Any CNC widgets for sure money?

[harryball]

Does anyone produce anything along these lines they'd be willing to share?

I'm looking for ideas. As many of you may easily guess, the bat house market thins during the winter, we sell about 1/4" the amount as we do from February to October except for the Christmas spike we are just finishing up. Thanks to Mr. Bot I won't be building as many bat houses as I can during the winter. That's going to leave me December and January with few orders and extra CNC time.

A perfect item would be something simple to produce, not necessarily high dollar and maybe even disposable. Perhaps something I could take the time to stock up on and sell all year.

I'm running around ideas of my own related to bats but thought I'd ask here to expand my imaginative boundries.

I've been cutting address plaques, but they are custom. I'd love something I could pre cut and say "here ya go" chaching.

Robert

[Brady Watson]

Robert,
Everybody asks that question...and the short & simple answer is, no. You can sell cutting boards, craft items etc, but there isn't a 'one widget fits everybody in every region on the globe' product that could be suggested.

You may eventually find that offering services instead of trying to think up the perfect widget is a much better use of your time. Let customers come up with ideas & you cut them out. If they are successful, you get paid. If their idea doesn't take off, you still get paid. Keep your eyes and ears open for voids in the CNC cutting service market (there is a huge amount of work out there) and see where your shop/operation would dovetail into it. If you hate sanding, sealing & finishing, like I do, providing cutting services might be right for you.

You can bruise your brain trying to think up the perfect widget...it's much easier and more lucrative to offer a service. Just a few good companies in your area can boost your income and keep the cash flowing.

-B

[bob_lofthouse]

Has anyone in the USA considered non slip floorings for pick ups and utility trailers such as following:-

http://www.finnforest.co.uk/default.asp?path=200;256;368;2316;2364;9164

[harryball]

Thanks for the wisdom Brady, I guess I sort of knew the answer already but was just wondering what other guys do to fill in time, if there is something they enjoy making (like wine bottle holders or gift boxes etc...) that they also find will sell in some form or another. I'm not looking for a cash cow where I cut shape B and money shows up. (well, actually I am but I'm not that delusional)

I'm enjoy doing plaques, but they are custom and until a customer tells me I don't know what I'm making, sort of limits production.

I've considered offering CNC service, I'm getting better at this and might consider it. I have sort of an issue with my inner ear that leads me away from working "retail/deadline" type stuff. I prefer to make it and ship it or show me a picture and I'll call you when it's done. I never really know how much work I'll be able to get done every day and I don't like being in a position where someone's production may depend on me.

I do actually have 2 service jobs right now, I'm making a cross prototype and a custom trophy based on a supplied .jpg file. The cross is due whenever, my favortie kind of project. Fifty five of the trophies must be ready by Friday, I'll make it OK, but it causes some anxiety when I know I might wake up in the morning and not be able to walk for a few minutes to a few days.

Robert

[jhicks]

Looks like few replies on this old thread so here goes. IDEAS.....sure. Remember they are not worth much more than you paid for them.
IDEA #1
Sign shops use MDO shapes when they get creative enough to go beyond squares and rectanglers. They have major problems cutting plaques, circles, and more exotic shapes which you can run quite easily. They add paint or vinyl andf have a nicely shaped back board.
Try running a few designs on more interesting sign shapes and circulate to local vinyl store fronts. You just might establish a handfull of standard shapes to offer and adjust based on size. Simple cuts and no finishing.
IDEA #2
Anything with a curve, radius, or oval shape. Not well suited to conventional wood shops. yes band saws, scroll saws, and sabre saws do OK but nowhere near as well as you can. Arches, picture frames, laptop stitching holders,coasters, card table tops with drink holder and chip holder recesses.
IDEA#3
Kids room stuff. Small step ladder bench seat combination type 2 step bench, bench with routed custom names on top, painted letters for Mom's to use on kids room walls or doors,toy boxes with names on top. Try a simple but clever joinery so they can snap together as kit parts and paint themselves.
IDEA#4
Puzzles.
Plastic, wood, or whatever. Simple letter puzzles, United States Puzzles, animal shapes fit into a scene when assembled.
IDEA #5
Flower boxes.
Cut a nice design in the face of the box, cut simple straight or nicely edged top edges to length and supply as kit parts. cut tulips, or whatever on the front face in cedar and predrill holes for simple screw together afternoon gardener project.
IDEA #6
garden art signs of a generic nature.
Simple circles, ovals, or other non square corner table saw type shape. Cut in a border and a cute "I love my garden" type phrase.
Grandma's Garden, Grandpa's Sanctuary, I'd rather be in my garden, etc.

#7 Bird house & Feeded stuff.
Design a squirrel resistant feeder with an acrobatic spinning arm or lever system to foil the squirrels. A bird house kit for scouts and kids to assemble and paint. A unique feeder cut from a natural limb or log to recycle trimmed branches. An Indexer would do this nicely but a split log might also have a nice flat face to carve and bore into for seeds, peanut butter or suet.

I find the problem is more along the lines of finding customers than ideas on what would be fun to build. Seems one has to keep trying new ideas and testing new markets to find out if there is a niche worth while.

That's it for today, need to use some of these myself but thanks for asking. It made me think about the possibilities.

[menewfy]

I believe coasters would be a great idea seems to me that the sb could pull offf a bunch in a hurry and at that you can even cut out a base and use wooden dowels to hold them in place.

I am thinking of scenes from vector 3d and carving them into cross sections of trees with the bark left on.

or even coasters out of plexiglass with the design underneath maybe even the bat symbol LOL.

are there any cabinet makers in your area if so go to them show them the carvings you can do and ask if they want to sell the idea to their custoers and you will do the carvings before they do the install (i was almost done typeing that one before I remembered that you would prefer not to be pressured)

here is on I heard the other day that I am going to do near xmas
if you are able to stock pile your houses early enough

use plexi or something like it and carve santa and rudolph and the like into coaster size ornaments for the tree. that will take care of december for you, then you have my permission to take feb off LOL.

I am also into doing custom cars into either wood or plexi even corian soon I hope.

wedding and aniversary pics in the plexi or corian, I realize that these are harder to market but word will spread.

I guess thought the easiest thing to make is what people are most passionate about in your own area.

like if tourism is big go to the tourism board and ask them what would be popular and see if you can come up with an idea from that, go to travel agencies see what trips they are offering a deal on especially for group trips and then say to them well what if I could sell you something that you could offer as a giveaway to people who book that trip.

an example might be their logo, or something pertaining to where they are going the key being that you would only offer it to them and that would give them the edge over other agencies in the area. make it something that is cost effective for them even thought they get to write it off keep in mind they are giving them away.

go to an art house and ask them if you can display something of yours, somthing that will get people thinking that is cool I wonder if that artist can do this for me?

I have lots of ideas no machine or atleast not one I can depend on (it is a carvewright for now but a bot soon enought I hope).

good luck
Tim

one more thing I just thought of that would probably sell anywhere is anarandak chairs they should be easy to cut out with this thing and you can just put the parts ina box and sell them so that folks can put them together themselves.

[jhicks]

Tim, when you're ready for those adirondack chairs, this web site might be useful
http://www.cranberrywoodworks.com/doityourkit5.html