Method and system for consumer home projects ordering and fabrication

A method, comprising:

• providing an interface to receive customer interactions from a customer wishing to evaluate a project, said project including one or more components to be formed of a wood or wood-like material to be fabricated from at least one of a sheet material and a piece of dimensional lumber, said interface permitting said customer to evaluate said project by interacting selectively with at least one of:
• a database comprising projects that can be assembled from components fabricated on a tandem machine system that incorporates a capability to machine wood-based components regardless whether derived from sheet material or from dimensional lumber;
• and
• a CAD (Computer Aided Design) module that assists said customer to develop a new design for said project or a modification of an existing design already in said database, said CAD module selectively providing a set of instructions to be transmitted to said tandem machine system to form components on said tandem machine system;
• calculating, using a processor on a computer, an estimated price for said project if said one or more components for said projects were fabricated using said tandem machine system;
• and
• outputting said estimated price as an output of said interface,
• wherein, upon a final selection by the customer of an existing previously-designed project, a new project, or a modification of an existing project in said database, said system further selectively provides a set of instructions for said tandem machine system for fabricating the wood-based components of the customer's final selection, and
• wherein the tandem machine system comprises:
• a first machine for executing machining requirements for sheet material stock, said first machine being configured to selectively implement two-dimensional machining operations on a piece of sheet material stock, including curvilinear shapes;
• and
• a second machine for executing machining requirements for dimensional wood stock, said second machine being configured to selectively implement machining operations at either end of a piece of dimensional wood stock by selectively moving the piece of dimensional wood stock in fore and aft directions along a longitudinal axis of the piece of dimensional wood stock,
• wherein the processor determines the estimated price for said project if said one or more components for said projects were fabricated using said tandem machine system, and the processor outputs said estimated price as an output of said interface,
• wherein at least one computer is for providing the interface with the customer to input inquiries and design choices directed to a project having at least one component to be machined in the tandem machine system in which the wood-based project component can be fabricated, regardless whether the component is based on dimensional stock or on sheet material stock, said customer interacting with either the database showing previously-designed projects for implementation using said tandem machine or a CAD (Computer Aided Design) module to develop a new project or a modification of a project in said database, and
• wherein, upon a final selection by the customer of an existing previously-designed project, a new project, or a modification of an existing project in said database, said system further selectively provides a set of instructions via the CAD module to selectively control the first machine and the second machine for cutting, shaping, and forming of wooden components for said tandem machine system to fabricate the customer's final selection, thereby providing an end-to-end integrated system that is completely integrated to selectively permit the customer to consider different options for an intended project and to have all wood-based components of the intended project fabricated and ready to be picked up at a specific location, and
• wherein said first machine comprises:
• a support frame;
• a plurality of backing plates supported by said support frame, said plurality of backing plates being supported to be slightly backward leaning;
• a plurality of rollers along a base of said first machine, upon which a sheet of material can slide substantially along a longitudinal axis of said first machine;
• a plurality of clamping rollers along a top of said first machine, for clamping said sheet of material firmly to said plurality of rollers along the base;
• at least two rotating yoke assemblies that can be selectively rotated into a position to hold said sheet of material against said backing plates;
• an upper horizontal guide rail and a lower horizontal guide rail, each mounted on said support frame substantially along said longitudinal axis;
• at least two vertical guide rails, interconnected together and movably attached between said upper and lower horizontal guide rails;
• and
• a moveable tooling platform movably attached to said at least two vertical guide rails,
• wherein each of said rotating yoke assemblies comprises servo-controlled manipulator rollers for selectively moving said sheet material along said plurality of rollers in either a forward direction or a reverse direction,
• wherein said moveable tooling platform is selectively movable in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, along said at least two vertical guide rails, using servo-controlled actuators, and
• wherein said at least two vertical guide rails is selectively movable as a unit along said longitudinal axis, along said upper and lower horizontal guide rails, using servo-controlled actuators.