could use a little help

[Al Havner]

I'm a 60 year old former hardwood flooring contractor of 35 years, 3 years ago I was T-Boned by a semi in my work van and I'm pretty much disabled, can't stand for to long or sit for to long. Since wood has always been my passion I have been looking for something to supplement my social security. I have been researching the shopbot desk top max and I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to go with. I'm looking for ideas on how to actually make some money with this thing, I'm going to buy one just to have something to keep me busy as I don't get out a whole lot anymore. Any Ideas would be appreciated.

This note was sent with a firm hand shake
From Big Al.

[Art Mann]

I make gift items from fine hardwoods. Some of the things I make are coasters, trivets, inspirational plaques and small signs. I do production runs and if the price is right, I will make a full custom personalized design. In order to be successful, you need to have someone who can create appealing original designs. In my case my wife, who is a professional graphic designer, does most most of ours. A good place to look for ideas is Etsy.

[Jerome Stanek]

Go to the shopbot forum and look up genek he sells a cd with a lot of kitchen stuff that makes him a good profit

[Robert Bonenfant]

Hey Al,

I would suggest Etsy and Pinterest - I always find a ton of cool ideas.
Custom Stuff is the way to go with small Cnc (Big guys dont waste there time with the small money)
Custom Coasters, Cutting boards, signs, furniture, kitchen items and the listing gos on and on.

Make sure your not buying your cnc to make money though, just for a hobby to start. Its really hard to make a buck on a small cnc - its possible but very hard. I would suggest before buying your machine, is getting a Cad program and getting the design side down first (Most important part) anyone can watch a machine move, the real challenge is getting your idea from paper to the machine. Think of a cool project and try to create it in cad and see what your results are. Any pre-made designs on the internet wont yield any profit for the most part, there more for fun. Not to deter you from buying a cnc machine but so many people buy them expecting to make crazy money and its just not there, unless you create a truly amazing product and then your better off outsourcing it. Im 24 and make a great living with my CNC lasers but it took along time to find stuff that people actually buy and want.

Hope I helped