Flutterby™! : CNC carving 2007-01-09 22:57:43.705016+00

CNC carving

2007-01-09 22:57:43.705016+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Ack. Blogger comments seem to be screwed up, so I'll respond here: Dave Goodman points to a Sears computer controlled carving machine. Dave, if you're really into building stuff, next time you're down in the Bay Area with the ability to carry home some electronics give me a holler. I'm sure I've got double what I need to build such a beastie, and at this point I think I'm getting pretty good at figuring out how to configure carriages and jigs...

CNC machining of wood, and perhaps nonferrous metals, is something that I look forward to for a variety of reasons. Just for the sheer joy of playing, as well as some more serious artistic expression. Some things just enthrall the mind and eye, and computer controlled 2D and more so 3D output is one. In the late 70's I had a IBM mini and interfaced a nonIBM XY plotter by writing my own drivers for it in assembler. At the time this was high tech stuff, and staff at my laboratory would come down to my office and be hypnotized watching the pen draw their graphics. I fell into that too, and could often lose a half an hour just following the pens as they traced out their curves.

3D creation of solid objects clearly would provide for much more than an order of magnitude improvement in terms of self expression, never mind the more prosaic utility of such a device. Cost and functionality remain serious concerns though. I dropped 8K on a Oneway lathe, and would willingly pay about that for a high quality hobbyist CNC that could work in 3D. One immediate application would be the decoration of the forms that I turn on the aforementioned lathe.

I vowed to NEVER buy another Craftsman power tool after my first experience many moons ago. But, if Sears is mass marketing such a device, more and better is sure to follow. And that is worth waiting for. For some people, owning and using high quality tools is a joy. I am fortunate that my wife accepts my predilections.

Yeah, what I'm seeing is that a decent CNC machine for wood would be a great way to not do final carving, but to do rough carving to which a good craftsman could tweak the corners and detail work. Charlene's brother Rob does some incredible carving, but feels that he needs to do a lot of practice to get to the point where he can charge for his work. However, since he's connected into the circle where he can make money with carving, I've been thinking that something with decent throws (I'm thinking 3/8" threaded rod spun with stepper motors) that could carve the face of a door and let him do the final touch-up could be a fun project and profitable for me.