Quote from Dan Lee on 8th August 2024, 9:27 am

Hi Kai 

Welcome to the community! I hope we will begin building some other users in here soon 🙂 

Cheers
Dan

Quote from Gordon Reineke on 21st August 2024, 5:33 pm

Hi All,

I'm Gordon and not a boat builder (maybe I should do that 🙂 ) but shifting towards woodworking.

I use Vectric Aspire and had a version of Fusion 360 some time ago and maybe time to install it again. The two apps are different though.

I'm looking forward to the leaning.

Cheers,

Gordon

Quote from Mike Wood on 23rd August 2024, 7:42 pm

Hi guys I’m mike wood (yes I know) based in north Cornwall.

Doing woodwork as a side hustle making mostly audio furniture (cabinets, speaker stands etc) out of birch ply. (Full time job is marketing)

Have a yeti smartbench and vectric aspire, which I use , but not to it’s full potential. Looking forward to learning more! 

Cheers

Mike

Quote from David Vaughn on 23rd August 2024, 10:39 pm

I am Dave Vaughn from Simi Valley Ca USA

I have built both fullsize boats and R/C model boats years ago.

Nearing retirement now as an Operating Engineer, the next project is in the works. A 14' electric powered, trailerable tugboat for harbor and lake cruising across the country. I have the room in my home shop to build and maybe a YouTube video project will emerge as well.

Dan Lee has already been a great help pointing me in the right direction.

I do use Fusion 360 and V-Carve Pro  for other projects but there is always more to learn.

Attached is a couple  small projects I did last month.

Quote from Koen van Duivenvoorde on 1st September 2024, 8:44 am

Hi, I’m Koen, Dutch, but living in Portugal for almost 6 years.

Have been working in A surf-, kite-, foilboard factory recent years. Since two months I have started working freelance and doing more CAD/CAM and 3D carving projects in wood as well for a startup company.

Besides that still have plenty ideas and projects I like to work on myself like furniture and music instruments.

I use Fusion 360 and Vectric Aspire. 
Still plenty aspects to learn and experience. Happy to share ideas and tips and tricks as well over here.

Cheers, 

Koen

Quote from Ray Michael on 4th September 2024, 4:20 am

Hi, I am Ray from Australia. By day I work in the fire Industry but by night / weekend, I am an amateur woodworker and puzzle designer. 

I have a 3D printer, diode laser and the CNC is currently under production in the garage.

 My work background using CAD has been helping me with the design side of the things I want to build but I am still learning the myriad of other software items that I need to understand to bring it all to life. 

  I look forward to sharing my creations and being on this journey with you all!

Quote from David Doyle on 5th October 2024, 3:34 pm

I’m Dave. Live in central Ohio, USA (moved to the US from Ireland too many years ago). Day job is in IT, make stuff as a hobby using combo of 3D Printing, electronics, CO2 laser and now CNC (Onefinity Journeyman). Currently using a beta version of MillMage for the CNC cad/cam (from the same company as LightBurn).

Hoping to learn some Fusion for more complex designs so I can see what they will look like before building.

 

 

Quote from Fraser Borland on 15th October 2024, 9:08 am

Hello All, My name is Fraser and I live just outside of Glasgow (Scotland). I am "semi" retired looking for my next challenge. I'm an engineer to trade but have manly worked in plant maintenance and project management. I have always had a passion for "hands on" engineering, especially using CAD, CNC and automation. Really looking forward to developing my CNC woodworking skills with this course. :-).

Quote from JP on 24th October 2024, 3:30 pm

Hi All,

Just signed up for the cnc course.  

Brit living Near Beziers France for nr. 10 years, I run a small bespoke fabrication/ installation business til now focused on property.  I also own (though perhaps it owns me) a 1962 one off 10m sailing cutter, Atax II.  So making and sailing are pretty ingrained in my life.

I am looking at introducing cnc into the very handmade/one off arena I work in, in order to streamline my design to make workflows and gain accuracy in my builds.

I've yet to select a cnc machine. 

Quote from woodsmithohio on 19th November 2024, 10:53 pm

Hello All,

Messaging and joining from the USA. I have been watching the Temptress build on Youtube. As an avid woodworker I love the introduction of the CNC into the working process. I have long considered building a boat to really challenge my woodworking skills and just for the fun of building one. May I ask what size CNC you are currently using? Thank you for making the videos and sharing your knowledge.

Cheers,

Larry

Quote from Dan Lee on 22nd November 2024, 8:47 am

Hi Larry

I am currently using a 1300x2500 machine. I would probably recommend an 8x4' bed size as a minimum if possible as it will allow you to cut full standard sheet sizes. This is the size that I design all boat parts to fit within. 

Quote from Graham Young on 16th December 2024, 1:53 pm

Hi All,

My name is Graham and I've purchased the CNC course and working through it. I live in Sheffield, UK. 

I've been working with CNC Router machines for the past 4 years in various manufacturing rolls. Originally I was an Audio Visual Engineer that worked in the live events sector. But COVID forced a welcome change in career into fabrication and manufacturing.  

