Since I discovered the nuances of laser cutting the designs found on WoodMarvels.com, I’ve become very good at optimizing files to make them affordable using as much board space as well as few doubled-up lines as possible. This means that I can usually cut my production costs in half as I wrote about earlier here: How Jon Cantin shaved 71% off his making costs
The Advent of CNC on-demand manufacturing
About a month ago, I started selling my optimized EPS files for download from WoodMarvels.com but assumed that what would work for lasers would also work for CNC machines… WRONG! Assumptions are evil things that give you a false sense of security, this is yet another lesson as to their futility!
The tolerances for lasers are incredibly tiny, which means you can cut two separate edges with a laser cutter facing one another and everything will look perfect when assembled, this is not true for CNC machine drill bits where you need room for an insertion point and a lot more material is cut away around the object. The precision is way better than hand tools, but compared to the precision of a laser, much to be desired.
Advantages of CNC manufacturing
The real nice thing about CNC manufacturing is that you are able to cut in true 3D, you can have beveled edges and cut away details that are simply impossible using current laser technology. Basically, a laser is 90 degrees to the material you are cutting while a CNC is any angle you want. What you pay for the freedom of a 3D working space you also cost in amount of material and board used. CNC uses a lot more board than laser unless there was a way of creating a bit with the cutting tolerances of a laser 
Another bonus is you don’t end-up with burned edges, which I have come to like for the contrast it gives to the animations I produced.
What does this mean for WoodMarvels.com?
Well, after uploading a billion EPS files, I now need to upload a bunch more as it’s impossible to cut my uploaded files using current CNC technology. I think this is a good transition though as eventually, 3D printing (augmenting what is possible in CNC and laser) will become the defacto standard. I will be doing some extensive testing over the next few months to get my files ready for this additional offer, this doesn’t affect the blueprints at all, only the optimized EPS files selling on the site. If you have a laser, no problem, if you have a CNC… hang-in there or just work from the PDF digital blueprints provided on the site.
What will soon be possible
I have had a 3D animation studio for years now and below is one we made of a hot water heater for a company out of the United States YEARS ago. Basically, all these small parts that need to be fitted together will no longer be needed as, as 3D desktop manufacturing evolves, you will be able to just buy this design, input the material of choice and have it created on your desktop or communal cutting area. What is in this animation isn’t possible using lasers (currently) but separately using CNC (most of it).
The Bottom Line
Running a business gives you an honorary degree in fire management!
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