CNCKing.com Commercial Production Licenses Removed

I’ve now removed the option to purchase a CNCKing.com Commercial Production License that allowed shops far and wide to reproduce on a royalty system, the models found on CNCKing.com – as it’s an annual renewal, those that have purchased it are still valid but will not be renewed when the term of the contract ends unless they meet my expectations.

Idea behind the CNCKing.com Commercial Production License

When I started CNCKing.com – lots of shops saw products that they liked and wanted to commercially produce them for their local markets – this worked great for some but not so much for others. After years of offering and dealing with shops trying to launch, it became evident that not everybody is entrepreneurial – just cause you have a laser doesn’t mean you now how to make a profit running your shop nor do you have the ability to sell! Throw-in the fact that there have been production issues – from underpowered lasers to inconsistent stepper motors etc… basically it was a mixed bag without consistency. That is now over!

Offering Kits without Commercial Production Licenses

As I’ve hinted earlier, the biggest issue holding back the kit business for CNCKing.com has been consistency of operator skill, materials and machines. I learned A LOT throughout this entire process and the fact that I’m getting my laser in a few short months – an awesomely crazy Trotec Speedy 400 flexx! – means I can take the bull from the horns and do this properly! Suffice it to say, the barrier to entry to a commercial production license will be elevated tremendously – more on that later but I’m doing this to remove production headaches on my side. Sadly, what most laser operators haven’t figured out is that you CAN’T RUN A LASER BUSINESS USING CRAPPY MACHINES! Not only are your results inconsistent even on identical material but your production times are so long that you can’t sell anything remotely affordable PROFITABLY.

Problems with substandard CNC lasers

To give you an example of some of the experiences I’ve enjoyed over the years, an European shop operator was having production issues – after a bit of back and forth guess what they were trying to use to cut 6 mm thick models – an Epilog Zing! Sure, it’s one step up from a Chinese machine but barely… the platform is way too small, no matter how slow you go the results will have horrible ROI and running this from an apartment just doesn’t work with crazy slow cutting times (due to a relatively underpowered tube). I gave him a refund and told him that when he’s serious about operating a CNC laser business to send me an e-mail. Totally useless machine!

Another guy in South America had a large format Chinese machine… 200W of CO2 power… should have had no problems right? Well, not only couldn’t he figure out how to focus the machine but the z-axis kept shifting on him! Seriously… what’s the point of saving money by buying what sounds like a great machine if your z-axis can’t stay in place! Oh yeah, the software he got kept crashing as well, apparently an EPS file with “too much data” just couldn’t be handled by the job control software and kept causing bottle necks so the stepper motors kept on going out of alignment because they’d lose where they were due to memory issues on his computer. Yep, I gave this guy a refund as well and told him the same thing – when you are SERIOUS about getting into the laser industry – send me an e-mail. Totally useless machine!

One of the more interesting problems I experienced was with a guy out of Africa, he had an Indian or Italian CNC laser and for some reason, he’d get amazing cuts in some areas but it just wasn’t consistent across the sheet. He had more than enough power, the bed size was decent so I couldn’t quite figure out what the problem was. He had awesome cutting times when it worked! Well, after a little investigating – he was using a glass tube and it kept overheating – there is a reason why your car’s radiator doesn’t have WATER IN IT! Throw in the fact that his table wasn’t square or flat and guess what… another refund and another message that when he’s SERIOUS about getting into the laser industry to e-mail me. Yet another completely USELESS MACHINE!

These examples deal with the machine alone – teaching another person how to market their company etc… well, I don’t have time for that if they can’t be bothered to have proper machinery to begin with. These are all problems I will NOT HAVE with my Trotec Speedy 400 flexx!

China…

I’ll be moving to China shortly for some R&R and during this time, I’m going to work out a few more kinks in the business model I’m about to launch – kits are not returning to CNCKing.com specifically but they are returning as an option – as mentioned previously, I’ve come to learn through trial and error that he business for physical kits is very different than that of digital files in both form and substance.

I’ve also learned a tremendous amount over the past two years here in Australia about production, equipment and market potential.

“I want a commercial license”

I know that the moment this post goes live I’ll get people asking me about getting a commercial production license here on CNCKing.com – it is no longer available. Why? Well, it’s by invitation only because I’m not dealing with people who buy crappy machines or have awful business judgement any longer. This is a MASSIVE opportunity and I’m going to be picky!