This scary stuff is why I started CNCKing.com!
Before CNCKing.com – everything I saw related to designing projects with wood looked like this. Source: https://canadianwoodworking.com/get-more/frame-and-panel-design and although the article is very well written and yes, I do understand it. This is honestly what I dislike about woodworking – if you think this is complicated you should see some toy designs out there!
The reason why you see all these measurements – usually in inches (double yuck!) is because you need to use a combination of manual and power tools to complete the project and a crazy amount of patience and hard work… this is the opposite way that I design and approach projects. I want something simple to cut looking as good as possible with as few pieces as possible and easy to put together.
What I brought to the market is the use of CNC machines to design your projects and not only that, you don’t need to have a Ph.D. in wood, math and tools to get awesome results! Although this existed before… it was very hard to find. I really hate math, it’s good for some tasks but building isn’t one of them in my opinion… even building methods in consideration in a few years involve 3D printing an entire full sized home out of concrete. Wow, have a house built a matter of a week with another for curing instead of months! What incredible design and affordability possibilities that opens up! Of course, this will cost construction jobs etc… but it’s the inevitable march of progress – be part of it or be left behind.
Why is my method more powerful? It takes all the guesswork out of a project – I do all the R&D in the computer before any wood is cut and the precision that I can have, even with my limited skill set, blows away what can be done with manual and power tools. For instance, just look at what Ivan sent to me this morning, a retired American machinist.
Hi Jon. These pictures are telling the power of SCALING which I learned from you, when using varies thickness of plywood. .125”, .187”, .250”
It’s awesome work but just try doing this to be identical proportions using any other method than a CNC machine (he used a router but can be just as easily made with a laser or 3D printer). Imagine the instructions I’d have to give just to build these things using endless measured pieces, one at a time and that panel at the top of this post looks like child’s play.
What Ivan has done is he bought my plans on my site, plugged them into his computer and the CNC cut the pieces out. He has NO measurements at all to contend with other than a scaling factor – I base all my designs on material thickness ONLY for this purpose! He had NO complicated multi-tool set-up and procedures and best of all, I could have given this to a 10 year old kid and they’d be able to build this just as easily as a highly trained machinist! This is the incredible power that CNC machines offer and I’ve only scratched the veneer with CNCKing.com of what I plan on doing in this department. The most “complex” thing I’ll be getting into once I have larger machines is multi-CNC projects. So, support hinges cut with a CNC plasma, wood cut using a CNC router and then engraved with a CNC laser!
So, when woodworkers tell me that what I’m doing isn’t really woodworking – I tell them that I’d prefer to be dead-accurate in my designs, not require endless sanding and planing and still have time to enjoy my life.
There is an absolute art to what they do, it’s mind blowing… but at the end of the day, they are slowly and methodically being replaced by a new generation of designers and woodworkers who use what I do – CNC tools and virtual design processes. It’s just such an efficient design method! The band saw, skill saw, belt sander etc… do still have their place in CNC production, but they are auxiliary to fix issues that were caused with a bad design or material selection – nice to have but not absolutely necessary. Another reason to buy a tested design!
I always forget to do this but I should start posting the hate mail I get from people seeing their craft being replaced by “robots” – there is quite a bit of resentment, which I understand. It’s like the people whose job it was to cut and carry ice to cellars across North America so they could keep food cold over the summer months before the refrigerator was invented. They still very much have their place, and I admire the work they do – they have more skill than I ever will have, but in modern times, it just isn’t needed most projects around the house or office.
There is a reason why that awesome wooden kitchen you have now costs a fraction of what it use to and is done in a week instead of a month… it’s a losing battle unless they go high-end which is still willing to pay for their incredible skill, dedication and knowledge. Like the photographers who were replaced with digital cameras, they’ll have to find another niche to exploit as there is no way they can compete against the power of the ever improving CNC machine.