TFC #41: Part Labels For CNC Router

For those of you who have CNC machines or are considering investing in one, this article is all about utilizing part labels with your CNC router.

I remember our discussion about buying our first CNC at a shop I worked at a few years back.

We couldn’t imagine why we would ever need to do part labels in our shop. I think in our minds, we imagined a huge factory floor with parts going in all different directions on conveyor belts.

Writing the cabinet number on the edge of the part with a Sharpie at the time seemed like a perfectly reasonable option.

The Benefits of Part Labels

The first reason is the biggest reason to use part labels. This alone makes it a no-brainer in my mind.

Easier to communicate changes to shop

Using part labels dramatically decreases the need to make detailed shop drawings for every little detail.

CNC-cut parts with holes and dadoes in the right place speak for themselves, and then if you add a part label on top of that, now you have parts going through the shop that can be easily interpreted just by looking at the part and the label.

Think about the part-specific information you could avoid calling out or printing out if your parts had labels.

• which edges get edgebanded

• what kind of edgebanding (color, thickness)

• the finish color of this part

• custom part notes added in your manufacturing software

• secondary machine barcodes/program names (another CNC, drill and dowel machine, etc)

Easier to mix parts from different jobs

Some shops are forced to run one job at a time regardless of the size because they can’t afford to risk getting the parts mixed up.

Regardless whether you want to mix jobs together, its very handy to have job name, room name, part name, and all the other details on each individual part.

Easier to do remakes

If a part gets damaged, its easy to see exactly what part it is and what size it is supposed to be.

It can be quickly re-created in the shop or it can be communicated to the CNC operator to re-run “the left finished end on cabinet #5 on the Smith job.”

I would recommend part labels for any shop using a CNC. There isn’t a shop small enough that wouldn’t see the benefit of it.

The Cost of Part Labels

There are three main costs associated with using part labels in your shop.

The software

For Cabinet Vision users, this is xLabel/Label-it. You will need to add this to your license in order to be able to print labels as the parts come of the CNC.

Some people get confused by this because they think you can do it with assembly sheets or a custom report. You can absolutely make any label you want in report center but the pros to using xLabel is you get the nice touch screen interface and you only print the parts as they are cut.

If you were using the report center to make your labels, you would have to print the whole job and then sort through it…. which would be a disaster, by the way.

With Mozaik, it's a similar process; just buy the label package they offer, and you are good to go.

The label printer

Most people buy a label printer that is able to print one label at a time rather than using the Avery full page labels.

Typical label printer brands are Dymo and Zebra.

I used to be a big Dymo guy because they were so simple, and they just worked.

BUT, you do not want to buy a new Dymo. The Dymo 550 or Dymo 5xl are a joke because they force you to use their labels. They use RFID inside of the label rolls to make sure it is there labels, and unfortunately there is no workaround for it, because there is a counter built into the RFID.

Yes I attempted to trick it by sitting an official Dymo label roll beside it….. it did work for a few labels though.

But honestly, I could write a whole article on the Dymo downfall. What a poor business decision to make people buy more labels. You should see all the public forums with angry customers.

My advice, just get a Zebra unless you can find the Dymo 450 or the Dymo 4XL for a decent price.

Its up to you which Zebra printer you get. Some people prefer the cheapest option, and others like to get industrial-built printers that offer more features. They both work fine. You might deal with dust and shorter life on some of the cheaper models but I wouldn’t be too scared of them if you’re just getting started.

The labels

This is the most important part of the decision.

Whether you buy a $200 or a $1,000 printer, make sure you buy a printer that you know you can find affordable labels for.

Try to find a generic label company that offers a removable adhesive and good bulk buys.

I typically try to be under $0.01 per label as a reference point.

With official labels, it is not uncommon for them to be $0.07 - $0.10, which makes a pretty big difference if you are printing lots of labels.

There will be lots of sizes to choose from. I typically like something at least 2” tall to make so you can see the part graphic.

Common sizes are 3×4 or 2×4 or something in that area.

Thanks for reading and have a happy thanksgiving!
Myron