Jahabow uses CAD and CAM to Make Products No One Has Ever Seen

As a manufacturer of retail display cases, Jahabow’s ability to make products that function well and look phenomenal is vital. Thanks to its CAD/CAM software, which enables advanced design and machining techniques, Jahabow can serve customers that no one else can.

QUICK FACTS


Product Used:

Mill


Industry:

Woodworking, Custom Job Shop

PROJECT DETAILS


Jahabow, LLC, has seen massive growth since it was founded in 1973 as a family-owned business. Now a national leader in manufacturing commercial grade retail display cases, Jahabow serves companies such as Walmart, Kay Jewelers, and Academy Sports. How are they able to service such a diverse group of retailers? The company can custom design and manufacture precisely what the customer needs and deliver it on time.

“Customers nowadays want something appealing to the eye, something that can draw a person into their store. To do that, it requires a lot of intense design work on our end,” said Design Engineer Manager Bryan Westhoff.

He recalled a recent project that a customer presented to him for one crucial reason—no other manufacturer had ever done it before, and they knew Jahabow could.

“One of the last ones we did here lately was a huge wall covered in rubber cork of different colors and shapes. A lot of CNC work was involved in figuring out how to build it in such a way that everything married up well and looked seamless,” recalled Westhoff.

The wall, which was covered in bizarre shapes of all different radii, was too large to machine as one part but still had to look like one complete piece. The wall is 6-foot-high x 32-feet long, was built in nine sections, and had to be assembled in-store to be used as a pegboard to hold shoes. Through trial and error, it took the engineering team a couple of weeks to figure out how to machine it. Their saving grace was their software, Mastercam 2021 Router CAD/CAM software, and Mastercam for Solidworks.

Bryan Westhoff programs one of the panels for the display wall

The combination of the two programs allows programmers to take advantage of the modeling, assembly, and drawing features of Solidworks then program associative toolpaths within that same environment.

“With the weird design this wall had, given those curves and everything else, it would have been impossible to program it without this software,” said Westhoff.

One of the stickiest problems with the project involved leaving just enough rubber around the interlocking sections so that everything looked seamless when assembled. The engineering team designed the entire wall in Solidworks then programmed corresponding toolpaths using the CAM features.

“Since it was Mastercam and Solidworks, it was easy to just bring it over, click our planes, and start our contours. We were able to pull it straight into Mastercam,” continued Westhoff. “Filling that void was tricky, but with the software, we were able to do our offset and get the wall looking perfect.”

Display wall programmed with Mastercam by Jahabow

Once the wall was designed, the team was confronted with a new problem—the brittleness of the rubber from which the wall was machined.

“With the rubber, you can’t just start on one end and come through to finish on the other end, because it’ll tear that final end apart,” explained Westhoff.

The engineers decided to have a right-hand tool start on one end while a left-hand tool cut on the other, so that they would meet in the middle. Even so, there was no room for error. Westhoff needed a guarantee that his code was going to run without ripping his stock. That is where simulation came into play.

He said, “One of the great things about Mastercam is the verification program. We can actually verify that it was going to do what we wanted it to do and see the toolpaths before we even started cutting any chips.”

By running Mastercam’s Verify and Backplot functions, Westhoff and his team could tell at a glance if something wasn’t right. The Verify screen simulates every step during machining and highlights potential gouges and collisions before they occur. Westhoff was able to run his program with the confidence that his rubber would not be blown apart.

Jahabow specializes in a variety of different display cases

The software combination has revolutionized the way Jahabow manufactures. Westhoff recalled when he first started with the company about a decade ago, the entire engineering department depended on 2D drawings for its parts, modeled in Solidworks and then pulled into a different CAM software.

“It was so time intensive and laborious that it was practically hand-writing the code. Something was constantly going wrong—a decimal in the wrong place, incorrect adjustments, missing features like end bores,” he said.

“Now with Mastercam for Solidworks, you’re going to be accurate. I can sit there and click on a whole arc or click on a groove, and I know it’s going to be the in the location I want it to be in.”

Jahabow has even gone so far as to automate part of its quality assurance through Solidworks in-process inspection software. That quality guarantee translates directly into time savings. The programmers don’t waste time navigating confusing programming interfaces, dealing with crashes, or checking parts for accuracy.

