Tips for starting a CNC Side Business with an X-carve/CNC

[BrianJohnson]

Wait. Phil doesn’t do this full time?!

[Devin]

Man… did everyone wait until this last week to ortder stuff???

Exactly. Last week I was complaining about slow buisness. And this week. I have to turn buisness away. Or at least let them down and say I wont be able to get it done by x mas. This next 2 weeks. I will be producing more things than I have ever done in that same 2 week time period.

[Devin]

Personally, I prefer your resin inlaid projects better

I would agree that if I was buying. I would go for the carve. But as long as you are giving both options and probably pricing more for carving. Then it is as they say.

[nogeel]

I am going to take my profits and put it back in my machine (if I don’t pay myself back for v-carve). Am I better off getting a cnc4newbies z-axis to replace the finicky stock on that give me trouble when zeroing or making the plunge for the j-tech laser first? It is sounding like the laser may be the better for making money (though I need to look at software and such for the total cost.)

I take any thoughts on this and thanks, everyone. This thread has been really helpful

[Devin]

Bill Burr the comedian advertises for them on his podcast… which is a must listen to

I will second that

[nogeel]

Out of curiosity, how did you use the laser to speed that up?

[MichaelLaviolette]

I just got the CNC up and running so my ideas of making money off it? Well I’m a woodworker 5th generation. If I can incorporate carving into some of the furniture I make, IE: saying on the back of a patio bench, design on a jewelry box top, design on custom cabinet doors. There are possibility that range so far for this machine I cant think of them all. But if it can be thought of I’m going to try it .

[Devin]

Dont forget inlays. I am finding that people really like inlays.

[TommyMiller]

what are you selling

[DavidBaird]

What is Amazon Handmade? Is it a seperate site or app then Amazon?

[JohnBiel]

Top left hand of amazon is a Departments drop down box, you can find it in there. Also contains all info needed to sign up.

Amazon.com: Handmade Products

[nogeel]

When does business pick up for you after Christmas?

[LanceCameron]

Tax return time! Everyone’s a baller at tax time lol.

It’s all gold from there, spring makes ppl happy, happy people spend cash lol

[RickO_shields]

I purchased my 1000mm machine in October, and have probably made a little over a thousand, which is pretty good I think. Prior to owning an x carve I usually scrolled most that I now carve. For the most part I gear women as my target audience. Things just feel better that way. Take advantage of Facebook. As soon as I did my first test carve I posted a video of it on Facebook and almost got 4 orders
just off of the video. Take advantage of seasons as in coming up is valentine’s, then Easter. You do have to make it first, you can describe something all you want but for the most part they can’t see what’s in your head until they can tangibly see it. Door hangers are good sellers using they’re last name or a catchy phrase.

You’ll likely never be able to compete with hobby lobby type pieces so don’t try to. Try to think of things around a $20 to $30 price range that aren’t too time consuming. Ride thru neighborhoods and see what people are putting on their doors. You can also do payment request through messenger on Facebook it’s free and it goes right into your account instantly with no fees. Get half up front so they won’t back out after you invested time. Also make sure you take good clear aesthetically pleasing pictures of everything piece you do that’s got advertisement

[BrianFleig]

I have made and sold over 100 cutting boards, unrelated to CNC, but never sold one for more than $45. How on earth could you make whats in that pic in an hour?

[BenjaminLipinski]

Just stumbled across this thread. Great information here! Looking forward to getting my xcarve once my taxes come back and trying my hand at making a few bucks.

Does anyone else have experiences to share? I really love reading and learning from those.

Thanks!

[MichaelFink]

Just finished reading through this thread, and it has been very helpful. Nice seeing how others have tackled challenges. My main challenge right now is time, due to having 10 month old twins…time is scarce, and I only got my machine in September, so my wife and I have full time jobs, 10 month old twins, and a constant evolving learning curve. And while I have only made $500 I have been happy about the constant learning that I have been able to do.

[BenjaminLipinski]

Thank you for posting your story. I’m in a very similar situation, not with twins, but with two girls one 7 and the other is a pre-teen. Both my wife and I work full time and seem to have full time jobs when we get home with all the things the girls are into so time will be hard to come by when I get the Xcarve. I’m inspired to hear that since September you have been able to bring in $500.00…that’s awesome and congrats! My main goal is to sell enough to pay off the machine in my first year. I have been studying up on these forums and you tube and cant wait to get started!

[PhillipLunsford]

Congratulations @BenjaminLipinski @MichaelFink on your success. I have two grand babies I take care of and it is hard to find time to get into the shop. Keep at it. It’s well worth it.

[MichaelFink]

Thank you! Just for the sake of full disclosure, that $500 (actually $490) came from two jobs and was not profit. One came from a cornhole board set that I carved in the Arizona Cardinals logo and my friends name and then backfilled it with the West System epoxy resin, that was $250, but I went through a good amount of epoxy as it was my 1st time, I netted about $100 when all said and done. The other were two cutting boards, one inlayed with Washington State University, and the other inlayed with the state of Washington and an apple, I had the material on-hand so my cost was only about $10.

I’m in the same boat as you, if I can pay for the machine and the $350 that I dropped for vCarve Desktop (and hopefully some upgrades) in year 1 then I am more than happy.

-Mike