OK, at this point most people are wondering what is CNC routing Well, CNC stands for Computer Numeric Controlled Routing. Now I'm willing to bet that there are still are great deal of people wondering what it is! To put it simply, it takes a computer drawing and tells the router to cut it out.

To be more accurate, our CNC Router is called a ShopBot. This is the actual router table and control system that does the cutting. Then you also have a software package that is used to create the computer drawing. These programs are known as CAD/CAM software, if you really care. The software package that we currently use is called Part Wizard from ArtCam. Once upon a time we used VectorCAD, but found that the ArtCam software fitted our needs much better.

OK, now that you know what it is, I bet you're wondering what all we can do with it? There's two main services that we offer:

1) Part Cutting: If you're a crafts person and are planning on making multiple copies of any item, you'd need to get your handy pattern and pencil. Then you'd sit down and trace out the part on all the pieces of wood. Or perhaps you have some sort of jig to make it a little easier. But in the end, you would still have to sit there and cut all the pieces by hand. Now with a CNC machine, all you have to do is draw the part up once on the computer and then lay it out for the size sheet you're going to be cutting. The software will generally help you with the layout to reduce the amount of waste on a sheet. Then you start the CNC and it does the rest. For most CNC's you also have to manually change your cutting bit too. The best thing all the parts are the same size.

2) Sign Making: Just as the ShopBot can cut out any part shape, you can use it to cut signs out too. With the software that we currently use, we have 3 different options with the letter (or fonts). One option is to pocket the letters out, which is where the machine removes all the material where the letter is. Another option is to create raised letters, where all the material around a letter is removed to leave the letter, well, raised. The last option is to v-carve the letters. This is where a letter is chaseled out, much like you see on stone lettering.