Deep Dive - Process

An area of study that I did for this project was look into different materials and processes. To start out, I researched more about my favorite material: wood. The reason I am so drawn to wood is that it is a warm, natural material that makes a product seem more luxurious. 

I have always enjoyed working in wood, but I was curious about the mass manufacturing of products out of wood. One process that I looked deeper into was CNC. On this website, I found a great definition: 

"CNC Machining is a process used in the manufacturing sector that involves the use of computers to control machine tools. Tools that can be controlled in this manner include lathes, mills, routers and grinders. The CNC in CNC Machining stands for Computer Numerical Control."

Wood is not only a pleasant material, but also very forgiving when machined. It can have higher speeds and feeds when machining, which is something that can't be done in metal. One downside to machining wood is that it wears out the tools faster. This is something to consider because if I would want to have a product manufactured, this would probably be calculated into the cost of manufacturing. Some local CNC companies around the Chicagoland area I found that would be good sources to either get quotes for a project or more information are Precise Companies and Jay Gee Wood Products Company, Inc.