I first learned on a couple of old Chinese machines, which were great to learn the basics on (in my first job during COVID as a Museum Exhibit Fabricator). After a year, I moved jobs to a small furniture manufacturer as a fulltime CNC Machine Operator on a much larger machine that had an automatic tool changer. (this was like CNC production 101!) I learned a lot about how to use VCarve in a really fast and efficient way and how to manage files. I learned a lot about understanding what tools to use and how to use them. 

After about a year and a bit, I was head hunted to fulfil a new role at a small family ran engineering firm as the CNC Manager. I was brought on to set up the department, manage the installation of a brand new KIMLA 2100x3100 CNC machine and run the new department. Scary jump but I've learned a ton! I've been here for the past 2.5 years. 

I had done a bit of work in Fusion 360 before however, I had to learn how to use it fast as it opens up so many more machining options than Vcarve. It basically turns your CNC machine into a milling machine! I'm really interested in understanding Fusion more. And I'm interested to see how Dan uses it to fill in my knowledge gaps. 

Dan is explaining things in a very clear and cohesive way, and I'm excited to see what more fusion tricks he has up his sleeve! I'm also interested so see how another person uses the Vcarve, Fusion and other software to deliver jobs.  

I've attached an image of our machine just after installation, she is a beast! 

I hope to pass on any knowledge I can to other fellow CNC'ers. And also learn from other people on the forum. 

Cheers, 

Graham 

Quote from Nuttawat Korkiattakul on 21st January 2025, 5:22 pm

Hello I’m Nick from Thailand, I’m mainly in car audio business and recently trying too applied CNC machine into our workflow. I mainly using Fusion 360 as it’s parametric workflow and allow to change parameter and dimension at anytime which suit for our work. Normally I only use CNC to cut to MDF into specific shape however I saw Dan using CNC in several way more than cutting wood and I saw lots of potential in this course. I hope I can apply knowledge to improve my own work.

Anyway anyone know how to access the course content?

Quote from Dan Lee on 23rd January 2025, 9:12 am

Welcome Nick!

The course can be accessed via the course page by clicking any of the lesson links on the page or the start/continue learning button on at the top. It can also be accessed via the student dashboard page linked in the main website menu. In order to gain access you will first need to be logged in via the student login page. 

I hope you enjoy the course.

Quote from David Lyons on 17th February 2025, 1:43 pm

Hello All,

I am Dave and live in rural Wisconsin in the US. My day job is in IT but I enjoy woodworking during my free time.  I am looking to purchase a cnc this summer and want to be able to understand the software and design basics before my purchase.

Cheers,

Dave

Quote from Anthony Langley on 23rd February 2025, 10:17 pm

Hi everyone!

I'm Tony from the great state of Arkansas, USA, across the pond from most of you!  I'm a guitar builder looking to add a CNC router to my processes for the parts I want to be repeatable with precision.  I had my eye on a X-Carve Pro 2x4 machine, but having gone through most of the course now (up to the VCarve section), I'm wondering if that's a solid choice.  I really enjoyed Dan's section on Fusion, and can see that as my "go to" software solution very easily.  I'm not sure if the X-Carve Pro runs Fusion, though... anyone know?

I'm looking for recommendations on my first (and hopefully, only) CNC router.  My main uses will be cutting out 2D patterns from 3mm to around 13 mm, cutting pearl inlays & pockets in guitar fingerboards (the fret markers), and would like to be able to 3D carve guitar necks.  These requirements certainly don't demand the level of machine Dan uses, and my space requirements demand a footprint no larger than 2' x 4'. 

I'd love to hear from any other luthiers on here, and what machines they are running, and also recommendations from anyone who can relate to what I am looking for.

Looking forward to the rest of the course, and exchanging ideas, successes, and (inevitably) failures.

Have a great day!

Tony Langley

AppalachianGuitars.com.

p.s. - the guitar pictured lives not far from Dan in the UK!

 

Quote from Dan Lee on 26th February 2025, 2:51 pm

Hi Tony 

Thats some stunning work you've done there! I am sure I have seen a few guitar builders enrol on the course. I am pretty sure that Fusion will talk to the X-Carve pro machine, it will just be a case of setting up the correct post processor when you need to export your toolpaths. 

Cheers
Dan

Quote from Anthony Langley on 27th February 2025, 12:09 am

Thank you so much, Dan!  You have some amazing work, too!!  I'm certainly not set on the X-Carve Pro machine, if there are better options for my somewhat "light duty" needs.  As a small builder, I like to buy well-built, quality tools, but can't get into some of the commercial machine price ranges for my needs on this.  I'd love to hear suggestions on 2' x 4' machines that are solidly built, but not overbuilt for modest needs. 

I'm enjoying the VCarve section, but the graphics look more like Windows 98 than Windows 11!  They really skimped on the graphics, compared to Fusion!

Quote from Dan Lee on 27th February 2025, 10:13 am

Thanks! I am not that well versed on some of the lighter weight machines, maybe some other users may be able to offer some input there? 

Yes graphics for simulation are not great in VCarve, Fusion is worlds ahead in that respect.