CNC Router Essentials: The Basics for Mastering the Most Innovative Tool in Your Workshop

Randy Johnson is one of the best resources for Woodworking CNC work out there. I've attended his classes and he's a great guy too. Buy the book, and attend one of his classes if you get the opportunity. A wealth of knowledge in not only the milling and technical techniques but in the software side as well. I'll also add that Randy is traditional fine wood worker and has written countless articles for fine woodworking magazines over the years. This is unusual for the topic as most times CNC advise is coming from some millennial who wants to make iPod cases or plastic nose rings with their CNC. Randy is a classical carving expert and knows how to apply modern time saving skills to traditional woodworking and that's the value add with this book, and Randy's knowledge in general. He is very technically capable but also a master of hand technique. He's not just doing stuff with computers and machines to do stuff with computers and machines. He's aware of time saving, quality enhancing applications for the technology to increase operational output speed and overall quality.

This book is pretty good at instructing the use of most small CNC machines and using the V-Carve Pro software. You need to go all the way through the book to get all the details properly. Unfortunately V-Carve only works on a Windows machine and I have a Mac. I had to borrow a PC laptop to run the software, but the book was pretty clear on using it. It has good images and instructions. It does help to work with someone first who has done it before, however, and follow along with the book.

I am computer savvy. This book is geared for helping with setting up. My hobby is woodworking. I like the examples. I need ideas on what to make. I am not sure what I want to make and the amount of money that I want to spend on a CNC. It seems like a good book. I have looked at every page. Now I am looking to find out more info on buying a CNC.

I am new to CNC and recently purchased a machine from Next Wave Automation. The machine comes with the Vectric software package. This book is perfect for a new user and even better if you are using Vectric. It goes through the process of design and creating toolpaths in a clear, stepwise manner. It would be understandable no matter what software you are using, but is especially easy with Vectric as the screenshots are taken right from Vectric Pro. At the end of the book I felt much more comfortable working with the software and much more likely to implement my own ideas. Not a book for a veteran CNC maker, but good for beginners like me.

I bought this book shortly after I bought my first CNC router. It has explained a lot of things for me and helps me understand the function of the machine. Looking forward to putting it in use but I am very happy with what it has taught me so far. Definitely recommended.

The author has a good explanation of the basics. There are 4 projects in the book. If you complete these projects, then you will have an excellent start on CNC machining. However, I would caution on one item in the book. The author correctly states that climb milling is dangerous to do by hand, but then states it is safe to do with a CNC machine. Perhaps if you are using a large CNC that is anchored in concrete this is true. However, for these relatively small machines being used for wood working it is extremely dangerous. I have changed any programs that used climb cutting to conventional. If you can't change the program, and feel like you have to use it anyway, slow down the feed and reduce the depth of cut to a 1/16th of an inch.

If you are thinking of spending $3000 on a CNC router and have no previous CNC experience then read this book first. It covers all of the steps of a CNC project from design though completion. It starts with a simple project that introduces designing your project, creating tool paths, and saving the completed post processor files that are the machine specific code that runs your project on a CNC router. Reading through this book will either convince you to buy a CNC machine, or make you realize that you are not ready to jump into it yet. Either way it is $25 well spent. This book is especially helpful if you plan to buy a machine that uses Vectric VCarve software.

The book doesn't contain the fit to page or zoom capabilities as other Kindle ebooks. Nearly impossible to read due to limited screen size on Laptop. I will rate the book content once I can find a way to read the ebook version. UPDATE: The book is very good if you plan to use V-Carve Pro. It has good examples to follow using V-Carve Pro. i would not recommend the Kindle version if you use the windows 10 Kindle App. "tt", "ft" and some other letter combinations appears as squares in the print. As stated in my first review, the Kindle version doesn't allow fit to page, zoom, or font changes which make the book very difficult to read on Windows 10 Kindle reader.