General Woodworking

CNC Machines for Fun and Profit

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There is a special group of people out there who love woodworking and technology and are always looking at new ways of putting the two together ... and from that marriage came the CNC machines we have today. I remember the first time I ever heard about someone putting together a computer with a router. It was just after the first Macintosh Computer was invented. I heard a story from one of the Apple Reps, that one of the main engineers on the development of the Mac had actually used the printer port to connect to some small servo motors he had and attached his router to it and was using it for making signs and small pictures. This was the first time I had ever heard of a computer controlling a router, which is in essence, what a CNC machine is. Well , that was way back in 1985 or so and things have come a long way since then. Now we have a variety of software programs to drive the machinery and of course the CNC machines can now do much with many different axis / angles and techniques.

For woodworkers who have the time and inkling, there is a whole world out there of interesting things that can be done with CNC machines, both commercially and for one own interest and enjoyment. After all ... most of us don't make woodworking projects to re-sell, we make them for our own use, enjoyment and satisfaction.

cnc router

The real beauty of a CNC machines is that they allow the woodworker a whole new world of creativity. If you are the kind of woodworker who has trouble making a straight cut with any kind of a hand or power tool, you can still do beautiful work with a CNC machine. Your talent may be in designing a new font or implementing a new font into your CNC computer in order to make some sort of sign, or ... maybe you want make some sort of a graphic ... and use different woods like an Intarsia piece. The CNC can help you make all the pieces like a big puzzle and you can put it together int the end and finish it. The quality of the parts and how well they fit together will be your challenge on the CNC machine, and maybe that's the kind of challenge you like? No everyone is interested in cutting boards, gluing them together to make bigger planks.

CNC routers come in all sorts of different types and sizes. One of my friends has 2 of them and they pretty much take up most of his shop. One is about 4 feet square, the other is 13 feet long by about 5 feet across. It is absolutely fascinating to watch either one of them at work. What you don't see is all the computer work he needs to do ahead of time in setting up the for the cuts. Over the years he has become very proficient and using the software (once he found some software that he liked and that could do the kinds of things he wanted to with his CNC machines). He does a lot of commercial work, but he started off doing smaller pieces for himself and others and the CNC machines and the techniques blossomed into ongoing business that he just couldn't ignore.

cnc

If you have any interest in computers and like woodworking, CNC routers might be just the item to get your creative juices flowing and producing some unique and outstanding projects ... who knows where it will lead? Could be a business ... might be nothing more than a lot of fun for years to come.

Building A Business Around Your CNC Machine

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CNC Woodworking Many woodworkers dream of making woodworking their livelihood, and a good number do, but there is also a whole universe of opportunity out there for part-time-woodworking jobs, often smaller jobs that the "big shops" don't want to do.

In an ideal world we would all get to use our own woodworking tools and make lovely furniture and sell it for a nice profit and make a living. Sadly, reality says - this isn't going to happen for most of us - SO what are the alternatives.

One industry that I have always felt there was extra work in, and a good part-time business as well, is the CNC woodworking business. For those of you who need a quick refresher, a CNC machine is nothing more than a computer controlled router. On a computer you create some sort of a graphic, like lettering for a sign for example, send that information to the router through the computer and in a while the router carves out the exact same drawing you input into the computer.

There are a number of different types of CNC machines and they have different capabilities and sizes of wood that they can accommodate, so there can be some restrictions. For example, all CNC routers will go back and forth and up and down, but some have even more control, and could for example turn the bit to 90 degrees or more to actually make three dimensional items. But all that is detail, for now we want to look at the business of creating a CNC router business.

Amazing Woodwork Photographs From Around the World

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Amazing Woodworking Photographs From Around the World

Wood isn't just enjoyable to work with; it also makes a great subject for photography.

Over the last few years we've seen some fascinating and amazing woodwork related photographs on Flickr. We've decided to share some of them below; hopefully you'll find them as interesting as we did.

Cathedrals:

Notre-Dame (alter, II)

Robert Francis

Catedral de Barcelona
catedral de barcelona 10.7.08 - 99

16,000 Woodworking Plans Scams and Spams

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Woodworking Plans Scams I'm sure by now you've seen some of those advertisements for an immense amount of plans for one low price. Well, as you've probably guessed, most of these are scams! Like your mother always said, if its too good to be true...

Now, with some of these offers, you do actually get the plans ... but, they often don't included instructions, some aren't full plans or they are hard to read, and some are just duplicates. Many have been poorly scanned from magazines and some have just been lifted or stolen from various websites.

The REAL PROBLEM is not the poor quality of the plans, really ... what would expect for $50 and 16,000 plans ... the REAL PROBLEM is people who order these plans and receive nothing, AND they can't get their money back.

There are many, many unscrupulus sellers out there who will take money from honest, unsuspecting people and give them nothing in return.

These "offers" have become a real plague on You Tube, Facebook and other social media sites were the sellers of these woodworking plans are spamming anything related to woodworking just to try to make a sale.

But Ted's Plans is not the only culprit, there are others with easy sounding names that are just as bad, if not worse, so BE AWARE of everything and do your homework, and if you are not sure - Ask Someone.

Meet Ted "Woody" Mcgrath

Woodworking Scams Ted "Woody" Mcgrath of tedswoodworking.com is one of the largest offenders in these scams. TedsWoodworking 16,000 Plans scam is by far the largest woodworking plans offer spammed across the internet.

Who is Ted? Well, as you've probably guessed, there is no Ted Mcgrath. Ted is just another character of fiction created to sell products. Teds Woodworking is really owed by Richard Butler of Gosport, HAMPSHIRE UK. Richard has probably not done a day of woodworking in his life and probably spends his days finding ways to rip honest people off.

How to Avoid and Prevent these Woodworking Plan Scams.

Make sure you only buy plans from legit sources. If you're not sure of a source, do a Google search for reviews or just ask in our forums.
Have a look at the purchase page of the plans, if it goes to Clickbank domain, its more than likely a scam product. Clickbank is a market place where anyone can add their products for affiliates to promote. Affiliates get a large revenue share for selling the product and unfortunately most turn to spamming to do so.
You can help remove Woodworking plans scams from the internet by reporting them when possible. For example, in YouTube you can "flag" the video, on Facebook you can "report page" and on Twitter you can report the user as spam. Many other social networking sites offer similar features that let you report spammers and scammers.

If you really want to see if any of these people are woodworkers or just plain scammers, check they out, they NEVER show anything they have built from the plans, they only ever talk about it which proves another point, they are not woodworkers, they are scammers ... so don't be fooled, there are thousands of good FREE PLANS all over the Internet and there are thousands more plans offered for a small amount of money, and the plans where you actually pay something are almost always much better than the free plans, so don't be afraid to pay someone for their time and efforts ... you will get a much better plans and much better results.