Customer Focus - Patrick and April Eaton

Tis the season to start getting things made for the upcomming holidays.  The next big one is Thanksgiving and Patrick and April are getting a jump on it!  Check out these great finished wooden plates they have made and be get ready to be inspired!

"Our latest project for the fall!! These sure were a lot of fun to make. Friends and neighbors love them so look like we get to make some more."

Great use of the Thanksgiving No.1 project and hacking in models that came with their Vectric software!

Close up to show the wonderful finish.

"We used Vectric V-Carve Pro with the Laguna IQ Pro router. We used the models from Thanksgiving No.1 and the apples and maple leaf from the Vectric program."

We love that they hacked in models that came free with their software to make a more interesting layout!  It's easy to forget that with V-Carve Pro you get over 300 free 3D clipart models!

"The font used is Cambria and the designs are from Soft Ornaments 9 from Fonts Addict. Finish includes a mixture of assorted stains (Sanoma Red, Ipswitch Pine, Natural, Red Oak, and Gun Stock). The green color was made up from a concoction of green Testers paint and Natural stain.

 

And another wonderful finished piece that is sure to inspire others to mix 3D with 2D to make a stunning wall decoration!

"Here's another one we finished last night too. It's the wagon wheel from Western Saloon 3 and the E is Oklahoma font from Fonts Addict. The size is 23"diameter. "

What a great looking finished piece of art!

2D Initial on a 3D Wheel!

Thank you Patrick and April for taking the time to share your experience and finished projects with us!

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Customer Focus - Harry Squier

Adding a CNC to your shop is sometimes may feel like daunting task.  Harry and his Wife found out there are a couple of key things that you will need in order to make it a fulfilling experience.  Sure it's great to get a good quality CNC that meets your needs but the software and supporting content are what make the real difference.

"Welcome to our roost - Fowl tales told here"

 

"My wife and I are woodworkers and decided to step up our game with a cnc machine. We are running a Shapeoko 3 with a DeWalt dwp611 as the spindle. The unit is very nice for what we were looking to do to enhance our work, the problem was that I had no CAD/CAM software knowledge and was struggling with designing some of the ideas that we wanted to do. "

"I contacted the people at Carbide 3d and they recommended your software as a bit more intuitive alternative to their creation software. I purchased Vcarve desktop and in no time I was on my way to making some of the things I was struggling to design in other software. As we wanted to venture into 2.5d work the clipart and Design and Make projects were perfect. "

All three of Harry's projects used models form the Wildlife Scenes Collection.

"Thank you so much for supporting the weekend cnc warriors like myself. "

Thank you Harry for choosing our projects and Vectric software to enhance your woodworking!  Your finished pieces are very nice and inspiring to anyone that is getting started or are experienced with CNC woodworking!

Thank you Harry for taking the time to share your experience and finished projects with us!

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How easy is it? Jill shares her first experience with Aspire and Design and Make.

If you have been following Design and Make on Facebook or reading our newsletters the name Don Harding is not new to you at all.  Don has been using our CNC projects from the very beginning.  Don saw the potential in our projects to help him learn how to use his Aspire software and his new CNC.  Don has come a long way since then and now his family is getting in on the fun.

We received this note and picture from him a while back: 

"My daughter Jill Marie designed this. FIRST DESIGN She pushed me away from my own computer. Then she forced me to run this on the Stinger. How did she do?" 

We wanted to hear all about Jill's experience with Aspire and using Design and Make projects, so we asked her.   The following is what she had to say.

"My dad has been so happy making plaques using Design & Make Art. I have been content to get to paint the plaques BUT, today I wanted to graduate to the next step. I told him I was coming to spend the day with him and that I wanted to try to learn how to make a plaque."

At first, I watched him working with the artwork. Then he said he had to go to the shop for awhile and that I should look thru the artwork to get an idea of what I wanted on my plaque. After I went thru his notebook where he keeps a copy of every piece of art he bought from Design & Make he still was not back from the shop."

You can also use Design and Make CNC Projects with V-Carve Pro V8+ or Desktop.

You can also use Design and Make CNC Projects with V-Carve Pro V8+ or Desktop.

"I decided to take over his chair, saved his drawing and I opened up a new drawing. 24"x 24" was on the screen. When my dad was designing his plaque he showed me the "ClipArt Tab" that listed all his artwork in alphabetical order. I picked things that I thought would make a nice plaque and started placing them on the screen."

 

"I wanted to make a heart shaped plaque and I clicked on "Heart shape No.1" and placed it on the screen. Then I wanted roses and saw "Rose Long Stem No.1" and then the "Butterfly" and then I saw the "Rose Bud" and placed it attached to my long stem rose. I was so thrilled to see how easy it was and so excited that I could show my dad my design or my "Hack" as he calls it."

 

"He came in and was tickled that I got my ideas on the screen. He saw I used a 24X24 and told me that size would take all day to carve. He suggested that we resize it to 10X10. I was amazed that it was so easy to downsize and we did not lose any detail. "

"Doing this as my first design made me realize why my dad is so happy when he is making plaques working with Design & Make."

Jill we sure can see how Don would have been "tickled" to see what you came up knowing you only had a very short introduction to the layout process.  I think we all can answer Don's initial question...  She did an amazing job and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thanks Jill and Don for taking the time to share your experience with us!

For more Customer Focus posts click here!