When I lent my services to a collegue who was working on a film about 12 years ago, I was introduced to the world of cnc. I remember watching this huge machining centre milling out a slab of mdf and turning it into a fantastic set of gears. I knew that it would have taken me hours to achieve the same thing with traditional power tools. I decided then that I would invest in a cnc router for my own business Oxenham Design. At that time I could turn on a computer, but even to check email seemed like a crazy set of operations. I persevered and learned every piece of relevant software I could get my hands on. I am now fortunate enough to be using Vectric's ASPIRE software, and Techno cnc routers, which has helped us to create some amazing projects, both in part, or in full. I thought that this blog would be a great place to share "behind the scenes" adventures with the software, materials and equipment we use, as well as the projects we build.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Techno CNC!

We returned un-scathed from our trip down to Techno CNC routers in New York! For those who were unable to make it, maybe next time!

The drive down was great! Jody and I love road trips, and this one was no exception.
To be surrounded by Techno routers is pretty exciting for me. Imagine...........any router you might decide to use is available and waiting.

It was a pleasure to meet everyone who came out, and to get a chance to discuss cnc, marketing, and creativity!

Roy Valentine was present during the whole event, and was able to answer any technical questions, and Dee Loebl deserves an award for organizing it and having it fly without a hitch. We also got a chance to hang with Ken McBride, Techno's Application Engineer. This guy is one super cool cat! I'm betting he might regret giving me his direct extension number:) Techno has some of the greatest people working for them!

As this was a short-run event, about 4 hours, we crammed a few thing in. Ken covered basic nesting, pocketing and Techno's new ADA compliant braille insertion tool. I also went over our process for cleaning up dimensional text. This has become a staple of mine, as I regard it the most important part of sign routering. Especially on complicated, texture laden signs.
Unlike most other times teaching this process, we were able to run the files right after the computer part, enabling everyone to see exactly why we were doing it this way!


 This was such a great time for me! We are planning to put together a 3 day version, hosted at Techno again, in which we will cover everything, and everyone attending will be able to leave with a painted sample for their showroom wall!
It promises to be action packed for sure. As soon as we come up with some times and dates, I'll post here.

I want to say thanks again to Roy, Dee and Ken at Techno for an amazing day. I love going to your place!

We are building quite a few things for this new show we're working on, but sadly with the 3 year NDA, I can't post anything :(
But were going to show the demo sign we did at Techno, and the painting steps involved to bring it to life. Then we'll ship it down to them so they can hang it up!
8)
JO

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