I’m interested in your feedback on an idea I’m working on. I’ve partnered with a woodworking youtuber to sell a simple product that he designed. I cut it out of black walnut and hard maple on my Shapeoko. He has an audience that is interested in buying his products, but it’s too much work for him to build these things at scale, so I’m helping out.
I’m looking for other folks who might be interested in joining me to build a network of experienced CNC operators who can build these products in their free time as a way to make money with their machines. I figure there must be more people like me who are interested in paying off the cost of their machines, but don’t really want to deal with marketing, design, or running an Etsy shop.
If that sounds like you, shoot me a private message or reply to this thread. I’m interested in hearing what you’d look for in an opportunity like this.
That is an interesting concept and opportunity. I have a few questions so that I can make an informed decision.
How big / complicated is each piece?
What kind of volume would be expected?
Finishing/glue up required?
How long does it take to cut out one complete item?
How much will each piece be sold to the youtuber? (how much do I make per piece?)
Feel free to email me if you would rather not answer here.
Thank you all for your interest. I got more responses than I expected, so I’m still working through private messages, but I’ll make sure to reply to everyone.
We’re still early in the process, so some of the details aren’t set in stone yet, but I’m planning to finalize a lot of this in the next week.
For now, I can share that I’m gearing up to run an experimental pilot program with a fixed number of units(possibly around 100 to start). The product is a simple 3 component design that can be cut out with 2 bits (I’m using a 4mm x 22mm compression end mill and a 90 degree V-Bit) in 3-4 operations per component. I’ve designed two jigs to make the process faster and easier. I’ll share all the Carbide Create files so there shouldn’t be too much startup effort. I’ll have a better estimate of the time to cut next week, but my best guess now is about 1.5 hrs total machining time per product (much of that is engraving the logo).
Right now, the plan is to offer the product in two forms at two price points. 1. As a completed product: glued, sanded, and finished. 2. As a build-it-yourself kit: just the raw components. Either way, the tool paths and design keep the finishing work to a minimum.
The goal with this pilot program is to test a few things: We want to verify the product demand, confirm that high quality is possible through a distributed network, and make sure that it is worth the time for CNC operators to participate. Once I find a few folks who seem like they’re up to the challenge, my plan is to pay for the material that you source locally and give you half of the manufacturing fee up front and the rest on delivery when you ship the finished products to me. I’ll deal with shipping to customers and handling orders. The money you make on this job will not be dependent in any way on sales. Assuming all goes well, we’ll transition into higher production numbers afterwards.
If this sounds like it could be a fit, I would like to set up some calls for next week to get a better idea of what your experience levels are and go over the CAD model and pricing plan. Shoot me a private message with your availability next week and we’ll go from there.