Customer Quote

“With the weird design this wall had, given those curves and everything else, it would have been impossible to program it without this software. Since it was Mastercam and SOLIDWORKS, it was pretty easy to just bring it over, click our planes, and start our contours. We were able to pull it straight into Mastercam.”

– Bryan Westhoff, Design Engineer Manager at Jahabow Industries, Inc.
Reseller Quote

“If we have a glitch in one of our programs or there is something we don’t understand, we send it to the folks at QTE. For example, we recently had a job where we ran into a challenge. We called QTE, they looked at it, found the problem quickly, and showed us how to program the toolpaths. When new versions of software come out, we can always call them with questions and challenges, they are available to help us through it and get up and running as soon as possible.”

– Bryan Westhoff, Design Engineer Manager at Jahabow Industries, Inc.

THE CHALLENGE


Finding a way not only to design unique parts but to manufacture them accurately.

THE SOLUTION


Mastercam, the most widely used CAD/CAM software for machining applications.

BENEFITS


  • Seamless pairing with third-party add-ons like SOLIDWORKS.
  • Sophisticated yet intuitive solid modeling.
  • Simulation functions that guarantee successful, efficient machining.
  • Worldwide network of expert Resellers that serve as local hubs of support.

Are you Shaping the Future of Manufacturing? Share your Mastercam Story Today!

Additional Case Studies

HoistDrum Machined
Mill
3D-Machine, Inc.

Learn More
Achates machine shop team using Mastercam
Mill
Achates Power

Learn More
Cold Press Machine Shop
Router
Bruex, Inc.

Learn More
Hammer Blue prints
Education
Butler Tech

Learn More
Complex Parts Made Using Mastercam at Carolina Precision Components
Multiaxis
Carolina Precision Components, Inc.

Learn More
CVC Students and Professor
Education
Catawba Valley Community College

Learn More
Multiaxis
Coordinate Industries Ltd.

Learn More
Multiaxis
Dimensional Innovations

Learn More
Diversified Metal Crew
Mill
Diversified Metals Services, Inc.

Learn More
Quality Check
Mill
Don Schumacher Racing

Learn More
Aerospace Defense
FGP Systems, Ltd.

Learn More
UAV Flight Components
Mill
Flying S, Inc.

Learn More
Profiling a calibration block
Tool & Die
Houston Mold & Tool, Inc.

Learn More
Jacob Grey Cam
Mill
Jacob Grey Success Story

Learn More
Colter Kaspar Thumbnail
Mill
Kormachine

Learn More
Chest set
Education
Lincoln College of Technology Teaches Students CAD/CAM Programming

Learn More
MRS complex machined parts
Aerospace Defense
M.R.S. Machining

Learn More
Multiaxis
Magnuson Products

Learn More
Mallory
Mill
Mallory Industries Success Story

Learn More
McAfee Tool & Die Machine Shop
Multiaxis
McAfee Chooses Mastercam for Tool & Die – Automotive Parts

Learn More
McAfee Machine Shop Thumbnail
Mill
McAfee Tool & Die

Learn More
Employees at Monsees Are Cross Trained
Design
Monsees Group

Learn More
Moto Engines Parts
Multiaxis
Moto Engineering and Prototype

Learn More
NOVONestPlate
Lathe
NOVO Engineering

Learn More
Mars Rover image
Aerospace Defense
Pacon Manufacturing, Inc.

Learn More
Progressive Tool Employee Group Shot
Mill
Progressive Tool and Manufacturing, Inc.

Learn More
Mill
Revolution Speed

Learn More
Mill
Royell Manufacturing, Inc. Uses Mastercam to Become a Tier 1 Manufacturer

Learn More
Schupan uses Mastercam CAD/CAM
Multiaxis
Schupan & Sons, Inc. Metal Service Center

Learn More
CAMIT Students in Shop
Education
Spartanburg Community College

Learn More
Specialized Bike Thumbnail
Consumer Goods
Specialized Bicycle Components

Learn More
Springfield Tech Community College
Education
Springfield Technical Community College

Learn More
Stark State Machine Shop thumbnail
Education
Stark State College

Learn More
Mill
Titletown Manufacturing LLC 

Learn More
Tony and Alex Johnson
Aerospace Defense
United Machine & Metal Fabrication

Learn More
UA students group picture
Education
University of Akron

Learn More
Jimmy Wakeford and Brandon Hensley
Education
Western Piedmont Community College

Learn More
White Bear Instructors
Education
White Bear High School

Learn More