Thermwood Model 67

The Thermwood Model 67 is a heavy-duty 5-axis CNC router produced by Thermwood Corporation of Dale, Indiana — one of the oldest and most respected names in American CNC routing. The Model 67 is purpose-built for machining large molds, patterns, master models, and composite tooling in materials ranging from tooling board and machinable foam to fiberglass, carbon fiber laminates, and medium-density fiberboard. Its defining characteristic is the combination of a stiff, thermally stable gantry structure and a true 5-axis tilting and rotating spindle head that gives moldmakers and pattern shops the compound-surface machining capability once reserved for far more expensive machining centers.

The Model 67's gantry is fabricated from heavy-gauge steel plate welded and stress-relieved to minimize long-term thermal distortion. The axis drives use servo motors with precision ball screws on Y and Z axes and a rack-and-pinion drive on the extended X-axis, providing the rapid traverse speeds needed to keep cycle times competitive on large mold cavities. The 5-axis head features an A-axis tilt of ±90 degrees and a C-axis that rotates continuously, giving the cutter full access to undercuts, drafted walls, and compound radius surfaces without the part repositioning that adds time and datum error to conventional 3-axis mold machining.

Thermwood builds the Model 67 with its proprietary Q-Core CNC controller — a PC-based system developed entirely in-house that provides look-ahead buffering, smooth spline interpolation, and a user-interface designed specifically for router and mold-machining applications. The controller supports direct import of STEP and STL files for tool path verification and is compatible with post-processors from major CAM packages including Mastercam, SolidWorks CAM, and Siemens NX. Thermwood's American manufacturing and service infrastructure means lead times are typically shorter and field support more responsive than European or Asian competitors.

The Model 67 sees wide deployment in boat hull mold shops, automotive clay and foam pattern studios, architectural feature mold houses, and aerospace composite tooling fabricators. Its ability to machine foam, tooling block, and reinforced composite materials in a single platform — without tool changes between roughing and finishing heads — makes it a highly productive asset for shops managing diverse materials across multiple programs.