Recipe for a Successful Business Part 4

If you’ve been following our previous articles you’ll know that we have been sharing all of our secrets for creating a successful product line, marketing it to a particular group of people, packaging it so people will be falling over themselves to buy it and finally, getting the product on the internet and out to …

Continue reading >>> Recipe for a Successful Business Part 4

Recipe for a Successful Business Part 3

Getting the word out

In the last articles we have gone from thinking about possible products all the way to fixturing your CNC equipment and then packaging and shipping. But how are your potential customers supposed to know that you sell the exact product they’ve been searching for? You’ve got to now get the …

Continue reading >>> Recipe for a Successful Business Part 3

Recipe for a Sucessful Business #2

Last month we explored how to figure out what products would work best for starting your own small business. We talked about identifying your interests, and trying to come up with an item with broad appeal and a low price point. We discussed briefly the idea of using scraps, or lesser in demand …

Continue reading >>> Recipe for a Sucessful Business #2

Recipe for a Successful Business Part #1

In this series of articles, I am heading in a little different direction than previous ones. In the past, I have written how I use the ShopBot to cut parts, hold them in place, and little extra gadgets, tricks, and accessories that can be added to the ShopBot. This series will give you ‘food for …

Continue reading >>> Recipe for a Successful Business Part #1

How I Chose My Second CNC Router

As you probably know, I decided on a ShopBot PRTalpha96 for my first CNC Router. This machine has performed well for me and paid for itself several times over. It was a good investment to go with ShopBot and their PRTalpha96 tool. You might recall I purchased this tool with a Porter Cable router and …

Continue reading >>> How I Chose My Second CNC Router

Taking your Z to New Heights

My machine is a PRT Alpha96 and it seems that I never have the Z axis at the right height to change the bit when I want to. Well, here is how I fixed that problem and solved a few others as well.

As you can see from the …

Continue reading >>> Taking your Z to New Heights

The ShopBot Relay Board

For quite a while now I have been using the outputs from my PRT Alpha control box to control equipment in my shop. By equipment, I mean my cyclone dust collector, vacuum motors etc. I find that by editing my post processor in PartWorks to automatically add the proper SO commands to my part files …

Continue reading >>> The ShopBot Relay Board

Ed’s Ugly One Hour Vacuum Source

In prior articles I wrote about my vacuum table and how I used the Fein Turbo III vacs to hold my parts. The Feins are quiet and ready to connect and run right out of the box. ShopBot can even provide you with them!

For …

Continue reading >>> Ed’s Ugly One Hour Vacuum Source

Easy Signs in Five Steps

*

 

Since I am not a good painter, I look at this step of making a sign the biggest challenge. I have tried rollers, brushes and rags all with mixed results. I am going to explain this month how I can finish a sign quickly and get what I and others feel …

Continue reading >>> Easy Signs in Five Steps

How I Zero the Z to the Bed

I bet you are thinking… Why doesn’t Ed just lay the Z zero plate on the bed before he puts the material to be cut on it? It’s quite simple you know!

When I change cutters in the middle of a job, I want to re-zero to the bed. I …

Continue reading >>> How I Zero the Z to the Bed