Red Echo

July 16, 2010

Guerrilla guide to CNC machining and resin casting:

Several years ago, I took a leap of faith, and decided to learn all there is to benchtop CNC manufacturing, the hard way. I spent a good amount of money to set things up without any sort of an assurance it would actually work the way I hoped, then went through months on trial-and-error experiments with dozens of different materials and processes. It was well worth it, to be sure: today, I can use this awesome tool with confidence, and get results I’m often proud of. I do not see a reason why the learning curve needs to be as punishing for others – and for this reason, I decided to put together this document. My hope is that it will help you decide whether CNC milling is right for you, and give you the head start needed if the answer is “yes”.