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I'm used to larger, corded routers ru-vid.comUgkxfQ5_mgwq6PcudJvAH25t-I4D-3cTPz4z so this was a different experience for me. Basically, this is an incredibly sweet machine, fits well in the hand, etc. It has slightly less power than I'm used to, but that's understandable. Maneuvering freehand takes some practice. These days, it's especially nice to be able to avoid power cords. This is above the level of a hobbyist but below a pro level.
Something to add to feeds and speeds. We can machine through 3/4" sheets in two passes, the machine can do it. But if we do, our industrial dust collection leaves so much to clean up that 5-10 mins are taken clearing the bed for the next sheet so vacuum hold-down is effective. There are numerous factors that factor into programming decisions. Some great tips all round though.
I love all your advice. I just launched my woodworking business last fall, and my CNC arrives next week! The learning curve looks really steep, but I'm up for a challenge.
That was a great video thx. I disagree with #4 tho.. As your competitor, I already have a huge advantage over you where as customers know I can take a complex 3d model, nest and cut the parts. You should be learning as much as you can in terms of software.. it never ends. Fusion 360 and Autocad light will get you through any job.
I think he's point is to not get overwhelmed by many different information, keep simple and just what you need to know, wich is a good points, but I agree that if you still have time and mental disposition for that you should try to know more about modeling.
Actually I do have a suggestion for a new vid in continuation of this one. You could make one talking about the actual price you are asking per hour of the CNC and how much profit you think is reasonable to put on the top of that(profit part). Where to find your clients. Tell more about your competitors, how do they exactly relate with you. And how to find the best wood suppliers, how to negotiate with them, how to find them, because there's a huge importance in the quality/price of the wood you buy. Thank you!
@@Q5Grafx I've decided on a onefinity woodworker x50. Made in Canada. There's a wait of a few months because of demand, but it's an incredibly simple and sturdy design, and no need for a separate PC to control it. Once it arrives, I can be up and running in less than an hour.
I've built a few diy hobby cnc's. A couple of mills and a 5c cnc metal cutting lathe. I'm in the process of building a 19"x48" router for aluminum and wood that will be chain driven on the x and y axis. Wish I could go bigger but don't have the space. I have several other small manual lathes and mills that need cnc conversion but don't have the time. These were excellent tips. That I could use to sell some ideas for cars, kitchens, desk art, toys etc. It's taken me years to get where I am at and I haven't sold anything. People that I share my machines and what I'm doing are highly interested though, I just can't start because it's so easy to reproduce anything I can imagine. That I would be priced out quickly. My only hope is to make enough quantities to be satisfied to make a profit so I can keep going. And move on to the next idea.
UK subscriber here! As a business in the US are you seeing the unprecedented rise is wood based products as we are over here, and as a business how do you cope with this! For example in the last year plywood of all types is up 30% that's if you can get it. quality is also dubious! Its not just ply but most construction type materials. Now why'll I'm not in the CNC world I've had to revert back to doing what I know in industries that were allowed to keep working in our lockdown world! And for the future Wood CNC is something I would be looking at!
We started our business last year before the meteoric rise in wood prices. Since we cut custom parts for our customers the prices have not affected us at all. Most of our customer base supplies the wood and passes material costs onto their end customers. As long as the market for end products continues ( its actually ramping up in some cases) the wood price increases are not an issue. Our table time and design charges have remained constant. The other thing I would say is if you are just starting out, be prepared for the long haul. I'm the money guy for our business and told my partner at the outset that I would carry the business for one year (the minimum time on shop space lease). If it wasn't viable in that time I would sell the equipment to recoup what I could. We received our table mid September and by December we were making enough each month to cover all of our rent, utilities and other monthly operational costs. After 9 months we still aren't taking anything home but the bank account is headed in a positive direction and we get closer to our monthly target each month. People I've talked to said plan on 2 years and I think we are ahead of that curve but expect business building taking awhile and plan for the long haul before you ever get started.
lots of people are using free wood for their products like pallet wood. plane it glue it and make it the size you need. i personally am using mostly walnut and cedar so its a no go for myself. most of my customers enjoy the smell of aromatic cedar for their inspirational signs.
Really getting a lot from these types of videos. Im actually working all night in my own shop tonight so your videos have been autoplaying lol. Heres a suggestion for a video: Id love to hear you talk about the process you went through of overcoming a lot of those mistakes you mentioned you made as youve grown your business. I am stuck in the very infancy of my business with this big cnc having said yes to everyone and now im absolutely bigged down with custom woodworking jobs that are taking forever and all the while my machine is sitting still too often. I am just now seeing my mistake, but its in real time lol. So id be interested to hear more about the lessons you learned and some of the specific hard situations you got in and how it all worked out.
