CNCKing.com 2012: Growth, Expansion & Diversification!

From pre-launch of WoodMarvels.com (now CNCKing.com), I’ve been documenting every project and major milestone with this company – at first, there wasn’t much to report, then I had enough material to cover an entire month and then decided to do annual reviews. I firmly believe that if you track something, it will grow and reveal its secrets. Let’s see the major milestones here at CNCKing.com over the past year starting from the beginning!

WoodMarvels 2009: Server, Rendering & Software Upgrades

In 2009, I released 26 new designs and started adding designers onto the site, a total of 8 by that point. It was also the first time WoodMarvels.com got some press including blogs around the world and press in Inc. magazine and the Globe and Mail! I was so busy that year that I release my first and second volume of books and moved onto HD 3D renderings for the site (720HD). Video embeds all moved from other providers onto YouTube.com and major upgrades throughout were made in both software and hardware. You can read more about it at:

WoodMarvels.com 2010: Growth, Tradeshows & Partnerships!

In 2010, I released our first DXF file formats for CNC table routers and expanded the videos into the Chinese marketplace. Established a partnership with Trotec Laser Australia along with their HQ in Austria and ShopBot Tools. Released a total of 20 new designs along with countless updates across the entire system. Read more about it at:

WoodMarvels.com 2011: Virtual becomes Physical

Got my first real CNC machine thanks to ShopBot Tools – a fantastically functional ShopBot Desktop! Up to that point, I only designed but never cut any of my own models… I was amazed at how well everything worked! Also released 31 new models (11 laser, 7 table router, 13 laser from other designers). 2011 was also the first time we hit 1 000 000 video views! One the 3D printing front (3DMarvels.com was launched in 2010 but didn’t start gaining much steam until 2011), Fabbaloo wrote about the site and the site grew to 18 models with a goal of hitting 50 by the end of the year.

CNCKing.com 2012: Growth, Expansion & Diversification!

Of all the things I could have predicted in 2012, rebranding certainly never crossed my mind but now that it’s done… so many new opportunities have opened-up for me and it was not only long overdue, but well worth it! Let’s review my initial goals for 2012 I set forth in January of last year. I’ve color coded it for easy reference, Red = not met, Orange = sorta met, Green = met.

Nail down and release a few animations in 3D 720HD

My goal (since 2009 actually) was to get into true stereoscopic 3D videos for the site, I went another root this year with new hardware, going from 720HD to 1080HD. My dream of stereoscopy isn’t dead, just delayed waiting for the technology to be more developed.

Get a new industrial workstation to blow through these crazy rendering queues that slow things down across the board.

Was hoping to have enough resources to buy a Z workstation from Dell with 24 cores, compromised (I moved half-way around the world) and got a 12 core beast instead for a third the price!

As I’ve been doing with the CNC models, I want to produce a video show for at least 50 laser cut models.

As you see from the past, I manage to release a new model for CNCKing.com roughly every week and a half. As of the end of 2012, the total model count for the site was 26 (8 new) for 3D printing, 156 (12 new) for laser cutting, 1 (1 new) for plasma cutting and 37 (29 new) for table routing. So the total number of models released was exactly 50! Almost double 2011! That doesn’t include the incredible number of file upgrades I did across the board – wow… almost a new model every week!

Release WoodMarvels.com Volume IV which will have a combo of laser and CNC projects in it.

With the rebranding which took two solid months of uploading and updating to do, there was no way I was able to devote the time and resources required to make this happen and in hind-sight, that was a good thing! The book is well past 200 pages so far, closer to 300 actually – it will be MASSIVE, INFORMATIVE and the best damn CNC design book ever published… just delayed a few months. Each book I try to one-up myself, I’m going seriously overboard on this one and can’t wait till it’s done!

I’d really like to get my very own laser cutting machine (and 3D printer too).

This is the most interesting change, I didn’t get my OWN laser cutter but I have ready access to one – accepting a position with Evright.com here in Australia. I got plenty of time cutting various materials across Trotec Laser’s full product range from their small Rayjet to their hefty Trotec Speedy 500 while making my dream of living in Australia with my wife come true… at the tail end of 2011 this was but a dream but now it’s very much a reality. The very massive piece of the puzzle that I’m working on is getting a 3D printer – it’s really what the site needs… I have my wonderful ShopBot Desktop that allowed me to quickly pump-out 37 table router projects… I need to do the same with 3D printing files on the site.

Major achievements in 2012

As you can see, I achieved my major goals I had set for myself more or less. Here are some additional milestones:

• Combined and greatly expanded the files available with every purchase, basically, you get EVERYTHING I have – no long needing to purchase a DXF separately from an EPS and so on… a huge value at no additional cost!
• Sold my first commercial production license in Japan (as well as a few other countries)
• Joined FaceBook, Pinterest and Georgia Tech’s Invention Studio listed us as a laser cutting file resource
• Introduced Zopim online chatting to the site (I don’t have broadband yet so haven’t been on there for a few weeks) which has really put me in touch with our customers around the world
• Passed the 2 000 000 video views mark and our 800th blog post! Also opened the flood-gates on video advertising – no complaints and some additional funds helping me fund CNCKing.com all the faster!
• Got my 8 month long beard and hair cut by my wife!
• WoodMarvels.com was listed #1 in Baidu (Chinese search engine) for laser cut projects
• My printed-on-demand books were released throughout Europe!
• Thanks to a partnership with Trotec Laser Australia, started releasing job timing previews for my laser projects
• Became a regular contributor to EngraversRegister.com

Goals for 2013

I have several goals for 2013 for CNCKing.com

• Need to acquire a 3D printer – 3D Systems just released their CubeX 3D FDM printer which allows support materials to be printed at the same time as the main material using a different material (can be dissolved) so that’s a major front runner. I’d love to get a ZPrinter though… 3D printed projects are design, print, release without needing any assembly instructions or other steps so given enough rendering time, a lot easier to produce and release than table router, laser or plasma projects.
• I’d really really like to get into plasma cutting – either acquiring my own machine or through a partnership with a leading world manufacturer
• Releasing 50 models across all four CNC types on CNCKing.com would make me happy
• Release CNCKing.com Volume 4: Rise of the CNC!
• Resolution wise, I’ll stick with 1080HD but I would still like to get into a third-party 3D visualization system on the site, so although it wouldn’t be a 3D animation, you could still manipulate the model on the site within a 3D environment
• Expand CNC offerings into new CNC types, there are 5-axis machines, waterjet and the list goes on… all fun machines to play with and design for! That will necessitate another workstation or two to keep-up rendering wise! New computer has already been going 24/7 most of its life as is my old laptop.
• Develop some sort of automated system for files, I don’t mind curating the best out there but it’s a limiting factor I’d like to reduce
• Become a regular contributor on industry-leading informational resources online and off for the CNC world.

There you go, a rundown of where things were and will be in the future. I’m positive there will be something amazing coming-in around the corner that I can’t predict at the moment but I’m ready for it!