There was a very similar question asked before & rather than clutter up that thread I'll start a new one.
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/cnc-router-machine.83085/
Our men's shed have been offered funding of up to £10k for a project, which sounds great but you have to spend all the money on one thing! We initially thought to buy a van but we would have to fork out for tax & insurance ourselves which won't be cheap & that plus annual running costs would be a constant drain on our funds.
A CNC router has been suggested as that could be used for making money instead of eating it. A local leisure centre asked us for a quote to make them 100 wooden key fobs with locker nos & and their logo, perfect job for a cnc router we thought.
90% of what we use is natural seasoned hardwood but from reading the other thread it seems that a cnc router is not ideal for cutting this. We were thinking of putting names or logos on stools or chairs, house number plates, shop signs, etc.
Is natural wood feasible to cut on a cnc router?
How difficult is the software to use? I used autocad 4 many years ago in college on green screen computers, but I remember none of it & computer literacy wouldn't be a common skill among our members. We don't want it to be the same 2 or 3 people having to set it up all the time, you can spend hours on a pc & it would soon get stale.
Do you have to pay an annual licence fee for the software or for access to pre-programmed designs?
Is it feasible to get a cnc router plus all the tooling, software & hardware for our £10k budget? We would be looking at a smaller machine, maybe 4x4' or 2x4', we don't have the room for a large one. We would also need training on using the equipment & software.
The funders have seen the work we are doing, are very impressed & are extremely keen to work with us. We don't want to insult them by saying no, so we need to come up with some sort of plan.
Any other ideas of useful large machinery in this budget?
We already have the basics covered - startrite table saw, good band saw, dust extractor, lathe, etc. Unfortunately we cant (officially ) do hot work at our location, otherwise I'd be suggesting a plasma table!
Thanks for your help!
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/cnc-router-machine.83085/
Our men's shed have been offered funding of up to £10k for a project, which sounds great but you have to spend all the money on one thing! We initially thought to buy a van but we would have to fork out for tax & insurance ourselves which won't be cheap & that plus annual running costs would be a constant drain on our funds.
A CNC router has been suggested as that could be used for making money instead of eating it. A local leisure centre asked us for a quote to make them 100 wooden key fobs with locker nos & and their logo, perfect job for a cnc router we thought.
90% of what we use is natural seasoned hardwood but from reading the other thread it seems that a cnc router is not ideal for cutting this. We were thinking of putting names or logos on stools or chairs, house number plates, shop signs, etc.
Is natural wood feasible to cut on a cnc router?
How difficult is the software to use? I used autocad 4 many years ago in college on green screen computers, but I remember none of it & computer literacy wouldn't be a common skill among our members. We don't want it to be the same 2 or 3 people having to set it up all the time, you can spend hours on a pc & it would soon get stale.
Do you have to pay an annual licence fee for the software or for access to pre-programmed designs?
Is it feasible to get a cnc router plus all the tooling, software & hardware for our £10k budget? We would be looking at a smaller machine, maybe 4x4' or 2x4', we don't have the room for a large one. We would also need training on using the equipment & software.
The funders have seen the work we are doing, are very impressed & are extremely keen to work with us. We don't want to insult them by saying no, so we need to come up with some sort of plan.
Any other ideas of useful large machinery in this budget?
We already have the basics covered - startrite table saw, good band saw, dust extractor, lathe, etc. Unfortunately we cant (officially ) do hot work at our location, otherwise I'd be suggesting a plasma table!
Thanks for your help!