Kenneth, Thank you so much, would you like to see videos of just me making something without talking? or more videos with me teaching? or top 10 videos? What would you like to see from me in the future.
Great video coupled with some great tips. Can you please advise or point me in the right direction where to procure the right CNC machine for cutting marble or salt stones?
I disagree on a few points. Use the machine for absolutely everything u are able. Don't waste your time cutting anything out by hand that the machine could do better without any bodily risk. Programming is the most important aspect of this industry that will enable you to make things others can't. Programming is Extremely important, master it!!!! You have to know how to program and operate a 3dprinter. Don't bother buying a cnc router if your not going to buy and master 3dprinting. Learning and mastering both should take you no longer that 6-9 months. You have to have knowledge of many different sheet goods such as abs plastic, pvc, mdf, various plywoods,, solid surface materials, all of witch can be easily machined on your cnc. Knowledge on fasteners, adhesives, pneumatic cylinders are one of my personal favorites to incorporate into products, linear actuators. I know how to weld to help me around the shop, it's nice to know, equipment is cheap and mastering it is not necessary. I'm learning plc programming so I can build equipment ideas to sell to shops and I'm having a great time learning it. This experience should be a fun challenging adventure for you, if it's a pain in the ass quit immediately and get a job. Don't lie to yourself and try and be somebody your not. Loving what you do is silly. I don't love my cnc machine, if I did I think that would be strange. To be successful you must be driven and enjoy the progress along the way. U will never be successful if your dragging ass all day long. Good luck
@@cutting-it-close I live in Zimbabwe and work in Somalia, so my router (a little 12 by 16 Inch) is more of a hobby at the moment. I've been following and 'youtube' learning 3D routing and will be playing with these on my break times. So to answer your question, I haven't seen any or am unaware of any 3d projects around where I live. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing the good knowledge! Being more basic, would you say a good start would be doing training course on how to use the CNC and the modeling softwares?
This is all incredibly helpful advice for a very specialized field that's hard to find concise info on. Thank you so much for posting. I'm hoping to get my product (featured on my channel) out in the world soon and get my own machine. Right now I'm borrowing CNC time at my local Makerspace. I'm curious - do you still cut out simple rectangular panels manually on a table/panel saw, or is every panel you cut done on CNC?
Depends on how precise I need everything and how many, saws are fast, but there are scenarios where I have a crazy amount to do very precise and use the CNC to do.
@@cutting-it-close Thanks for the response! Seems like it varies per use case. Lot of factors to juggle - Material thickness, bit size, speeds and feeds, rapids, etc. I'm trying to adopt a hybrid approach - cut out all the dados, pockets, and drill holes on the CNC, nested in a grid pattern to be cut out on the table saw in repetitive cuts. I'm going to try both the 100% CNC method and the semi-manual method and see which one takes the least amount of time, autonomy aside. But have you ever employed such a method? Would it make sense? Seems like precision is the main factor?
I have to build two kitchens for my house. They will cost $40,000 each. I want to build them myself. What do you think I should do. I am a handyman by the way.
look for proper grounding. and a heavy solid frame. the rest can be dealt with later. the wiring is way more important than people will let you to believe. most chinese beginner machines are headaches. i had to rewire every single bit of it. then use quality cables for the usb such as tripplite cables. that one cable caused so many headaches. you can buy a frame alone and then equip it with high quality electronics like im doing. however going from grbl to mach3 was more of a surprise than i expected. If you want to cut wood 500watt spindle is the absolute minimum. anything less will just burn bits because you cannot achieve the proper speeds and feeds. another way is using a router as your spindle. realistically if you do not want a toy look at spending $2500 minimum. but if you wanted a small footprint machine and happen to live in Phoenix Az i have a machine with all its bugs worked out and fucnctions perfectly but has a work size of just 12" x 7" x1.5" with computer, monitor, software, bits and lots of backup parts incase one should fail for $1000. it has a laser as well and can make fun engraving as well.
After watching a few of your videos yesterday, it bugged me all night while I slept. Why don't you use a spoilboard, you have massive vacuum, no need for fixtures at all. Why all the extra steps
Hey bro please help me to get job in usa im from algeria and i live at streat i dont have home or family i work in cnc router world i can drew with art cam and auto cad
because you always believe people that tell you how to do business that they succeeded in.. Boy, if you are successful; - why do you waste time making videos and telling others how to do it? That is mutually exclusive.
