Is CNC engraving machine a miracle or a nightmare for craftsmen?

When an ultimate handyman and finishing carpenter who mainly uses hand tools to do carpentry recently discovered what their hands can do, there was an expression of pain on his face. "I'm obsolete," he said solemnly.

A CNC milling machine is a "CNC" machine that can perform fine work such as measuring, sawing, wood carving, planing, drilling, mortise and mortise, and even collect dust from your hands. From the carpenter, put it on the processing machines, airplanes, computers, and the drill bits of the planer. The use of CNC wood milling machines can achieve amazing results in project design, thus saving time and manpower. But even more surprising is that these computers/routers are now affordable in home stores.

Currently, most CNC routers are used in business. Some visionary wood enthusiasts have tried smaller versions for the home. However, the main existing markets for CNC engraving machines include professional woodworking workshops, furniture manufacturers and other commercial enterprises. CNC wood milling machines can automatically perform fast, repetitive and precise work according to the digital project plan. Even if the upfront costs of these companies are high, they have saved a lot of money for these companies. But now, you can buy a small CNC machine tool for less than $5,000.

But can even the emotional component of woodworking be eliminated? Like most skilled handicrafts, manual labor is a very interesting thing for many carpenters and woodworkers. Although many woodworking tasks are time-consuming, consumables are tedious. However, in the process of meticulously carved wooden design, does the craftsman or craftsman have a strong sense of psychological satisfaction? What about the competence part? Will creative thinking, mastery of design, spatial awareness, general and fine motor skills, and other skills developed in woodworking become obsolete? Of course not, because we can use machines to design more and more beautiful graphics. By learning about the working principles of machines, we can turn our inner vision into reality, which will be more satisfying.

Soon after, people began to fully realize the great potential of affordable CNC machine tools. Imagine a world where everyone has a CNC milling machine at home. Where to buy a bed is as easy as downloading a router map and sending it to the machine. Designing your own bed is easy, you just need to download the master plan, make some changes, and then enter it into the machine.

Now, the CNC milling machine is still just a tool. Professional or amateur carpentry is not out of date.

However, the need for work, time and creativity has been greatly reduced. In one day, you can use digital photos to make exquisite wood carvings on a whim, while manual labor is reduced to a small part. When the machine runs automatically, you can go to the refrigerator, take out some coke, eat some French fries, and then sit down and watch the football for eight hours.

The existence of small and micro CNC engraving machines, desktop CNC machines, and low-cost CNC engraving machines for home use marks the invasion of new woodworking controls, just like computer graphics technology has completely changed the art world, but it can even be compared with affordable computers Comparable. Inexpensive CNC engraving machines provide a near-future method for processing wood and other materials.

When building wooden furniture, wood carvings, musical instruments, wooden parts, and almost all wood, I overlooked the fact that most CNC milling machines can also use foam plastic or even aluminum.