There are quite a few sites on the internet that will allow you to convert .jpg to .stl (https://imagetostl.com/) being one of these. Can’t speak for the quality as I have never used this facility. Google is your friend.
Dave…Thank you for a lead. This winter I spend in Yuma (snowbird) I will research for quality. This forum is Great! Thank you again.
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Haha! Sorry, man! I ordered my 1F in April and it finally arrived last month! I finally got around to building the table and installing it last weekend. I still have some wire management, wiring, and dust collection left to set up. The, “other Kevin” has designed a drag chain assembly and a pretty clever waste-board. I was hoping to connect and snag his Gcode. Why re-invent the wheel?
Yep. I share my workshop with my wife now as she has been bitten by the furniture-flipping chalk painters! Hey! No complaints! I was griping about the china cabinets I have had to schlep on/off my pickup. She said, “Can’t you get one of those lifty-things for your truck?” Translation: a hydraulic lift-gate. “I’ll split the cost with you!” So, yes, I had a TommyGate installed on my F-150! Win-win! Plus, she has a taste for really nice tools (Festool!) so there are some benefits there.
I work to fund my vices; woodworking being one of them so I understand reclaimed furniture and repairs! I build Shaker-style furniture (when I can) and mostly for my family; nothing commercial.
Good luck to you, sir, with your new home! Stay safe!
Bob
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Ordered the Journeyman X50 with a load of extras today. New to CNC but I’ve enjoyed woodworking for many years. Looking forward to adding this new machine to my shop.
Bob D.
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Hi all I’m Scott and I just got my OF woodworker a few weeks back. I am the owner of Iler Woods based in Southern California. My wife and I started the business mid pandemic and the ride has been awesome. By trade I am an educator by passion I am a woodworker. I do the best that I can to meld both. I got the OF machine not necessarily to make new productS but more to augment the pieces we already make. As you all know people love things personalized and this machine allows a great amount of diversity. Thank you One Finity for producing such a work horse of a machine. Ilerwoods.com
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Welcome Scott to the 1F community.
Hallo
My name is Casper and I have been a stone mason doing natural stone countertops for the last 35 years, specializing in soapstone (Vancouver Island Soapstone - Cowichan Valley, BC, CA V9L5W5 | Houzz ). I have been lurking on the forum for the last couple weeks now, and find it very informative. Really appreciate all of you so willing to share and help.
I have been looking at getting a hobby sized CNC for small projects made from the softer stones (soapstone, limestone and marble). The average Moh’s hardness of the soapstone we work with is 2.5 (Aluminium is a 2.75). This is as a value-added part of my countertop business and the plan is to give clients options such as carved apron sink fronts and decorative slab backsplashes with relief carvings.
The stone is soft enough to be cut with carbide tools and I will be getting a good vacuum system to handle the dust. Soapstone dust seems to be heavier than granite or marble dust (must be the talc) and settles rather quickly anyways. It is not as abrasive as say granite dust either, again because of the talc (remember the real baby powder?) content.
I am thinking of pulling the trigger on a Journeyman (48"x32"). Since I have never owned a CNC, I do have some questions.
- I am located on Vancouver Island, BC. Is there anybody near-ish that has a machine I could come and look at? It would be very interesting to swap notes on setup and performance, and I would be more than happy to buy beer and dinner.
- By all appearances, the machine is super sturdy and looks like it could handle stone work, but I can not find a lot of people doing this. Do any of you have an opinion on this subject, or have done stone work with it? I would be extremely interested in hearing your experiences.
- There is a possibility that the carbide bits could get hot and wear out prematurely. Is anybody aware of the availability of diamond tooling for this machine?
- I saw on the videos that everybody has a Makita router. Not sure if that is strong enough. Would there be a bigger router available as an option when I buy it?
- From my description, do you think the Journeyman is the proper sized machine for this?
- I see there is a long waiting period. Me being Canadian will automatically put me right at the front of the line, right?
Thank you and stay safe,
Casper
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Welcome to the forum.
I haven’t done stone on a CNC router (I’ve done some with a laser). But I have done work using diamond bits on glass using my old Shopbot (I’m waiting on a Journeyman myself). So the answer is yes, you can get diamond tip router bits.
You can get a spindle - the stock mount will take a 1.5kw 65mm dia spindle for a step up in ooomph. The controller has the appropriate wiring connections. Not sure you’d need it though because the Makita can handle aluminum. Also, soapstone can be hand carved using steel rasps and tools. Carbide bits & your diamond thought should work fine.
Larger spindles (220V) can be fitted with the optional 80mm spindle mount. Those can be air or water cooled.
That’s an interesting question. It would be worth asking OneFinity. I haven’t seen any posts of people engraving stone that I recall. You could ask here if someone might be willing to do a test if you buy the bit & supply a sample of the material. I’d do it just to see if it would work but I’m about a month out on delivery.
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I recently tried carving some marble (?) with diamond burrs and the bits gave out. The machine was doing wonderful.
Amana sells some polycrystalline diamond bits that are very pricey but were recommended to me by a friend with a countertop business. In the neighborhood of $200+ each 
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Thanks for the reply and information, Jim. Congrats on the machine almost being delivered!
