This is an interesting conversation. I haven’t had my x-carve for too long so I’m still learning the ins and outs of everything. I had little woodworking experience beforehand so actually my biggest problem hasn’t been getting a piece machined but getting it finished and looking good. I’m not expecting to quit my job and do this full time but just trying to make it a hobby that pays for itself. So far I’ve mostly made presents for people’s birthdays and signs for my wife and then just advertise them on Facebook and hope someone sees them and wants the same thing or something similar or requests custom work. I’d love to be able to find a vendor or someone who wants a small number of parts each month that could create a “steady income.”
I haven’t found any issues yet with the Garageworx CNC. It is a steel construction which gives it a lot more rigidity and the stepper motors are consierably more powerful. It was also a lot easier to construct and because of the design and machining tolerances it was almost self squaring and needed almost no adjustments. As far as the size of machine, I am more limited by space in my shop. I guess if money wasn’t an issue than I would be able to get a bigger shop then. I needed a bigger cutting area than what the X-Carve offered to engrave on my American Flag Coin Racks/Wall Art. Other than that the X-Carve met most of my needs as a CNC, and with the addition of the Jtech 2.8W laser, as a laser engraver.
Like mention by other people, what you use your machine for should determine what machine you use. I think the X-Carve is a great machine and I learned so much about CNC machining and truth be told it allowed me to get into the CNC game. I just needed a bigger machine for some of the stuff I use my CNC for.
A local cabinet maker has a set of specialty parts that are difficult for him to cut accurately on manual shop equipment. So I cut them for him. Nothing sexy, just the ability to cut precise shapes, countersunk screw holes and dado’s from his ever changing hand drawn sketches.
1 Like
I agree @CoreyMitchell, I think how people are making money from there CNC is both interesting and helpful. We all carve out our own business model (tee hee), but it’s helpful to see what works for others.
@WorkinWoods I think taking that leap to start a business is great, this has been my family’s sole source of income now for over a 1 1/2 years and as stressful as it can be, my wife and I love having our own business. And it helps that we have done fairly well at it- selling nearly $100,000 gross last year and with this year set to to increase that by close to %50.
I added the X-Carve about last September and it improved our finished product so much and saved me so much time. It has been a huge game changer, but again because I cut smaller pieces and spend so much time finishing it’s still working for our business model. But we are always adding more products and wanting to keep growing and growing so something bigger will be in the future.
Word to the wise, if you are making CNC into a business, find the best sources for material, you can save big time shopping around and buying larger amounts.
1 Like
My machine came with a KentCNC dust shoe. It works perfectly, I can’t think of anything that would improve it.
Oh very nice yeah same thing the cabinet shop I talked to wants plus my ability to automatically nest everything
1 Like
Oooo ok yeah I want one but I dont want to buy 2 incase my spindle is a different size then my bosch 1617 so I am stuck right now:(
Thanks man yeah thats inspiration lol I hope to do good at it
Interesting. I know someone who does a lot of (amazing) cabinet work. I think I’m going to have to send him a message…
We make hardwood toys and educational items primary aimed at specialty schooling groups that focus on utilizing natural products for education and recreation. But as natural products are becoming more and more the in thing right now our target audience has grown, but that’s where we began.
Just as with any business it’s important to find your niche and offer a excellent product and even better customer service. It took us a couple of years to build a client base and get our foot in the door, along with a ton of work. I spend 8-10 hrs. a day in the shop everyday of the week, and my wife spends half that time doing sales and shipping.
3 Likes
Do you have a website? I’m interested now that my daughter is getting closer to playing with toys instead of just chewing on them.
find your niche
Yep that’s what I’m still working on. I’m getting there though.
Somewhat related question since you specifically mentioned hardwood toys. Where do you get your hardwoods? Hardwood dealer? Lumberyard? Online?
We don’t have a website yet, we sell primarily through etsy and using PayPal invoices within private Facebook groups.
Our etsy is FromJennifer - Etsy
I buy exclusively from a local lumber yard called Smith Lumber, they aren’t a chain, but a family business. They get all there wood from the mill and they straight edge it and plain it to the customers specifications. I would strongly suggest finding a company like this to deal with. They are around most places but not always easy to find and their system can be confusing until you get use to it. But they are significantly cheaper than box stores and far easier to interact with.
What’s something like that cost?
There are three different sizes offered for the GarageWorx CNCs and this one is the largest model which is the 4x4 (Cutting area). The CNC DIY kits are available as “a rolling chassis” which includes all the metal components, hardware, and V-groove bearings listed as Package “A”. This makes it easy for you to add your own acme precision lead screws, acme nuts, and couplers or if you prefer order Package “B” and get your lead screws already cut to the correct length with the acme nuts, couplers AND the bearings and bearing mounts. So to purchase both package A & B in that size is $1898. Then another $395 for the four stepper motors and drive box which can be ordered from a recommended vendor or you can source them yourself. You can get more information on these kits from Garageworx CNC.
Of course the picture I posted is my machine which I pimped out with a bunch of other things which of course bring the overall price of machine.
Not a bad price at all!!
Not at all, and this thing is a beast. I am really impresssed on how it performs and having lead screws are a huge upgrade.
what are its max speeds? 200 inch/min?
I’m not sure how fast it can go but I have it set to 200 ipm as max
hmm just kinda weird I have run the x-carve at 200 inch/min
I wonder if that machine you have there is designed for lower speed accuracy