CNC Woodworking for the Absolute Beginner: Winning Tips, Techniques & 5 Skill-Building Projects (Fox Chapel Publishing) Introduction to Computer Numerical Control with Step-by-Step Photos and FAQ - Softcover

Ralph Bagnall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1497104734 ISBN 13: 9781497104730

Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing, 2025

Synopsis

The ultimate beginner's guide to CNC woodworking!

• Introductory information for the absolute beginner, from importing a job to programming a relief carving
• 5 step-by-step projects to help you practice CNC skills, including a coaster, garden marker, and Tic-Tac-Toe game
• Beginner's FAQ section delves into the basic concepts and techniques of CNC
• QR codes to companion files, complete plans, materials and tools lists, and a CNC terms glossary
• Author Ralph Bagnall has been a professional woodworker for 30 years and has been working with CNC machines since 1996

Learn all about using a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) router while woodworking!

Written for the absolute beginner, inside this book, author Ralph Bagnall provides an introduction to CNC, information on how CNC routers work, and 5 CNC projects to help you get started and find success with CNC woodworking.

Projects include:

• Conversion Chart Coaster
• Drink Holder
• Tic-Tac-Toe Board
• Garden Marker
• 3D Coaster

Each project will build your foundational skills, with full-color photos to help to enhance your understanding of the craft. You'll learn to make simple engravings on a flat surface, program with multiple bits, work with text, and add texture and dimension to your woodworking creations. You'll also find a FAQ section for beginners and a woodworking and CNC glossary to help you learn common terms.

If you just bought a CNC woodworking machine or are thinking about getting one, CNC Woodworking for the Absolute Beginner is the easy introduction you need to start using it!

About this title

About the Author

Ralph Bagnall pairs his passion for CNC machines — which he's learned and used since 1996 — with 40 years of experience in woodworking and sharing his insights with his audience. CNC Woodworking for the Absolute Beginner is literally a textbook for learning CNCs; it was designed alongside the live CNC Classes he teaches around the country. In the Complete Guide to CNC Woodworking, he steers aspiring CNC enthusiasts through one of his favorite ways to fashion wood, teaching students how to start CNC machining with confidence. Previously the author of the Beginner's Guide to CNC Machining in Wood in 2021, he currently lives with his wife in Florida.

From the Back Cover

The Definitive Handbook for the Beginner CNC Woodworker

Long-time CNC instructor Ralph Bagnall compiled his years of experience in teaching professional CNC operators and home enthusiasts the fundamentals of CNC operation inside the pages of CNC Woodworking for the Absolute Beginner. His "class in a book" answers the most frequently asked questions his students raise through a series of five skill-building projects. Each project serves the purpose of teaching a new technique or element of CNC woodworking. You'll build a solid foundation of knowledge with his detailed introduction to the anatomy of a CNC machine, bit selection and function, CNC capabilities, programming, and safety. With your newfound knowledge, you'll be well-equipped to start creating with this hands-on approach to instruction. From learning how to import a job and creating a text tool path in the first project through learning how to use a 3D finishing toolpath to program a relief carving — everything a confident and capable CNC woodworker needs to know is covered in one all-encompassing manual.

YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO:

• Import a file
• Create a text toolpath
• Output G-code for the machine
• Group objects
• Program profile toolpaths
• Cut parts inside and outside of lines
• Use the drawing features of the CAD/CAM software
• Move and manipulate drawing features
• Add a form tool in the Tool Database
• Create holes without drilling
• Hold parts by programming an onion skin cutout
• Cut a project using multiple router bits
• Import and join vectors for toolpathing
• Use the V-carving toolpath
• Use multiple router bits to complete a project
• Import a 3D .stl file
• Use the 3D finishing toolpath to program a relief carving

"Ralph has helped me time and again in my journey to become more proficient with my CNC. This book is just what the doctor ordered for anyone starting out in the CNC world."
— Rob Johnstone, expert woodworker and former Editor-in-Chief of Woodworker's Journal Magazine

"This book provides useful, hands-on instruction, using five projects as teaching tools that will help answer your CNC questions and master your CNC router."
— George Vondriska, instructor, Vondriska Woodworks

Edition details

• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1497104734
• ISBN 13: 9781497104730
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 88