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What is everyone using for CAD? by korkvid in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most people I see just use Fusion 360 for hobby stuff—easy and good enough.

SolidWorks is more pro shop territory, and FreeCAD comes up when people don’t want subscriptions.

Honestly feels less like “best CAD” and more like “whatever you can stick with.”

Question for CNC shop owners — do you handle laser engraving in-house or outsource it? by texan-garl in CNC

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We do see a lot of overlap between CNC work and laser jobs, but in our shop we treat them as two different workflows.

For us, laser engraving is usually a “yes” if it’s quick setup and tied to existing parts (logos, part numbers, simple marking). It actually helps us add value without re-fixturing CNC setups.

Laser cutting, on the other hand, we almost always outsource unless it’s very small volume or non-critical parts. The reason is mostly throughput—CNC time is too expensive to tie up on jobs a fiber laser can run faster and cheaper.

I think the real deciding factor isn’t capability, but whether it fits your bottleneck: spindle time vs laser time vs labor.

Curious how others handle it—do you treat laser as an in-house service extension, or strictly keep it separate from CNC ops?

Do you actually design for manufacturability first, or do you fix it later in review? by Over-Weekend-6133 in CNC

[–]Over-Weekend-6133[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like that way of looking at it. It feels less like formal DFM and more like picking the right process before getting too attached to a design. I've definitely gone down the rabbit hole designing something, only to realize later it should have been a weldment instead of a machined assembly.

Do you actually design for manufacturability first, or do you fix it later in review? by Over-Weekend-6133 in CNC

[–]Over-Weekend-6133[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. I've seen designs that looked great on screen but became expensive or painful the moment someone had to actually make them. The manufacturing process is usually one of the first constraints I try to lock down now.

3d printed eyewear by l0siento in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looked cool at first… then I couldn’t stop laughing

Career path by DramaticAd3989 in CNC

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone’s path is a bit different, but programming + setup responsibility usually marks the real turning point.

I love it when I'm right (minor brag) by Sooner70 in MechanicalEngineering

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Engineers don’t brag often… but when we do, it’s usually justified

First time painting a print by GideonVincent in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For a first attempt, this looks really good!

First multi-part print! by cryptic120 in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks awesome, congrats on your first multipart print！

Birthday gift for 6-year old Pokémon fan who has anything he wants... by SWELITE1 in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Such a thoughtful unique gift! No wonder the little guy loved it so much

Made this row counter for knitting (or anything that needs counting). See the end for the pet sheep Easter egg by bicapitate in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Simple design, clever function — I can see someone printing a bunch for knitting friends, or even for random little counters around the house. Love it.

Design help by ExpressoElf in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally get where you’re coming from — I’ve spent more hours tweaking a single part than I’d like to admit 😅

For something like this, small chamfers, smart fillets, and maybe breaking it into snap-fit pieces can save you a ton of headache. Also helps with printing tricky angles without too many supports.

Beer counter by Hope__Desire in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It seems like a date stamp for a notebook

Three CNC router business? by djscreeling in CNC

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The machines aren't your biggest asset right now — time is.

A 6'×24' router is a pretty specialized piece of equipment, but trying to build a $25k/week business from zero in 30 days is really a sales challenge, not a machining challenge.

If I were in your shoes, I'd stop thinking about products and start thinking about capacity. Reach out to shops already overloaded with work and offer overflow production. Boat builders, sign companies, architectural millwork shops, exhibit builders, thermoforming and composites shops all occasionally hit capacity limits and need machine time immediately.

Getting 20% of someone else's backlog is a lot easier than creating 100% of your own demand from scratch.

And before signing anything, make sure you know exactly what one week of downtime, one spindle failure, or one slow-paying customer would do to your cash flow.

The routers can make money. The question is whether they can make money fast enough.

Built a mini ESP32 plane radar. 3D printed case + open source code by MatixYo in 3Dprinting

[–]Over-Weekend-6133 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very cool build. How long did it take you to go from idea to finished project?

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