes.

I called them and they say it is somewhat possible! It would have to be p.c. based not camera based though, That would be fine because we draw our profiles in cad format any way. I am still open to other ideas but thank you.

It sounds like it is high time to catalogue the knives. It is an opportunity to categorize them as to characteristic features if possible and to put them into an Excel file along with links to the CAD drawings as suggested earlier. Time and manpower seem to be the hurdle to get over.

Visit one of the local collages (don't forget community collages) and see if they might have a student that could do it on a co-op basis. Sure it will take time, but it will have to be done sometime anyway and it's not getting done now. You would be contributing to that students education at a lower cost than a full time employee and if later you find that student is someone you would like on your team, he would already be trained and familiar with your business. If not, at the end of his schooling he would leave, no hard feelings.

If you had all of the profiles in the same cad file you might be able to sort using a mask based on size, min/max radius or some other feature. Once identified you could then call up the individual cad file. Not exactly efficient, but better than digging through drawers of patterns.

Hi, dougc!

I watch CSI on television, and they are always checking out fingerprints using matching points of recognition. How many points of recognition would it take that same program to match your blades to their identities? In the blink of an eye, the computer could scan the blade and boink boink boink boink identify it.

Or conversely, to match the identities to the blades, assuming you don't have one at hand to scan into the recognition file; (in which case the analogy would be instead of CSI looking for the fingerprint of Joe Blow,) you'd be looking for the knife prints/location of the International Harvester model 25G in the years 1908 -1948. Kinda thing.

All the best,

Mark