Cutting Edge
CNC software: Where to start?
For a woodshop owner, this can be an intimidating question.
Fusion 360 is free for startups
Say the word “free” to a group of woodworkers and they will come straight at you like a moth to a light.
Choosing and maintaining a CNC’s vacuum pump
As with most machines in a woodshop, performance can decrease with time and failure is always an option.
Join the desktop revolution
A desktop CNC router is an entry-level machine that is relatively inexpensive, physically quite small, and offers a user-friendly introduction to computer aided design (CAD) and machining (CAM).
We’re not going to need a bigger pump
Next to software and operator training, CNC shops struggle most with properly securing work to the table.
Listen up: Machines talk
I don’t know what you guys are trying to run on your molders but based on the condition of some of the spindles in for repair, I think it might just be concrete. Broken shafts, seized bearings, “welded” tooling all can be prevented, and it starts with listening for signs.
Back up that hard drive
A mid-sized cabinet shop with a CNC router for milling flat stock is quite dependent on either personal computers or work stations.
Add to a CNC’s capabilities with artistic software and tooling
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.
A trained operator in basic electronics can save the day
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.
Digital fabrication requires a workstation; not a PC
When conversations turn to digital fabrication, what seems to be left out is the computer.
Goliath enters the portable digital fabrication market
For small- and medium-sized woodworking shops, the decision factors involved in purchasing a CNC router generally involve three distinct factors. First is the cost of the technology including hardware, software and training costs relative to the projected productivity gains.