Extreme Efficiency With A Desktop CNC Router // Andy Bird Builds 

I made 24 Trays in one day. Check it out here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TmJDloNk7rQ.html

Nice work! Advice on improving efficiency, have a couple of template boards or jigs. For this, just a thin sheet of plywood that your boards are screwed into would work. This way you set up between cuts and throw the whole batch on at once. Once that run is done, pull off the whole batch and throw on the next. No down time with unscrewing and screwing. This can of course be incorporated into your cut files for consistency and efficiency

some people have the gift of being able to explain clearly and succinctly - they keep it moving without the viewer getting bored. dude, you are that guy! these are so much fun to watch and very efficient. thank you for having a RU-vid channel!

Hi Andy, for your thinner boards could you have cut them a bit longer and then put 2 boards top to tail with the main board next to the handle on the other one just to squeeze them a bit closer together

Great job!!. I'd recomend making the cut out with a 1/8" router bit instead of 1/4". I use most of the time 1/8" bits to cut out pieces and this allow me to keep the CNC and the router (a DeWalt 2 1/4 HP) working with the less possible effort.

Nice to see someone break down the production time. I’m always curious to know. Thanks!

Love the idea of the CNC working away while you’re doing other stuff. Nice work, thanks for sharing!

I cut parts for the artist's easel I manufacture that require a 1/16" round over on both sides. I mill both sides with Amana Tool - 56142 Solid Carbide Pt. Cutting Roundover 1/16 Radius x 9/64 Dia x 7/32 x 1 before milling the profile with the end mill. It requires a precision fixture to hold the parts and precise installation of the bits. However, it saves a lot of hand work.

Great walk-through of your process, Andy. I'm on a smaller CNC, so it's nice to see what I can look forward to for laying out multiple parts when I move up to something larger. I make something similar and did a bunch of them in silver maple and a few in walnut based on what I had on-hand. Walnut outsells silver maple about 10 to 1 for me.

Great insights into your process. Interesting comment about the collet slipping. Garrett over at IDC Woodcraft just mentioned that in a video. He suggested blowing out the collet at each bit change.

those are so awesome ill be making those to sell at the market

Looks awesome thank you for sharing your awesome project with us today, Stay safe and healthy from Henrico County Virginia, I just purchased my own Master CNC recently.

Great video, lots of great info, but... Do yourself a favour and flip them over to do the round over on the CNC. Make a female jig tight enough to hold the parts upside down without slipping. A vacuum bed would be a good option too. All extra cost and effort to implement, but worth their weight in gold to get rid of manual work. A tool changer is a great investment also, but not sure what options you have with your machine, probably not enough Z height maybe. Keep it up champ, great channel.

I've had great luck cleaning up the sides of my pieces from the cnc with the ridgid oscillating edge sander. Works great removing tabs and marks from bit step downs while keeping the edge square and corners sharp. Great video!

Thanks for sharing Andy 👍🏻

Need that sanding wheel!

Good job! Thank you!

Nice to see a breakdown of production time like that, not many others will do that. I can see that you have some challenges connected to using a "hobby" cnc for production purposes. The reason I'm calling the shapeoko a "hobby" cnc is that the machine is to "weak" to get a decent speed when cutting. My shopbot PRS Alpha 4'x8' currently cuts with a ,25 compression bit at 120ipm, and I seem to recall in one of your videos that you were specifying a cutting speed 20ipm. From your screen it seemed like the cutting toolpaths was taking 29min and with my machine it'll take 5min. In a production environment that is a big difference... but that point also touches on stuff you talked about in one of your other videos about running a full time cnc workshop vs. a part time "sideshow" And you'll probably have to sell a whole lot more of your products justifying having a Shopbot in the basement I'm not sure if these tips will help but here they are... (After reviewing the video a couple of times it seems like youre already doing some of this, but I'll keep them in the comment for others to see.) :-) 1. Share cut lines. Offset the parts with the width of your bit + a fraction but make sure to keep the tabs between the parts lined up or the parts will break loose and get damaged. It'll keep your bits sharper for a longer time, they don't have to do all the full width cutting you're doing now. 2. If possible step away from fusion360 toolpaths, in my opinion they do a whole lot of stuff they don't need to since they're intended for metal milling. 3. Make sure your toolpaths penetrate your spoilboard, you'll easily sand away the tabs in the sanding process and if you're not doing a roundover on the bottom it'll take away the whole step of routing off the bottom "edge". If you're doing a roundover it might be possible to remove the tabs in the same process depending on your roundover radius... (I'm sorry this comment escalated into a small article...)

