Think It. Make It. Podcast

In this episode, we have a special guest, Marissa Pasternak from The Burned Edge. Marissa and her husband Stephen have been running a successful Etsy business selling products that they make using traditional woodworking and a CO2 Laser. They have recently added a CNC to their shop and we are grateful that she was able to take the time to talk with us and discuss the ins and outs of starting and running an Etsy Store. This episode is jammed-packed with great information and advice as she shares how they got started and what they do to keep their business growing on Etsy.

The Burned Edge has been selling on Etsy since 2019 and has 1,777 sales as of this recording, with a national rank of 31,000 in terms of the number of items sold. They have sold more than 96.3% of other shops on Etsy.

Marissa was kind enough to put together a list of notes from the podcast with information that she would like to share with our listeners and that we discussed on the podcast. You can DOWNLOAD these notes below:

If you would like to learn more about The Burned Edge, please visit:

Instagram: @The_Burned_Edge
Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/TheBurnedEdge
Etsy: www.Etsy.com/Shop/TheBurnedEdge
Email: [email protected]

In this episode, we discuss the best ways to price your products along with a lot of things to consider along the way. Is your business a Hobby? Or is it a true business? This is a content-packed episode and we hope you get a lot out of it as you build your CNC business.

In this episode, we discuss how having a CNC can lead to friends and family asking for favors and how to schedule this so it is not a major disruption to your business. We all want to help friends and it can be exciting to make things for people, especially when you first get your machine, but keep in mind that if you are building a business, your time is going to become more valuable, and saying YES to a friend on a project could impact a paying customer or at the very least your personal free time to meet all your commitments.

We also discuss Greg and Bobby’s projects as they both made some progress – Greg with his lithophane and Bobby with his first go at the V Carve Inlay. Here are some pics of their projects.

In this episode we discuss Bobby’s Corn Hole Board and various ways to customize it for the logos that he wants to include. We also discuss the viability of this project and other ideas that could spin-off from it to expand the offerings to other markets. We discuss V Carve wood inlays as well as epoxy pouring for the logos. This is a packed episode with a lot of good info.

In this episode Erick and Greg discuss all the things you need to know and be aware of when you decide to buy or are considering to buy a CNC. While it is not hard by any means and we feel virtually anyone can learn and be successful with a CNC router, it is always best to know what you are in for ahead of time to help you with your decisions along the way. Things like:

• What size machine to buy?
• What spindle do you need?
• Can you upgrade in the future?
• What optional accessories does that CNC Company offer?
• What software do you need?
• What type of material are you going to process?
• What tooling do you need?
• How do you plan to hold your material down?

This week Greg walks us through his pet memorial plaque project and we discuss some ways to improve his very cool concept. He has incorporated a lithophane into the center of the plaque with the photo of the pet. These will be very unique memorials for your furry loved ones.

We discuss, in detail several ways to go about making this project and talk about considerations that you should have when designing and producing your own projects. We also analyze the target market and prospective price point that he would like to hit and make some project modification suggestions to meet those requirements. This episode is packed with a lot of information. You can view the episode in video form below:

This week we finally start to dive into the design and CAM of our projects. Erick will discuss how he intends to make his whole project with the CNC and no other power tools with the exception of a drill for the hinge screws and a palm sander before staining. He designed the project with production in mind, where all the parts are held in a custom vacuum fixture so he can use traditional lumber. Even the 45 degree miter joints are going to be milled on the CNC using a special Gadget from Vectric.

This episode is a little different because there has to be a video component to it, in order to best explain what he is doing and how it will all work. The video below contains the podcast audio along with the screen recording of what he is talking about on the episode

This week has been crazy and we did not have a lot of time to spend on our Think It Make It Challenge projects, so we discussed some other things going on around the shop. We also spend some time talking about CNC In Education and our experiences over the last 8 years working with educators.

Erick helped make some new MDF cabinet doors for his gun club using some Amana Tool MDF door cutting tools. You can see the tools here:

Raised Panel – Amana Tool RC-2485
Door Lock – Amana Tool 46155-K 1/8″ Compression Bit
Profile Cutout – Amana Tool 46179-K 3/8″ Compression Bit
V Carve Logo – Amana Tool RC-1105 110 degree V-Groove Bit
V Carve Clearing – Amana Tool 46348-K 1/4″ Down Cut

The center cabinet door had a V Carve Logo in it that was painted a contrasting color. This process was done by cutting the raised panel door, sanding it and then painting it with the base color. After a couple coats of paint, Oracal masking was applied and then the panel was put back on the machine with the center as the XY zero. Then the logo was V Carved into the door. After that was done, the carved area was painted with black acrylic paint and then the masking was removed once the paint dried.

Oracal ORAMASK 813 – https://www.toolstoday.com/v-14855-ora813.html

In this episode we discuss the real costs for Fusion 360 for the hobbyists. There is a lot of confusion over this and some think it is free for only the first year. We dive into this and hopefully clear this up for many of you.

We also talk about Fusion 360 and Vectric V Carve and why we use each program and for what types of projects.

We also dive deeper into our challenge projects and discuss some ideas as to how we plan to manufacture them. We talk about using vacuum fixtures to hold down solid wood to get everything cut to size quickly including the 45 degree miters in the corners.

In this episode we continue discussing our Challenge projects and Greg has a complete new idea and finally settled into what his project is going to be. We discussed more details about features, materials and some possible challenges that we will each face with our projects. This episode is really good for anyone who is contemplating bringing a product to life with their CNC machine.

In addition, this week’s Tip of The Week, we discuss soft limits on the machine, what they are and how to work with them. We also discuss some possible errors that you might get as a result and how to solve them.