Need Idea's for CNC mill
 

Well, As I am loosing my job in Oct, I need to spend more time in my home shop. Powdercoating is a sideline, not enough work to sustain us. I have a little CNC mill here too, 14"X 8"Y6"Z travel. not large, but it is pretty accutate. Now, Im wondering what things I could make? I have had the mill for about 7 years now, and allways find it tough to come up with the ideas.

So, What does Canreefers want/need? The mill cut's Alum pretty well, but Acrylic and plastic it cuts awesome. I also have a router head attachment for it.

Throw some ideas at me.

filter trays for sumps
custom slip fit spray nozzles/splitters

mounting brackets for common light fixtures

long handled scraper rod that can hold common credit cards

mounts for both rimless and eurobraced tanks to hold probes, heaters, powerheads etc

Make yourself some phosban and carbon reactors, Frag rack etc

VR

I wouldn't bother too much with aquarium related products, most hobbyists are used to paying for Chinese mass production. It's like bubble king vs euro reef or vertex. Sure some people will go for the BK because the supreme quality but most stick with cheaper alternatives. Even if you go with something completely new you'll have a hard time selling it unless it's an absolute necessity. CNC is all about quantity if you want to turn a profit, making the odd thing here and there for Joe and Bill won't pay the bills.

I would suggest making small brochures that demonstrate the services you can provide, then dropping them off at small local manufacturing companies. I work at a smaller manufacturing company and we supply work to someone just like you, he has a small shop in his garage and does plastic machining. He makes all our plastic handles and electronic housings for many of our products. We like using him over larger machine shops mainly because he's cheaper but also because he provides shorter delivery times, has better quality, and stands behind his work.

I was mostly detailing what he was building for me =)

I'm not in the know...but what you're saying sounds about right.

Custom heatsinks comes to mind for the DIY LED market. Check out the lighting forum on nano-reef.com to see what I mean.

Heat-sinks are cast, the cost to machine one from a solid plate of aluminum would not only be extremely wasteful but also cost a fortune in comparison. People usually do it themselves to save money not to spend more.