Can you design a ….. ?
Part of running CNCROi.com is getting requests for stuff customers would like but have no idea is possible or more precisely, find a custom CNC shop willing to take a project on.
How it all got started…
Before CNCROi.com acquired ANY machinery, I taught myself how to design for them and published many books on the subject, unlike the traditional method that most shops take of buying the machine THEN learning to design. The advantage to this approach is that I taught myself how to design optimally and properly for almost a decade (in years!) before first making stuff. You can see that work over at CNCKing.com which was rebranded from my original site, WoodMarvels.com.
Material Capabilities
A custom design is only as good as the materials you use, for instance, the above medieval castle I designed could have just as easily been made out of acrylic, stainless steel or even glass. Each material has a cost and benefit to it, but with a few slight modifications, can be adaptable to just about any scale and use.
Of course, with materials, budget is also a consideration as cutting that castle of out stainless steel would cost dramatically more than out of MDF plywood and weight significantly more, so shipping must be considered.
Design, yep! Materials, yep!
As a result, because CNCROi.com can design simple to complex 3D objects to be custom fabricated out of any material in the shop, it means that more likely than not, your “can you design a … ” will be a yes, given enough time and budget.
Having the capability to design in 3D allows us to make just about anything as well, try making something like the water wheel 6ft tall to work right THE FIRST TIME after THE FIRST CUT and it’s just about impossible using any other method out there, especially if the customer wants a few last-minute design modifications to be performed.
Unique Challenges of Custom CNC
I’ve written quite a bit about the challenges present with any given material using any given machine, CNC plasmas have their own quirks like CNC routers, 3D printers or CNC lasers that have to be kept in mind while designing. Unlike “traditional woodwork” though, the advantage of CNC is that we can make things PRECISELY, EFFICIENTLY and QUICKLY across a massive range of mix and match materials.
For instance, if you want the above water wheel to actually work, and have stainless steel blades instead of wood or use various thicknesses of laminates for promotional purposes, we can incorporate that into a design with minimal trial and error. This would be just about impossible using any other design method.
Volume, Material, Application, Timeline & Budget
Due to the fact that we have unlimited capabilities when it comes to your application, it’s vital that we know at least volume, budget and timeline to begin with. We use a vast array of materials and can optimize it to any design, so you don’t need to know this unless you have a specific request.
Depending on the complexity, we can create a prototype and 3D animation showcasing your model, here for example is an assembly video of the Rocket Coaster you saw at the top of this blog.
And that came from a 3D assembly animation we did earlier to test the design out.
Which itself, came from the evolution of a design process in full 3D so that once it was animated and cut, everything fit and worked perfectly.
Whether it’s annealing and creating a custom stainless steel or anodized aluminium corporate award with a solid wood base or something as simple as a mylar stencil, CNCROi.com can get it done for you. Contact us right now!
