Watch This Before You Buy A CNC Router In 2023

Every day I hear a story about someone who bought a CNC but now feels overwhelmed, frustrated, and ready to give up. By the end of

this

video, you will know exactly what you need and what you need to do before starting CNC. I will also share the exact CNC that I recommend for the absolute beginner. I'm talking about the person who has no prior CNC experience, as I started six years ago before we jumped into the software. I just want to know that

this

video is not sponsored. by any of the companies I mentioned in this video.

These are my own thoughts that I have formed from my own experiences, but I will link everything I talk about in the description below if you are interested in learning more about any of those products. Alright, so the software now I'm starting here on purpose because the software is the biggest barrier to entry when you get your CNC, it's the biggest learning curve and I wanted to start here so let's look at the softwares that you will use. you need you need then you will need the Cad and cam software so CAD is the computer aided design part think this is the artwork these are the circles and the shapes and the letters of what makes up your design then the cam side to that you First do CAD and then do the cam side and that is the machining side.

Computer aided machining and this is where you set your tool paths to set your speeds and rates, you set your depth of cut, this is how you control your tool. how the computer controls your tool to cut out your design. My recommendation is to start with the software that is recommended by the company you purchased your CNC machine from and the reason for this is that this is the quickest and shortest way to get started, think about it. As everything is simplified with one company, now CNC manufacturers recognize this and realize that this is a bit of a barrier to entry, so what they do is they create a bunch of resources to train you on a certain piece of software that works. good with your machine so you can buy a C Machine CNC machine and then go out and get another piece of software, but then you're dealing with two companies and how to integrate them is completely possible, don't get me wrong, but completely. beginner, everything is simplified, start with the software your CNC manufacturer recommends, so my CNC journey went exactly this way.

I started with Carbide Create, which is the Oco shaping software. I used it for three years and then when I got my Avid CNC I switched. I turn to Vectric because that is what they recommend and one thing I have observed many times is that Vectric is the final destination for many people and for good reason it is a great company. I have had great experiences with it and it is a robust piece of software software power advice as soon as you press the buy button uh to purchase your CNC machine the next thing you need to do is download the software and start getting familiar with it start to

watch

their videos start

watch

ing YouTube videos start by reading all the different resources that the manufacturer has put together about that software and while you're waiting for your machine to arrive, you need to familiarize yourself with the software because it will be the biggest hurdle you'll have to overcome to get there. that first project, so let's talk bits, this is something you will need to operate your CNC machine and there are a ton of options available.

What I recommend right off the bat is to go to Amazon and buy some cheap drill bits that you need. For a quarter-inch downcut bit, you need a 60-degree V-groove bit and you need a bowl and pan bit. Those are the three bits I recommend to get started. Buying the cheapest bits at first is perfectly fine and I recommend it because it will break a little bit, you will break something when you start and there is no point in running out and grabbing a fifty dollar pretty color coding bit and breaking it in half. There's nothing that bothers me more than seeing people go out and buy a Mana. parts that are really nice don't get me wrong but you still don't know what you're doing and you break it and then you're like oh I'm out of 50 bucks that hurts that's what I did so don't do it.

Go for it, buy cheap parts, if you want something that's a little more high quality you can head over to andybirdbuilds.com and I've put together a nice set of American made parts that has these three pieces. Andy Bird Building Pieces, but Don't feel like you need to run out and do that at first, but there's a reason I believe in these three bits. I use them 95 of the time, so let's talk a little bit about the bits and some terms that are going to Whether you're going to hear about IPM or inches per minute, you're going to hear about Doc, which is depth of cut, you're going to hear go over, which is to think of it literally as the bit. it's making passes back and forth, how far it goes each time it's working its way through the material, so those are some common terms that you'll hear and this is all under the camera portion of your software, now it's a thing really interesting.

Most software generalizes here: they have a tool database already loaded with common feed rates. Now the feed rates are all those things I just explained rolled into one, so it's a nice feature so you don't have to worry about it. Don't start from scratch, if the software doesn't do it, the bit manufacturer usually does it. Next, let's talk about the project design files. Now the project layout files are the files you need to create your projects. Now you can design your own projects in your CAD software and then configure them. update One Way's beginner tool paths which is a great way to get around so you can start creating faster and not have to figure out how to design projects or maybe you see something online that you want a lot of people to buy files for. outside of Etsy, but a lot of businesses like your software company or your CNC also have free projects for you to get started, so take advantage of those free products, they're free projects and learn the ropes and then you can jump in and create your Something Else.

One thing to keep in mind is that just purchasing the cad cam project file does not mean that those tool paths are set up for your specific machine, so they could have been cut from a different material, they could be set up for a different tool size. So they're still learning the curve here. I think a lot of people say, "Oh, I just buy a CNC. I don't need to learn the software because I just buy the files and just throw in a piece of wood." hit go and everything is fine, well that's not necessarily true to be successful, you need to learn what tools you have, what tools are set up there, so you may need to take some, you may need to make some adjustments to file that purchase to make it work properly on your machine, next let's talk about the material, now you obviously need materials to make projects in a few places that come to mind.

The first place to get materials to use is The Big Box store, so the minimums are Home Depot Menards, things like now it's good to get MDF plywood sheets, things like that, they have some hardwoods that are okay to use If you want to try them, that's completely fine, but I usually turn people away because they are very, very expensive. The next best option if you are going to Hardwoods is to find a local lumber store. If you are in a big city, look for a Rockler or Woodcraft, although they are still expensive, they are less expensive and better quality. than the big box stores, well, I have a power of materials tip for you and that is to go on social media and look for local woodworkers, look for woodworkers in your area and befriend them, reach out to them and say, hey, look , this is what I'm doing this is what I want to do, where do you buy your wood?

