CNC Router

[scott spencer]

I got my first glimpse of a CNC router last night.....woowee what a machine! (Buy one for $20K, get a second one for only....$20K!;)) I hadn't been by this guy's shop in a couple of years, but I needed access to his 15" planer to fix a goof in my guitar project so I stopped by. Man has he come along way. In 1987 I started a small speaker business and hired out the cabinet making to two amateur wwers who were both employed by Kodak at the time. "Tom F" had an average decent shop with an old 1hp Craftsman TS and a few other good quality essentials. I know that my business helped him add some tools and move into a Griz 1023, but holy cow...he's gone completely pro now has made an addition and doubled the square footage of his shop, has added 4 shapers, now has 10 routers, the new CNC machine, A/C, furnace, PC's galore, officem fridge and does both wood cutting and plastic (countertops & seamless sinks on the CNC). He's having a ball making a living doing what he loves.

I gave up the speaker business 1997 shortly after kidlet #4 was born (no time), but Tom's the guy that planted wwing seed in me. I was always amazed at how clever he was and admired his passion for wood. It's pretty neat to see what's he's accomplished now. Sorry for the sappy story, but I'd never seen what a CNC can do and was amazed at his shop...I knew you folks would understand.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree Scott. Those CNC machines are awesome. I saw one a few weeks ago on a buisness trip. It was I think about $25,000. He showed me some stuff he made and it would just make your head spin.

[Lee DeRaud]

I often have the same reaction to tools like this that I had the first time I drove my friend's new Lexus:

Phase 1: Jeez, this is really, really nice!!
Phase 2: For that price, it bloody well better be!
Phase 3: go to phase 1, repeat as needed.

[Chris Barton]

I love woodworking gadgets and I am sure I would love a CNC but, it seems to take the entire process just a bit too far. I actually enjoy using tools and having to figure out how to make a project. The CNCs I have seen come just a bit too close to being the "replicator" off of Star Trek. Doesn't seem to be much fun in bolting a pice of wood in a frame and starting a program, return in 2 hours and the project is complete...

[scott spencer]

I love woodworking gadgets and I am sure I would love a CNC but, it seems to take the entire process just a bit too far. I actually enjoy using tools and having to figure out how to make a project. The CNCs I have seen come just a bit too close to being the "replicator" off of Star Trek. Doesn't seem to be much fun in bolting a pice of wood in a frame and starting a program, return in 2 hours and the project is complete... My wife said pretty much the same thing when I told her the CNC could have cut out the guitar body in a few minutes...."don't you get more satisfaction out of doing it yourself?" Yes was my response, but if I was looking for efficiency, multiple parts and profit, that'd definitely be the way to go.

[Chris Barton]

To me that's the difference between woodworking as a hobby vs a profession. If I were running some sort of commercial operation then, a CNC might be the way to go but, at $20K+ you would have to use it a lot to get you money out of it.

[Gary Herrmann]

I've got enough old developer left in me to covet one, but not enough high dollar consultant in me to justify buying one. Could be fun to play with in semi retirement tho...

Maybe I'll get some brochures and leave them around for my lovely EE wife to see...

[Vaughn McMillan]

Although they're definitely out of my hobbyist price range, to me half the fun of a CNC rig would be figuring out how to get the electrons talking to the wood chips in an artistic manner. If I were doing woodworking (or signmaking) for a living, I'd be seriously looking into one.

- Vaughn

[Sam Blasco]

They are sensational machines with lots of "Wow" factor. I used to be the foreman of a shop that had three quarters of a mil invested in machinery, all push buttons and monitor screens and trained gorillas to push those buttons and move the material and put it together (now this can be automated, too), tied into a server in the office. Worked great, awe inspiring... I couldn't wait to get out of there, biding my time until I went on my own. Frankly, I don't care if I never see another auto-cad program again, much less a computerized milling machine. I'm just hands on and that is the way it will stay, not a neanderthal but a postcromag, I still use electricity. But the technology is impressive. At SCM, they have some routers that get about 3/4 of the way through the assembly line and then finish building themselves. How cooluney is that?