I got some ? before I buy.

[Baumer]

I have read some of the threads and still have some question.
Some said it pays for itself and some said it don't.

1. How do you charge for your work, do you charge by the hour, or size, how much do you know what to charge<

2.How load is the machine, can I work in my garage at 10:00 at night and not bother my family and neighbors, or even during the day and not bother the neighbors?

3.Does it pay for it's self, do I have to buy alot of patterns, bits, repair parts, will it cost more then what it brings in if I use it alot.

4. Does it make alot of dust to where I can't use it in my garage or will I have to build a shed?

5.Will cabinet builders want to buy carveing from me for their cabinets?

6. Anything else that others might be able to tell me about cost verses profit would be great.

Thank you all,
Baumer

[twinpeaksenterprises, LLC]

1. I would take all of those into the equation, also i would think about the design time involved into something custom.

2. Its hard to say how loud it is, probably close to a shop vac.

3. Its hard to say on this one not knowing what you want to get into, probably something you want to research.

4. Of course it will make some dust, the more carving the more dust, you probably want to have a downdraft system and a shop vac for clean up.

5. It depends on the cabinetmakers and their needs. My machine does what i consider to be cabinet grade carvings.

6. Take into account that the machine is geared towards hobbyists but there is potential for making a little $ if you know people interested in that type of product.

This is all just my personal opinion based upon my carvewright experience. I havnt really made any money with mine but have made nice projects for my home and family and friends which i more than likely would of bought anyway.

[Dave-Carve]

Dont takae This The Wrong Way But !!!

In My Opinion You are looking at the wrong machine !!!!!

This is a Toy for the Hobbyist ,That wants to play with wood,Plastic,Corian etc. And Have a Sh..tload of fun and agrevation!!
Thou You Do Impress your friends with Nice Plaques and Stuff ..


Its like the abdoerPlus to an overwieght person that wants to be A BodyBuilder on a cover of Musle Fitness Mag ...In Just 30 days of 3min a day workouts !!!

Kinda Like A CORVETTE or VIPER Stuck in Bumper To Bumper Traffic !!


Possible But HIGHLY Unlikely...
Hate to burst Your Bubble But Thats My Opinion ...
There May be others on here that think diffrent but not Me !!!
I Bought it as A Play Toy And Thats what it Is To Me "A Play Toy" :rolleyes:

Sure It a great Machine anda it has done more than I ever expected But I Really dont think you can make a Living with It !!!!!!

[TurkeyBranch]

1) I charge for my time, 30 minute minimum,design time, finishing time, the time to set up the machine and clean it up afterwards and wear and tear on machine.
I figure in the carving medium I am working with. I figure the gas to go get it, or shipping. Figure everything. I know the amount I want to make an hour. I then add all the rest in. I happen to do mine by the project. Keeps me honest and the client less scared of my tacking on an extra hour.
I did do research and figured out what my particular maket would pay without "bulking". It happens to fit into me doing OK.

2)The machine is very loud. If you have ever used a heavy duty router, it is like that, only running for 2 to 6 hours straight. I will not run mine past 8:00 PM out of respect for my neighbors and I won't start it before 8:00 AM. My machine is in a 12x24 shop. solid wood exterior, R-15 insulation in walls, R-19 in ceiling and 1/2" sheetrock taped and sanded. I can still hear my machine running with all doors and windows shut in both the shed and house while I am in the house.

3)Paying for itself will depend on you. Can you sell your product? Is it a product that will sell well? Can you make a quality product? The machine only carves what is put into it. Bad pattern in, bad carving out. The bits are of great quality I have done tons of signs and lithographs and mine are still sharp, well except for the one that got in to middle if the cat and dog fight, but it just broke when it hit the floor.

4) It makes lots of dust. But with a proper setup, as twinpeaks said, you would be fine.

Ask the cabinet makers.

I will give you this suggestion, if you are buying this to make a full living on, don't. This is a hobby machine. Small projects, etc. It is slow but a very nice machine. You will not compete with shops with full blown CNC setups.