They'll have someone who's already established and they'll know exactly where to get it locally, whether it's a local sawmill or something, and then the next one. The thing is to say: Hey, can I buy some of your cuts? Are there things you're just throwing out there that I could experiment with? So you already have your material. Now you need to figure out your job. So work is the way to do it. attach that material to the base of your CNC now, the two ways I hold the material on my CNC base are double sided tape or screws.

I usually don't use both at the same time, I have used one or the other. clamps I've used t-track I've used all those different things and I prefer those two methods double sided tape there's a lot of junk double sided tape out there so I'll leave a link in the description to double The double sided tape I use is the double sided carpet tape that I buy at Lowe's, unfortunately I haven't been able to find it online but I'll leave that link, maybe you can find something similar the second way I attach my stuff to my on the bed I just use screws and some Some people think it's aggressive, others don't like it because it leaves holes in the bed.

I've found it's the number one way to make sure nothing moves and I like having that confidence. I can tell when I press go on my CNC, nothing, the work stand doesn't move, so I just screw, I use wood screws. One key is to pre-drill, especially if you are using hardwood, pre-drill those holes before driving the screws. because otherwise it will split, the material will split and that's not good, so pre-drill them and then put in the screws, press and you'll never have to worry about it moving. I like that dust collection is one of the most overlooked aspects of using a CNC

router

.

CNC

router

s are complicated, they create a lot of dust, a lot of wood chips, and can be very dirty, so to To start you need a dust shoe which some CNC manufacturers come with some of them do not. you can buy aftermarket parts just make sure the one you get fits your CNC then you will need a shop vac, get a shop vac and connect the hose to the dust shoe and you will keep the shop vac and just to the people. use shop vacs and there are plenty of other ways to build them with a separator and all that but to get started what you need is a shop vac and a dust shoe if you want to go one step further I recommend biting the bullet.

Charging dust collector, it's a two horsepower dust collector, that's what I use and I actually have two. I have one in my Avid scene. I have one for my shaping tools downstairs and my other two woodworking tools and the one I have downstairs. the original one I have is actually inherited from a Fred that was used for over five years before I acquired it and I have used it for five years. I'm not exaggerating, this Harbor Freight dust collector has been working. for over 10 years so last but definitely not least the machine is correct we talked about everything else you need and besides the machine itself and the reason I saved this for last was very intentional because that's usually where people start. like, oh, I just need one machine and forget about all this other stuff, but the other reason I left it for last is because the machine I really recommend starting with comes with everything we talked about other than collecting dust and stuff, so Andy, what? machine you recommend for absolute beginners with no prior experience and that's the way Oco, now I know there are some keyboard warriors out there right now saying this machine and this machine and this machine.

There are some strong opinions, but based on my experiences. uh and where I started and how I've seen it differently, how I see the market, there's no better place to start than an Oco CNC shape and here's why I've already hinted at it, but it's because it comes with everything you need, it's optimized . The goal when buying a CNC is to make cool projects, so the company that does that is the best thing that takes you from an absolute beginner to making projects on a CNC is Carbide 3D, that's the name of the company and their CNC machine , the Oco shape they have. built an amazing ecosystem so you can create as quickly and fun as possible, so check out the shapoko website at the time of making this video, the least expensive machine you can buy is the shapoko 4 and its smallest model, which has seventeen years. a hundred bucks it's a small machine but it's an absolute bargain for what you get so you get everything we talked about you just have to provide a computer which would be the argument from someone I know in the comments is that you should have a computer laptop, well you should have a laptop for your design, your CAD camera works anyway so you won't really add anything else, you'll need that if you buy another machine too so your laptop serves as your controller, literally.

The only other decision you will have to make is that the CNC does not come with the router or spindle, so you just have to choose if you want a router or you want a spindle. Most people just start with a router on a machine this size. and that's like less than 100 dollars, so for about two thousand dollars you'll geteverything, you won't have to make any more decisions, you won't have to get software, you won't have to get a drag chain, you won't have to look for a work bed, a cutting table that comes with the hybrid table, that's why I say Shape Poco it's the best place to start for absolute beginners because it makes it faster and at the end of the day you just want to do things and shapoko doesn't get any better than shapeogo besides all the things i've already talked about one thing that separates shapoko from the rest of the beginner market is their 30 day mistakes about us Shapoko will send you the parts free for 30 days so what it does is eliminate the fear of messing up something big for 30 days.days, that's where you learn and that's why I say no one has invested more in the CNC beginner and his success than Shapoko, so again, this video is not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned in this video.

It's all my own opinion and my opinion that I formed based on my experiences, so I will leave links to everything I talked about in the description below if you want to learn, so this is not to intimidate anyone from getting into CNC . to paint a clear picture and set the expectation that okay this is what I hope uh because the last thing I want to talk about making money with CNC, but the last thing I want to do is I don't want people to be frustrated because they enter to CNC and then they run into all these different barriers that they didn't see coming, like oh, I need this and oh, I need this and oh, no, that's not pleasant for anyone, so I hope I've set the stage clearly so that the expectations be realistic and you can Enter CNC and enjoy it completely.

If there's anything I didn't cover in this video that you have any questions about, be sure to leave it in the description below and I'll try to answer them all. Thanks so much for looking. See you in the next video script.