Thinking of jumping into CNC with a buddy...

[barndoor]

Hi All,
I run a one man custom cabinet/furniture/anything-you-can-make-from-wood shop, in other words a bit of everything. I am considering transitioning into CNC routing for various small parts and products with the idea that in 10 years I'm not going to want to be installing large kitchens and the like. I already make some small products that I sell on occasion and I think a CNC router could ramp up that production and make the business stand on it's own, at least I hope. I'm wondering if there is a buddy owner in the SF bay area that would be willing to have me check out their setup? Any sage advice on how this new business plan could be implemented?

[Bob Eustace]

Welcome Rick! A good way to kickstart your CNC venture super quickly would be to spend $250 with Eugene on this forum and get his hi volume patterns. Sounds like you are peas in a pod! On the Buddy it is a great beginners machine but limited on cabinet work.

[barndoor]

I'll look for Eugene, but I'm not exactly sure what hi volume patterns are. Is that newbie enough!?

I definitely do not want to do cabinet parts on the CNC. Cabinets are what I do now and I've got that dialed with a fully operational 1000 square foot shop. What i want to accomplish is working with smaller pieces. Even at my current age a 90 pound sheet of plywood is no fun to load on the panel saw, let alone the 20 required for a whole kitchen. I envision the CNC for making small solid wood parts, especially in the case of some light fixtures I make. The buddy would fit easily in the shop and get me started without a huge capital investment. If it takes off I can consider getting another machine but since this is an experiment I'd rather experiment with $10k instead of $20k. What I'm not sure about is the big picture process. Currently I think in 3d (and do CAD in 2D) and know exactly the procedures and tools I need to product a part. What I've never done, or even seen done, is taking that idea in your head, getting it in CAD, then transitioning to using the CNC rather than all the other processes I typically would have to go through to produce a quality finished product. I'm also not clear on how good a finished product a buddy can turn out. I know it won't be ready to finish, but what really are it's capabilities? THis is why I'd love to see one in action, watch it work, handle the product it routed and just get a better understanding of the process. The way I look at it I've got about 5 - 10 more years in me working the big jobs then I'd like to have something else to fall back on.

Thanks for the welcome!

[jerry_stanek]

You should start by going to the Vectric web site and downloading a trial version of Aspire and watch the tutorial videos. That will give you a good idea of what you can do

[myxpykalix]

First I would buy as big of a machine as i could afford. You limit yourself by going to a small machine and in time i think you might regret it.

However what you could do is augment your cabinet business by, for example, offering 3D carved cabinet doors that you can't do now.
I'm sure you have your shop set up so you can cut your cabinet parts, make your stiles and rails but probably can only offer raised panels for the door centers.
You could have your bot carving a 3D relief carving for the centers of the doors while you are making the cabinets.

[gc3]

millions of videos on youtube that will show you cnc routed parts for cabinets and carvings of doors

go 48 x 96 machine...I bought used pr a few years ago...been a serious $ maker

have another brand cnc that has produced product, if you are a production shop or looking to go that way...to outsource to others...

invest in a full size machine...

https://www.facebook.com/VectorStudio22

[cowboy1296]

I start cutting this today on my buddy with a 4 foot power stick. Its 24x34, once the contractor has it finished i will post real pictures.

[dana_swift]

Hello Rick- and welcome!

You are venturing into a very interesting world, and there is no perfect choice. Jack gave the best advise, which is buy the biggest machine you can afford (and have room for).

The machine comes with VCarvePro which is all the software you will need for a long time. When you are ready for more power, consider Aspire (in a year or so), or perhaps ArtCam. Both packages have their fans.

I have never regretted buying a shopbot for a single minute. Even when things were rocky at first, tech support was right there, as well as all the users of the forum. There is a tremendous amount to learn.

Go to this thread, download the document on bits. Read it, study it, it will become a primary reference manual for a while!

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/sho...10&postcount=1

In the document about bits, you will get an introduction to spindles. Which brings up a question: Router or Spindle? Either one is a good choice. You can always upgrade to a spindle later. If you can afford one, a spindle is the better choice especially in a commercial shop such as yours.

I have been running a BT-32 for years, and never regretted the size, or "limitations", then I make mostly small parts. I have both 4' and 8' power sticks. The 8' power stick never gets used. The 4' powerstick rarely does. The 2' of motion is plenty for my needs. My situation includes access to a 4x8 gantry shopbot, that was not always the case and I never found I "had" to have one that big. It is nice even for my needs.

Your needs will be different tho. Gantry machines have many advantages over buddies, especially if there is even a "maybe" you will make cabinet parts. My bet is you will get the shopbot thinking you will only make a few parts on it based on your comment "I've got that dialed with a fully operational 1000 square foot shop." When you buy this powerful of a tool life will change. Trust me on this.

You will think "I will only make xyz on this". I thought that way. Then I found that my thinking changed. Its an expensive thing, like the folks buying the first car in their lives in the early 1900s. The game changed. It was so easy to go somewhere, it didnt require rounding up the horse, saddling, or hitching up. Just turn the crank and go. Building things on any CNC will change your operations just as much as cars did for daily living.

Get that demo. Find a way to get started you can afford. Then plan on upgrades when the machine is producing revenue. Vacuum will be something you will want, but it can wait. Get started.

Oh, that new friend that will do your demo. When things are acting strange on your new machine, that will be your best reference.

My suspicion is that in just a year or two, you are looking at the space in that shop and thinking.. how can I get another shopbot in here?

The "dial" is about to get a new setting-

D

[chiloquinruss]

I have a 48x96 and do mostly sheet work. However if I go back and look at my job log it appears that I do full size sheet work about 35% of the time. The rest (65%) are smaller jobs! Interesting. Never took the time to look before. I have a spindle which is nice for all kinds of reasons but especially for noise reasons, they are much quieter than a router. Do go to the thread on bits as was suggested. Very informative. What ever you end up with you'll love it and in a very short period of time you will asking yourself how did I ever get along with out it! Russ

[gene]

Of that 35 % . what percentage of income would have been lost if you had not purchased the larger machine ? I have a 48x96 and also do a fair amount of small items also .