R.W. Lee

Say the word “free” to a group of woodworkers and they will come straight at you like a moth to a light.

As with most machines in a woodshop, performance can decrease with time and failure is always an option.

Next to software and operator training, CNC shops struggle most with properly securing work to the table.

A mid-sized cabinet shop with a CNC router for milling flat stock is quite dependent on either personal computers or work stations.

A 3-axis CNC router can do more than just machine sheet stock for cabinets. Given the right software and tooling, other than a spiral cutting end mill, a 3-axis CNC router can generate more artistic items than cabinets.

When you stand back and think about it, a CNC machine of whatever variety is nothing more than another power tool that depends on a single or multiple electrical motors to operate, and electrical motors have parts that fail, usually at most inopportune time.

When conversations turn to digital fabrication, what seems to be left out is the computer.

Most woodworking shops with a 3-axis routers are setup to cut cabinet and furniture parts from flat panels and solid wood.

CNC router manufacturers recognize that smaller shops can’t justify the cost or space requirements of large-format machine so they’ve created a relatively new category of smallformat machines built for production work.

Making a decent profit on a job is a skill based on years of experience and includes figuring how to get the most out of sheet goods and dimensional lumber.

There are software programs that can take rough, colored elevations of a cabinet installation done in CAD and produce photographic-quality images from any view