There are some of us who make money with them, but most of us bought them for our own use and the selling of work snuck in.

In other words, we were going to spend the $2,000.00 anyway, even if we never sold an item.

Hope I answered your questions and still kept you interested in the CW machine. It is a truly "kewl" machine.

Ed

[The "DH"]

Baumer,
Heres my 0.02 cents worth.
How do you charge for your work, do you charge by the hour, or size, how much do you know what to charge.
Everything is considered in cost; overhead, design time (and how many times will I use the same pattern?) machine time, total build time, all the odds and ends (sandpaper, finish, shipping costs, sales tax just to name a few.

How load is the machine, can I work in my garage at 10:00 at night and not bother my family and neighbors, or even during the day and not bother the neighbors?
My noise level is just less than my shop vac. Wouldn’t run it at night.

Does it pay for it's self, do I have to buy alot of patterns, bits, repair parts, will it cost more then what it brings in if I use it alot.
This is dependent on many factors, what is your customer base??? How many orders will you get??? Is your business dependant on the machine alone?? I have two machines with plenty of spare parts, and for the most part they both run great (approx 50 hours each per week), but that is not always the case. Are you mechanically inclined? Yesterday I spent the whole day ripping apart the Z truck due to a wire rubbing through for the board sensor. Both my machines have paid for themselves and then some but I have a good customer base and receive orders on a regular bases and I do many other things not to really on the machines alone since they are designed for the hobbyist.

4. Does it make alot of dust to where I can't use it in my garage or will I have to build a shed?
My machines make very little dust, but I work mostly with hardwoods only.

5.Will cabinet builders want to buy carveing from me for their cabinets?
Looks like you need to do some research.

6. Anything else that others might be able to tell me about cost verses profit would be great.
The machines have improved greatly over time both in performance and reliability. Software software software if you don’t know it you will have a hard time producing quality carvings!!

Would I buy another if I had too... In a heart beat..

Best of luck
DH

[badger]

Its not a money maker that will make you quit your job. As stated earlier you will not be able to compete with other shops with cnc machines that can cost up to $40,000 for just one machine.

More of your high end centers will have multiple machines to do their work and might just have a carvewright to do some of it but you still need other tools.

Its a nice addition to the hobbyist workshop and for those of us on a limited budget who cant afford those higher end cnc machines its a great deal for us.

[Router-Jim]

You have received some very good advice. I want to add a couple of additional thoughts. Don't expect to buy the machine and produce salable results immediately. It takes time to learn the best way to use the software to obtain the best carving quality. Purchased patterns help tremendiously but you will still have a learning curve.

If you decide to purchase a machine, you will be thrilled by what it can produce. But don't run the first results down to the local cabinet shop. I can assure you that your first carvings will not be as good as your fiftieth. Once they're perfect then you show them to the cabinetmaker. At that stage you'll also have gained the knowledge of what you can and cannot promise as far as customization.

I do some work for cabinetmakers and woodworkers. I charge per carving hour plus the cost of the pattern. The machine tells you the total carving time when you upload the pattern to your card so it's easy to know what to charge. The cabinetmaker furnishes the panels which are square and flat. I carve them and they pay return shipping. As of yet I have not charged for design time.

I hope this helps.

Jim

[Baumer]

Thank you all for your imput. It has been very helpfull.

It sounds like, if I got some extra money sitting around and can afford to buy it without depleating my cash flow to much I should buy it and have fun. But if I don't have alot of cash sitting around and make me straped for extra cash I should forget it. I am good at fixing and figgering out what broke and how to fix it, and I can operate a computor.

I have 2 brotherinlaws that are in the carpentry and cabinet business but I haven't been able to talk to them yet.

I'll have to do some research in my area and see if there will be a demand for what I can produce.

1 more question,,, do you have to do a lot of sanding after it's done carveing, or does it come out of the machine ready to finish?

Thanx all

Baumer

[The "DH"]

Baumer,
The finish is dependent on the wood and the pattern you are carving. For the most part very little sanding is needed when using a hardwood like walnut with a very smooth pattern.