I have been using a 4'x4' CNC router for several years to assist in making musical instruments ( www.mccaffertydulcimers.com ). I use Rhino and VisualMill Pro for CAD/CAM. In my lifetime, I have aslo done a good bit of cabinet and furniture making, but not really with the CNC.
For small shops with a router table (not a 5 axis machining center) what is the most valuable areas to use a router table. I can see maybe carving doors,... but there's not a lot of that in typical cabinets. For raised panel doors, it's just too easy to use a couple of good shapers or even buy them outside. For panel sizing, it's also too easy to just use a panel saw. It may sound as a bit of a niave question, but I am just curious how a small shop uses one to improve productivity or create a competetive edge.
For me, I can see some use for a user friendly, purpose built, CNC mortise and tennon machine. Also maybe dovetails for drawers. This type of feature creates at least a perceived increase in value to a cabinet or piece of furniture. A typical router table doesn't work well on the ends or even edges of long boards. A few years back, I built a horizontal mortiser that already has 1" linear ball slides,... and would be straightforward to convert to CNC. I plan to do that this year as much for the fact that it would be fun as much as increaseing productivity. Especially now that there are inexpensive software applications such as Mach3 that allow to develop purpose built screens.
I think if I ever built a CNC Router from scratch that I would make the table fairly tall and besides haveing a horizontal table, I would have a gantry that would come out over the front of the machine and have a vertical table on the front of the machine to work on at least shorter rails, board edges,...
I was just wondering if some folks that build non-production quantities of cabinets and furniture might share their applications for a router.