Great to see your process, really helpful, I just bought a shapeoko 4xxx today, I cant wait to start my journey

Nice work Brother! Not to be a smart ass but the sanding star is called a mop sander.

Hi Andy just found your channel and what you are doing is exactly what I hope to do in the UK. From a commercial point of view I would interested to know how you would price a job like and what sort of profit you would aim to make . Planning a night in tonight to binge what all your videos. Great job 👍

Nice work. I'm a little behind with production equipment but I'm struggling to get there.

Nice!!! Working on getting going full time. Be interested in how to find buyers for production runs. Still looking on where to find requests. Great explanation on breaking down the amount of time required.

Andy - your collet loosened due to friction and heat. the tiny threads on the shaft are susceptible to expanding and contracting, thus having your collet loosen on you, slow down your feed rate and raise your cut depth.....or use a brand new bit. cheers bud.

Great video and product that you put together. However, you might want to check into using the accelerator on a surface which can potentially come in contact with food, and thus be ingested. Most accelerators are based on amines, which are nasty little chemicals (think ammonia). I highly recommend that you check the SDS for the Starbond accelerator proprietary ingredient "Acute Potential Health Effects" .

Superb brother. 👌👌👌

Nicw work and nice piece of CNC equipment you have there.

I’m super curious about the floppy sanding head you used in the drill press? I need one of those!!! LOL

Great breakdown of the process. Keep the videos coming!

hey! I'm just thinking, Could you not have maybe sardined the tray contour? at the very least you could save a few inches for the thicker boards and squeeze a few more trays out of them, but I was thinking it could let you double up on those boards you thought only had a single part in

Good job man!

Cool job! Couple of questions...and I did note your XYZ orientation point in the lower left corner. 1. Why does the thickness have to be exact (but assuming to be within a small variance)? Thickness isn't integral to the design. So why couldn't you just do your cutouts either x" deep, or x" deep from the top of the piece? 2. Boards that weren't 5 1/2" wide are assumed to be within a small variance though. There looked like a lot of room between the 2 trays for each board. Couldn't you cut down that gap for the remaining boards and still get 2 from each? Just curious on the process. 😉

great video amigo, thank you

I guess i did watch this video. I don’t remember it. LOL. How much do you sell your trays for? I would assume these trays in a big bulk order may get a discounted price. But if you were to sell them at a show… what would be your price?

I have the shapeoko3 but still can't drag myself more than two seconds away from the emergency stop button, which is time consuming and boring to watch. Just as I start to feel more confident and push the machine a little harder, something messes up and puts me firmly back in my place, like missed steps from the CNC (belt slippage, dust, blunt bit, flex, too fast etc). e.g I thought I'd challenge myself a little so I took a knackered old small oak table that had been brutally painted and went to work. Inlayed with two different wood types on the top. I was chuffed with my results. Now I just had to face off the underside of the table. The one inch facing off bit went for a swim in my nearly finished piece, leaving me with little options for repair because of the way the table was joined (metal). Luckily I was hovering over the stop button as per usual, just a couple of seconds more and the bit was going to pick a fight with the metal threaded hold down inserts on the waste board and probably break the machine, possibly even cause a fire. I got back on the horse after some analysis of what happened (missed steps in Z axis) but still have to respect that it isn't a race horse! Still love it, although consistency is hard to achieve with a machine with fairly loose tolerances. I seem to remember you started on the shapeoko 3? I see you have the pro now. I have upgraded Z axis now but the other belts still hold me to account.

Would love to get the file for these to try and make some.

Do you think you could use that CNC router for stone?

What is your price per board? Could you do a breakdown of cost and profit, is this more of a hobby or business.

What would you sell an individual board like this for? I'm debating about buying a CNC and doing smaller projects like this would be the main schtick of it for me. I know that markets vary, but I'm curious as to what you sell these for. Thanks!

Hi Andy, thanks for the very informative video. It is a beautiful, original project, but I’m just curious as to what this type of tray is used for?

Beautiful boards!

Do you have any financial breakdowns? I'd love to see the ROI on this 100 board order.

So my comment is on your board. I have been thinking about upgrading my machine to t-track, but I see you still end up screwing the boards down. I want to end up doing as little damage ro bed without sacrificing speed.

Would love to get into this. Seems very overwhelming though.

Really cool video, I am from the UK and am trying to do something similar here. I was wondering how do you calculate speeds and feed and depth of pass?

