CNC wood routing help.

[Ifixvws]

Hey all,

Im looking to make 4-5 of the same boxes for a bluetooth speaker project.
Something like this but used as a Bluetooth boombox not a guitar amp. It will be wrapped in Tolex and use lithium batteries.

speaker by Chadsci, on Flickr


Question is.... Is there a design program you would all recommend?

I have found a company local to me that will cut from a dxf file for $35 a sheet. I think that is a good price. I just need to have something to give him.

Thanks

 

[jeepinerdeep]

2D mechanical drawings, check out SolidEdge.

It's free and pretty intuitive. I'm not sure how you are going to call out roundover radii on a dxf though. Maybe they can do it in CAM with a tool selection.

 

[buildyourown]

Fusion 360 is about as good as it gets for free.

 

[tarbellb]

Unless im missing a detail, there isnt anything designwise a tablesaw and router cant do in about the same time and quality.

I have a Shopbot CNC router and tablesaw + router and would likely go with the later for ease and speed.

Running any kind of bevel/roundover/miter on those edges with a CNC is either going to cost a lot in building the file or tool time for change bits and re-zeroing.

Im not saying dont do it, but just realize that CNC isnt always the best method.

 

[tarbellb]

Now, if you just want the profile cut out and not any bevel or miters then building a 2D file is very easy and you can hand that over in DXF/PDF or any other vector based file for them to cut.

I personally use Illustrator from Adobe, but CorelDraw is just as powerful and imo a little more intuitive. Plus there are lots of free 2D (and 3D ^^^) programs to execute these in.

Heck I would even draw it if you provided detailed dimension drawings.

 

[Ifixvws]

You may be right. Im going to hand make the first one or two and see how it goes.

I mostly want to find a program I can learn to do this type of work with. The Fusion 360 looks perfect for me and teaching the 14 year old to use it.

Thanks

 

[Ifixvws]

Fusion 360 is about as good as it gets for free.

Thanks!

Downloaded and played with that all morning.