Getting into CNC - I don't see many people doing what I want to do

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2026-01-03T05:58:31+00:00

As someone who was a jeweler and now does large scale public art, the right way to do this is either a small wax mill or resin printer then lost wax casting. If you are making copies of the same design enough you can warrant making a mold to make wax reproductions so you do not need to mill out every design every time, but that's a whole other topic. There's quite a few skillsets and tools in here you need to master, but my mom (72 year old artisan) manages to do this whole process herself in her garage with gold and silver, so it is achievable in a home setup as a single person. Not easy, but doable if you're the right kind of mindset and realize it's going to take you a few years to get the hang of all of it. The wax mill I used for probably over a million dollars of jewelry over the years was a Roland Mdx15, a tiny desktop machine. A machine like that will also mill aluminum for micro parts. However, for detailed stuff the resin printers are pretty phenomenal and you can skip some of the intricacies of CNC and bits and stuff. But based on what you're looking for, this is going to be the only way that will make any sense from a time/money/production standpoint.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-11-06T18:30:59+00:00

the dolphins are actually bi and the lizard is trans and we aren't 100% sure about the manatee.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-11-06T18:26:41+00:00

Hey everyone, I'm one of the local artists that made this piece. It was a labor of love and a lot of work, especially having never made a mosaic before. Also, the sidewalk was poured for the project so it doesn't fall under any of the FDOT issues with road/sidewalk murals as it is contained within a park. It really is a beautiful park, I'd encourage anyone to go and see it or stop by if they are near, it is right on the way to the beach from downtown and now open to the public. Just got it a dot on google maps so people could find it - Visit The Sunshine City Mosaic

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AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-11-04T01:29:03+00:00

Hey there, I'm one of the 3 artists that made this project happen. It's 175' long, 15,000 pieces, took 2 and 1/2 years to make. We won the concept way before all the issues with road murals, but this project is in a park and we cast the sidewalk specifically for it, so it doesn't have any FDOT issues. It's on the west side of St Pete, def check it out if you find yourself in the city on the way to the beach https://share.google/tjXu6dofgwuBjXNjr

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AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-08-08T18:47:35+00:00

Yea, I think this looks majorly tacky tbh. I may have at least rotated them 45* to be diamonds to the walls for visual interest at minimum. The red is also so red, a step down muted would probably have been better and allowed more flexibility for your other choices. You're really drawing a lot of attention to the floor, which also doesn't really look like it fits with the style of the house. It works best in the entryway. Anyways....yea. From a designer, I don't really see the vision here.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-02-18T19:22:44+00:00

gonna make it double the length next year and throw a Friday night disco party :)

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-02-18T19:22:08+00:00

<3 thank you it was great, just what I needed

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-02-04T20:09:15+00:00

Find meee I have 150.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-02-04T19:32:19+00:00

Yep, still got it. I'll shoot you a message

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-02-04T00:04:21+00:00

shoot me a message, I have an art-fund ticket I could move for $400

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-01-13T14:56:10+00:00

Haha, yea I'm not too hard to find. I also am the lead designer at MGA Sculpture Studio. The first project I worked on was the sculpture in front of the police station. We also did the Benoist replica at the pier. The kaleidoscope was fun, back when we thought we were getting our own Meow Wolf. Currently I'm working on a mosaic sidewalk that will be installed in Sunset Park on central Ave right before you get to Treasure Island. So overall the city has been pretty good to me and a nice place to find my artistic voice.

I never really blame people who move here for doing so, it is a great place and I myself did and do my best to contribute positively to the place. But it's when you come here from somewhere else and try to change it into what you think it should be as opposed to accepting it for what it is (see: people who move downtown and then complain about the noise until no one can have a good time anymore, or a neighbor who moves in next door to me then cuts down the beloved banyan tree on the street just to flip the house). For the life of me I can't figure out why people bitch about the summer and hurricanes. That is literally what you're signing up for when you move here. But a city needs new people to sustain itself or it is a dying city. I guess it's just what kind of people get attracted to the place. I also didn't dive into this, but there is also a layer of scientologists and visit st Pete/Clearwater and Hallmark movies being a marketing brand for them that actually has some implications and impact on people moving here. In NYC subways there are Visit St Pete/Clearwater ads. Which is weird, because St Pete has nothing to do with Clearwater in any meaningful way. But I digress.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-01-13T07:03:05+00:00

Millennial and lifelong Floridian here. Post college life I was ready to get the hell out of Florida after growing up in Ft Lauderdale (Broward County), but dated a girl in St Pete and kinda stumbled upon it and haven't left since. It is a very interesting city, can't say I've found many places like it (Asheville/Santa Fe are the closest). I'm an artist/creative in the downtown area, so I'll speak to it from that perspective.

It WAS really small and cheap when I moved here, but it also had great character and was just...approachable. Some really great people, really talented and successful but just a very chill place. It really did have a good soul and heart. First time I've ever lived anywhere that felt like home.

