As DIYers, we often have a hard time justifying big tool and equipment purchases just for our occasional hobby projects. But sometimes a pricey tool is the only solution that gives us the freedom to create freely and experiment on our own. And when push comes to shove, we do what we must, consequences be damned. But what if there was a way to recover that initial investment and make the tool pay for itself?
Few tools lends themselves as well to turning a hobby into a business as a CNC plasma cutter does. They require a certain degree of technical knowledge and a commitment to workshop square footage. These assets are in short supply for a lot of folks, yet the products they can create are always in demand.
Eastwood designed its 4×4 CNC plasma table and cutter with DIY hobbyists in mind, with ease of use a priority. However, they engineered it to be robust and precise enough for professional results. In the video below, Eastwood’s product manager Cody walks through the costs and potential revenue of putting that machine to work for you. Check it out and do the math for yourself. Who knows, there might be a damn good reason to buy one after all.
Building your own powder coat oven is fairly cheap and quite easy for an experienced DIYer. Some tube steel or tin studs, insulation, sheet metal, a diy industrial oven controller, a couple burners, and some rivets and you’re ready to build a custom sized powder coat oven to fit your needs and your space. I built my 3’x3’x6’ oven for under $500. There are some “how to” articles posted on line to walk you through the process. For that matter an old electric oven from a scrap yard or facebook marketplace will suffice until you can afford something larger. That’s what started with. I could only bake off one rim at a time but the set still comes out looking the same as if they were cured all at once.
You’ve done great at bringing the price of a CNC table down. Now you need to work on the finishing side of this art which is an oven for powder coating. I can afford to purchase the CNC but I can’t afford to finish the work, other than the SS example given in the video.