Do you have a link to that sanding star on your drill press?

What was that thing sticking out of your drill press to sand with. Been looking for something like that and I have no idea. how to find one.

You could make a video on how to search for wholesale customers.

Got a link for that star sander on your drill press?

They are beautiful. Do you sell the coding for that?

Great video - it's nice to see someone doing production work, most videos are one-offs and those are hard to scale up. One question about the bowl bit. What speed are you running (IPM) for that large of stepover and depth of cut - I'm running the same bit but only half that depth and it struggles in walnut at about 90 IPM? Thanks for the info!

Does the lumber yard not allow you to pick your own boards?

This is a great idea. Is it your original design? I think anything made of walnut is beautiful. There is a lot more handwork involved even with a CNC. I have thought about buying one for a few ideas I have, but I'm afraid the setup with the computer may be beyond my abilities though, lol. Great video on what goes into making a product to sell. Best of luck Andy!!! PS- Is this a full time job or just a side /hobby of yours?

Hey Andy. Great channel. I can’t find a video on this issue I’m having. I’m making a bowl that’s 1” deep and I want to put a design on the bottom with a v bit but it will take hours because the router will come up an inch to my zero height each time. If it was not a bowl the cut would only take a few minutes. Is there a way to keep my v bit from doing this? Any help would be appreciated.

Nice job!!!! great video,,, Carbide create I take you are using??

If you had cut the boards a little longer you could have flipped them end for end and got t trays wide out of narrower stock.

Where did you purchase sanding disk from ? Great videos mahalo

but howmuch did you sell the cheese trays for?

nice one, how did you design the trays?

So I’m guessing this was an Etsy re-sale shop order?

What can I make from old wood?

Thanx interesting channel. What is the CNC router name?

At 1:24 He said, "This are a little thicker than 4 quarter. A little over one inch". I have never heard anyone using 4 quart inch. Well, it's one quarter, half, 3 quarter...

Great video and very efficient process. Would you be willing to share how you figure a price/tray? For example is it wood cost + Time X desired hour rate + some profit margin or start at what price the market will bear and work backwards from there? I am trying to generate some income from hobby to supplement retirement but custom one offs require to mush time to be profitable at cost ppl are willing to pay it seems.

I love these. Great video about the process. I’m jumping on Etsy to find an SVG like this. Do you have file that you’d be willing to sell? Thanks for sharing the total time as well.

How does the sanding star paper hold up over the course of the build?

Great stuff, can I ask which CNC router you’re using? Or if you had any recommendations for a CNC? There’s such a huge range on the market.

Adny can you share with us how you got your order for the trays Jeff

So 36 hrs what was your profit?

Where does an order like that come from?

Hello, was wondering which router you changed to. i have the dewalt shown in previous videos and on setting 1 it runs at 16,000 RPM which sometimes it too fast for certain jobs.

hey dude, great video. do you have an affiliate link for that sanding star thing you had on your drill press?

Nice! So where do you sell and how much?

Is CA glue foodsafe?

Could you share your feeds and speeds? I would like to cut some walnut but I'm just getting started with mdf and pine for test cuts.

Hi! I own a shapeoko Pro, and I’m a novice on this cnc and software. How can I make the bridges on the toolpath so the piece stays on the stock?

How long does it take to cut those 100 on the CNC?

What is the size of the tray?

Hi man! Been following you for a while now. Can you tell me what software you are using for making the 3d and the gcode

Can u say who bought the trays and what type of food goes on the trays. They appear too small for a serving tray.

So what do you charge for something like this??

what type of restaurant ordered the the serving trays. thx

you use fusion 360 for your layout?

What was that sanding thing called that you had in your drill press?

So Andy how do you like your shapeoko Pro cnc and what router do you use Jeff Peters

Is starbond food safe?

Curious what brand of CNC do you have ?

Did you say that your lumber supplier doesn't let you choose your boards? That's F'd up. I would NEVER go back to a place like that. All my suppliers in Denver let me choose so that I can make the best choice for my projects.

Do you sell your products? Where? I would love to buy a cheese board

Would you sell the file?

Cool idea - I just hate seeing CNC'ers do extra unnecessary work (like 12:12). Why not set this up as a 2-sided job, do a roundover toolpath for the edges, and THEN cut out with a 1/8" compression bit to avoid tabs? 🤔

I said "see what I'm making here ? , yeah he says , a lot of dust ...

You minimize waste but you have basic woodworking mistake.