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Hi Nick - from here that looks like quartz (a resin base with little chunks of stone, glass or shell for texture. Why they keep marketing it as “natural” goes beyond me. It is an oil-based plastic chemical concoction). It must’ve stunk to high heaven when you ground that! You can see where the heat from the bit started melting and burning the plastic. Thanks for the info on the diamond bits. I will go look them up. Nice thing about the diamond bits and softer stones is that they will last forever if you care for them well. I am thinking of adding a “fog buster” mister to my setup for cooling the tooling
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Ah that makes sense. I was thinking it was the bit grinding itself away that was leaving the black marks.
Hey All
Name is Doug. I’m 57 and live in Oklahoma. VERY new to CNC. Have been working for one of the biggest consumer goods companies for the last 32 years.
Been into wood working for the last few years. Started out by refinishing a piece of junk guitar, then refretting a neck, then redoing the electronics. A few months later my wife suggested I build one from scratch. I laughed at the idea and here we are close to 70 guitars later that have all been built one at a time by hand.
I have a few friends who also build guitars that got into CNC to assist with the process. I initially shied away from the idea. Started researching them a few months ago when we had a block party and I found out a couple of neighbors had them.
Ordered the Woodworker X-50 a few weeks back. Wife helped me build the table for it and am busily trying to figure out what software to use. So far, all of them make my head hurt and I’m questioning my sanity for ordering the machine to begin with.
I mainly use the woodworking for mental therapy as well as keeping active. I’m an AML leukemia survivor of just over 4 years and a bone marrow transplant patient.
Cheers
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Casper I run a Glass / stone CNC for cutting glass (shower doors). The routers are all diamond. The problem is a lot of heat is generated so there’s a ton of water that is poured onto the cutters as they work. If I lose the water in a second it turns red and cracks. Guys that cut countertops tell me also it’s the same with the water.
I think you could carve the soapstone with carbide if you go slow. You could try with a bur in a hand tool to see if it will cut.
I’ve also seen someone cutting mother of pearl with a CNC.
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Would air be of any help with cooling the bit and removing debris. I know it won’t be like flooding with coolant or water. What about a mist system like is used on a mill?
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With glass and stone it’s gallons of water. If you use air the dust is very bad for your lungs. I sill think you can cut the soapstone with carbide. I would use a HEPA filter and vent outside.
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@KMiller Kevin, where did you guys move to in MI? I just moved from there to AZ. Used to live in Fenton/Grand Blanc/Waterford/Birch Run and most recently in Niles (born in Flint). Hope you find a space for the machine! My shop is very small, only 8’ x 12’. My last shop in MI was 8’ x 20’, but I had to share it with a snow blower & lawn mower. Gladly left those behind.
I’m an OnShape guy as well. I’m a retired engineer from Iowa. I used Creo for many years at work and needed something I could run at home. OnShape seemed to have the most similar process. Now PTC has purchased OnShape. I started using it to model up some of my woodworking projects. More recently I was using it to model up stuff to 3D print. Just purchased my OneFinity and am using it to design my table. I purchased VCarve-Pro so I’m not sure which software will get used more for making CNC projects. I will have to play around with exporting DXF files and importing them into VCarve once I get my feet on the ground.
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Hello all, I just ordered a Journeyman today. By way of introduction, I live near Boston, MA USA and I have about 25 years of CNC experience including developing motion control and slicing/CAM software.
I currently own two CNC mills that I converted from manual machines, a 2’x3’ router, a 600mmx450mm 100W CO2 laser and more 3D printers than sane people should have.
I run a small business (eclecticangler.com) and do all of the machining of aluminum and Delrin for my products in house. I’m also a guitar maker but my 2x3 router is too small for the new instruments I want to build (Weissenborn for the curious) but a 2x4 is just right. I could have built another machine but time is precious. I’ve done a LOT of research on various machines (and have a few friends in the industry) and have lots of personal experience too. I really appreciate the design of the Onefinity machines.
All of my current CNC machines use the Mach 3 or 4 controller (which runs on WIndows) and the laser is proprietary firmware. 3D printers are all Duet based. I’ve built controllers from raspberry pi’s in the past and worked with a lot of GRBL and other firmwares. So I’m curious to try the Buildbotiocs controller.
On the software front, I’m a Rhinocerous CAD weenie (both Mac and Windows) and have been for a long time. I am also a long time VCarve Pro user but have used a lot of other CAD and CAM products over the years.
In addition to guitars, I have a lot of other projects I use my CNC router for including pool ball holders, milling polycarbonate display cases, some 3D carving, etc. I am downsizing my equipment including the larger G0704 mill and the 2x3 router to make space for the Onefinity and generally free up some workshop area.
Any other owners in MA?
cheers,
Michael
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Hello everyone. Struggling cop on the backstretch to retirement (10 years away) and have decided that working with wood soothes the soul and keeps me from falling of the ledge. Got a used BOB4 CNC about 18 months ago and had to work on the machine more than i got to work with the machine. Went all in on the onefinity and I am glad I did. Machine is awesome. I started with 3D stuff and may have jumped in too deep. ALOT to learn for a beginner. I have learned a lot but not as computer savvy as I should be. Rely a lot on forums for info and troubleshooting.
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