Can you make money with a CNC machine?
Absolutely yes, there are many people making a full time living from a CNC machine.
When you simplify it a CNC machine is able to make high precision parts out of wood, plastic and metal, so in theory you can sell anything you want to make.
One of the most popular ways to make money with a CNC machine is to sell items that are personalised as it’s quite easy to change the text that a CNC machine can engrave on to various items. Phone cases are typical items that people offer services to personalise with CNC engraving machines but if you look on the internet there are many more.
I’ve also seen coin trays and ash trays being manufactured by people using a CNC machine that make the tray out of wood and then personalising the finished tray with text, names and images.
Make a sign with a CNC machine
There is a huge market for sign making, especially smaller shops and businesses. A trip around the local garden centre looking at the indoor displays will yield loads of ideas for small items and signs you can make at home and sell. Once you’ve created a design for an item you can simply repeatedly manufacture.
Customised wall signs in people’s homes are also popular things to sell. It’s also very easy to cut large letters out of MDF sheet that can easily be painted and combined for larger signs.
I saw someone using a CNC machine to make large Scrabble tiles for an outdoor Scrabble game.
With the popularity of baby and nursery décor these days there is quite a market for customised name signs.
Wooden wall maps that can be customised are also popular and easy to make out of all sorts of different wood and can be engraved and varnished.
Items can also be bought in quantities and then engraved with text to customise them. There are a few companies doing this with chopping boards and solid wood coasters.
There are various designs around on the internet for three dimensional sculptures or puzzles using flat pieces cut from plywood. These then slot together jigsaw style to produce 3D items like animals, owls and fish are popular along with dinosaurs. You could even come up with your own if you’re feeling ambitious.
Three dimensions carved wood pictures are more time consuming to make but quick look around the internet and you’ll see some of the prices these are selling for.
If you are near to a business that produces a lot of wood off cuts you could get them very cheaply there will be many things you could manufacture and your material costs would be minimal. You could make custom key rings out of almost any material with a CNC machine.
Some of the machines that can be easily bought and put together these days will also take larger sheets of material. This opens up more possibilities as you can use larger sheets to make larger things. I’ve seen custom kitchen unit doors being made from wood of your choice. There are also people using CNC machines to make complete furniture out of wood.
If you keep your eyes open to the possibilities there are opportunities opening up all the time for things you could manufacture or customise with a CNC machine. Almost every day I see something that gives me an idea. There is always someone coming up with an idea that I never thought of.
I have just seen a design for a CNC stand up paddle board where the struts are cut out of plywood. You can literally make almost anything with a bit or imagination and a CNC machine. If you’re interested in buying a CNC machine or what machines are available at a budget or a beginner I have an article that you can read here for more information.
There is also another article here on things that can be made with a CNC machine.