[nathantotten]

The last time I went to Woodcraft, the guy there was raving about the CNC and recommended I get one. Hard pass. Woodworking is my escape from computers. I’m sure if you do woodworking for a living a CNC is amazing, but I’ll take the slow path on this.

[ehnto]

I actually quite enjoy the intersection of computing and woodworking that CNC provides. It's nice to be able to use my skills to make tangible things, but admittedly the CNC also intersects several hobbies I had always wanted to try: woodworking, robotics, electronics and metal machining.

There are definitely times where I just want to work with my hands in the workshop but I have plenty to do there too, so a detour to the CNC doesn't feel like it detracts from that.

[bbradley406]

CNC's are good if you are making tons of templates, making furniture, or working with a lot of sheet goods. They do take a lot of fun out of the job though, as the layout and initial cuts are usually the most enjoyable and you're left just gluing and sanding finished parts.

As a timber framer, most small to medium size shops don't use one because the upfront cost is astronomical. You need a 24' bed, 5-axis head, and probably an auto-loader because the boards can weigh up to 250 lbs. If you're cranking out identical kits and shipping them nation-wide it may make sense, but it takes a long time to get to that point. Most of my work is custom one-off projects, where it would take longer to program the tool paths and load / unload pieces than to just do them by hand with specific tools. We also use green rough-sawn wood that varies in dimensions by up to 3/16", so you'd have to probe every piece somewhat thoroughly.

As Inheritance Machining showed in his most recent video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3sjsu1FPCk) it's totally possible to beat CNCs on speed alone the first time, but impossible when it comes to mass-producing. For the hobbyist woodworker doing one-off projects in their free time, I would also say it's better to enjoy the process manually.

[SmokeyHamster]

To an extent, I agree, but it depends on what you're doing.

A CNC can get accuracies and scale that's hard to reproduce by hand. Also, a lot of hand tools can be very hard on your joints.

Once that slippery layer on your bones between the joints is rubbed down, it never comes back and then you have painful arthritis for the rest of your life, so anything you can do to avoid grinding your hands down, you should do.

[aaronbrethorst]

It feels like there’s an interesting parallel to tease out between photography and woodworking for software engineers. I’m an avid and reasonably accomplished photographer, and an absolute n00b at woodworking.

I own a MILC digital camera and mostly make photographs with my iPhone these days, but greatly prefer making photographs on film with medium and large format cameras. They’re not necessarily better per se, but the physical connection I get to my work from shooting on film, and then processing and printing by hand is what really matters to me.

I think there’s a time and place for digital (I love being able to send photos and videos of my toddler to the grandparents in near real time), but I find making physical artifacts to be a much more fulfilling outcome than having another couple hundred DNGs to delete in Lightroom.

[fuzztester]

>I’m sure if you do woodworking for a living a CNC is amazing, but I’ll take the slow path on this.

Similar here. I do wood carving as a hobby. I could buy some carving tools, like chisels of various shapes and sizes, and a mallet or two, but I prefer to just use a knife - a normal kitchen knife, a Cartini, somewhat more expensive than a no-name brand, but still cheap. Of course, that means that I cannot create even moderately complex pieces, but that's okay. I am still a beginner at it, and I am fine with creating only simple stuff. I just do it for fun.

After some time, I do plan to research some carving tools, and may buy a few if I get good advice on it, and if the tools seem to make sense for me.

[data-ottawa]

I find carving is a very nice escape. It’s a simple process, I mostly use one or two knives to do all the work, and then you’re done whenever you feel like you’re done.

You can’t over plan it, and as you work progress is very clear.

[fuzztester]

>I find carving is a very nice escape.

It sure is. I forget any issues or worries I have while doing it.

What kind of wood do you use for carving?

I have used pine in the past, e.g., I once carved a spoon out of it. One advantage of pine is that, having resin, it has a good scent.

Currently I am using old teak, a piece which a sawmill shop guy gave me for free, and which I was pleasantly surprise to find, was soft enough to carve with my knife. I would have thought that it would be too hard to carve, because I have heard that teak is a strong wood, but maybe that kind of strength is not the same as hardness, in terms of physical properties of materials. I need to read up on that topic.

[data-ottawa]

I use basswood, I have family who use it for firewood, so I can get big already dry pieces for free and then I cut them down to workable size with a hand saw.

It's cheaper at my local lumber store than online as well.

I haven't been very adventurous with other woods because of that.

Basswood is light and easy to carve, but it doesn't finish as well as other woods.

[fuzztester]

I googled basswood, and found this article about it, and its parent site, the Wood Database, both of which are interesting:

https://www.wood-database.com/basswood/

[PawgerZ]

This might be the coolest site I've discovered on Hacker News in a while. Thanks for sharing!

[data-ottawa]

I didn't know about that site either, the comment section is fantastic, it's full of users who both try different finishes and report back how it went

[fuzztester]

Thanks.

[fuzztester]

>pleasantly surprise

surprised, typo

[heikkilevanto]

If you ever get to that point, by all means buy the chisels. But make the mallet(s) yourself.

[fuzztester]

Interesting, why do you say that about the mallets?

[heikkilevanto]

Because a mallet is a nice woodworking project, can be done at any level of sophistication, from whittling a handle to a piece of firewood to "impossible" dovetail joinery and embedded lead weights. Making your own tools gives great satisfaction, both when you make it, and later when you use it. Plus, if the first one does not feel perfect, you know you can always make a better one.

[fuzztester]

>Because a mallet is a nice woodworking project, can be done at any level of sophistication

Makes sense, thanks.

>Making your own tools gives great satisfaction, both when you make it, and later when you use it.

Ha ha, true, and in the software field too. Like many others, I sometimes make small utilities for use in my own dev work.

[65]

I loved using my CNC when I had one. Having one is the perfect encapsulation of a programmer: too lazy to doing anything tedious, automate everything.

[jstanley]

I find CNC is very much like programming:

I'm too lazy to spend an hour making something by hand, but perfectly enthusiastic to spend a day getting a machine to make it.

[gedy]

CNCs are great if you are doing creative work like carved panels, I'd never have the skill, time, or patience to do work like that. I really love my Shapeoko