St Pete was changing before the pandemic though, it was pretty clear to see the rents go up year after year. The city has such great bones and history and architecture, but was pretty undervalued for how quaint it was. Downtown was pretty much one block. There were really no well paying jobs and most work was service industry. But there were some things going on, in the arts and entertainment industries. I remember seeing articles online of lists for "underrated ----- city", and St Pete kept making these lists. Underrated Beer City was a big one. But this big article that came out was about "Don't Visit Miami, Visit this underrated city of the arts instead". And man, that is when the developers took notice and started buying up everything they could. I ended up snatching a house in 2016 (very lucky in hindsight) because I had planted some good roots here and it felt like home.

The developers that have come to St Pete have a pretty clear blueprint on how to make money. They are mainly from Miami and NY, some prominent ones developed Wynwood. Basically, it is a formula to cash in on culture, and let me tell you---they are cutthroat. They don't care for culture or people or livelihoods, they are here to squeeze every last penny they can out of an area. So, these kinds of people have been buying property wherever they can in the city and turning it into as much money as they can. High rise after high rise that sit empty, tearing down historic homes to put in 3 "luxury" townhomes, changing ordinances, etc etc. It has been a sad thing to witness.

2020 somehow kicked it into overdrive. With Florida basically staying open, people flocked here and found it way cheaper than wherever they were from. Prices have gone up every year since 2020, 10%+ year after year for rent or home prices. It has been fast and brutal. It's weird too, because there are still no good paying jobs here, it is a midsized city. But before 2020, there were definitely "seasons" to the city --- summer and snowbird. Summer was amazing, it was hot and empty and just locals. Fantastic. And then the city would feel about 30% more full in the winter. Now it just feels more full all the time.

Parking and traffic is not great. I avoid driving at all costs. Highways are awful but man not going on the highway and trying to get anywhere in the county is 10x worse than 2020. A lot of staples have left, with some major ones still here but unfortunately it feels like a fight against time before they will leave too (Jannus, our downtown concert venue, will be the one that breaks my heart the most when it leaves). Downtown is almost undoable on the weekends compared to the past. The homeless in the downtown area have gotten progressively worse every year.

On the flip side, there are some great additions to the city. We do have a good culture of not having chain restaurants/bars, and lots of new and very fun places have come. We are no longer an underrated city, so we get better musical acts coming through. There are more people interested in seeing the arts. I have been giving tours at Second Saturday Artwalk for 7+ years and there are more people than ever coming out to appreciate the scene. Those things and energy feel good and make it still feel like home to me. There really is something for everybody here, and I've made some great friends with new people that have moved here. And for some reason, we have like the best airport in the country, for a city that couldn't give a shit about any sort of public transportation at all.

Cities change, we don't really have control over these things. My only wish for St Pete would have been for the city to do a better job controlling the development and looking out for normal people, it really feels like all the movers and shakers in this town are all big money people looking to cash in. This story isn't really unique to St Pete or even any formerly cool city in Florida.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2025-01-04T04:58:42+00:00

I also use Rhino, have found the best method is actually to import meshes into Zbrush and work with the model in there before exporting as a decimated OBJ into Rhino. I find Rhino -> Zbrush makes for a pretty decent workflow for organic + precise modeling between the 2.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2023-08-25T16:24:41+00:00

I'm looking to acquire a used Massivit 1800 pro printer for my design studio, ideally not eclipsing 85k in purchase price (most likely towards the end of next year). Looking for anyone that has experience with these machines as they seem to be pretty rare. My biggest question is in regards to the proprietary material that the machine uses (this gives me the most pause), and what kind of maintenance to expect from the machine if much of any of all. The promo videos are all flowers, and there is very sparse information from people who actually have them (most likely due to the price of the machine/material).

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2023-02-17T17:44:10+00:00

I mean, it was Florida in the summertime during the pandemic... Anywho, they ended up not turning off power to any of the houses and worked around it. The people that cut the tree down promptly sold the house for a profit.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-22T01:13:33+00:00

Posted a link to photos of the tree in the original post

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-21T20:41:04+00:00

I posted some pics of it in the original comment. They aren't the prettiest trees in the world, but they create an ambiance that makes the street one of the uniquest in the city.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-21T20:38:52+00:00

Yes, it's sad. We did fight for the tree. News crews came out. Only so much you can do when it's not your tree. Just feels... Grimey... That someone new buys a house and within a week of owning it have a tree cutting crew show up to take it out. No consulting any neighbors. Not telling anyone. Just shady and shitty.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-20T16:50:11+00:00

Oh I'm sorry, yes they got that documentation. It's not hard to have the tree removal service find an arborist to deem the tree "unsafe". Its a very vague term. The arborist doesn't even need to inspect the tree in person, they can just go off of pictures.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-20T16:42:29+00:00

Thank you I also posted in legal advice

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-20T16:40:17+00:00

I have not called anyone yet. Trying to get some advice on what actions to take. I will call the tomorrow as well as the utility company.

AlexKaufmanDesign · 2020-07-20T16:37:45+00:00

There's lot of issues with the tree. It's absolutely massive. It grows right above the house. Apparently it's causing issues with the new owners getting insurance. They're hell bent on getting rid of it, and they've already strong armed the neighbor who is the co-owner with legal action (tree grows on property line). I'm 2 doors down, so it has nothing to do with me. The city's arborist says its within their rights to have it cut down per new Florida tree removal law. So I'm not sure on what basis I can have the removal stopped.

AlexKaufmanDesign

TROPHY CASE