Newbie needs real help!!!!!

[spud218a]

Hi,
I am real new to all of this CNC stuff but i am looking for some real help on a
business venture/project.

Right now I make and sell...don't laugh...goats milk soap. One of most popular molds, a "Barrel Racer", was made from a photo of my daughter at a rodeo.

I would like to offer custom soaps of horses etc. but I do not have the equipment to make the molds.

I would like to partner with somebody who has the equipment to take a photo, scan it in and then using something like a 3 axis CNC machine actually "carve" a block of soap from the scanned image and then cast a silicone mold from the"carving" after which a number bars of soap can be produced.

If anyone out there feels that this is something they might interested in please please let me know,

spud218a

[AMCjeepCJ]

In all seriousness I think I'd go about this differently and save yourself a heap of money. Depending on where you live, go find a retirement center and track down a wood carving club like my grandpa used to belong too. I'm sure you'd find some really talented old folks you could barter with to carve you absolutely beautiful wooden 'soap masters' that you could keep virtually forever to make new molds if for any reason your old ones were destroyed or wore out.

I would think this would be the fastest, cheapest and best quality product you could get. I really don't think it is cost effective to use new technology like computers and CNC for that type of prototyping, (which is basically what you're looking for.)

For one thing, by the time you pay a competent CAD or modeling software person to draw up your product, they charge a good sum of money (I do this.) However, after seeing the items my grandpa was carving after only one winter in his carving club, I was flabbergasted! My gramps wasn't particularly gifted at carving but because he liked it, he practiced a lot and with good instructors he was phenomenal by his third winter. I know he would have carved pieces for someone for free just to have have someone to go have coffee with once a week and maybe go to a couple of fairs or craft shows with a year.

Sorry to try to steer you away from CNC but I think you'd be happier with your results if you had nicely done hand carved originals. Definitely more personality in your end product. If you don't like this idea, I have another one but I think this one is the better of the two.

Again, I hope this helped a little or maybe shed a little light on why no one responded publicly yet. For the amount of work involved to do this digitally, it doesn't sound particularly lucrative to most of us shop owners to spend the time quoting this kind of low volume, high labor work (just programming time.) On the other hand there ARE definitely some who could, would and will do this for you via surface modeling, etc. and CNC...especially with the offer to be a partner. (See below)

Please keep us updated on your progress, I think it is a really cool idea and I'm pretty impressed with it. Sounds like a great gift for some peeps I know~

Good luck!

[AMCjeepCJ]

PS

This is your baby, don't get a partner, you'll be paying WAY too much in the long run~