Poll: Who wants to see a Hobby CNC Magazine

[twistedfuse]

Hello All,

I was just thinking that there really isn't much out there in the way of a subscription magazine for the Hobbyist CNC'er. So i thought that it would be great to see if there was a way a monthly cnczone magazine could be created. It could deal with all the how to topics and plans, ideas, creations etc, maybe some that are not posted online and plenty of photos etc. People can write their experiences and post them in and the best could get prizes. That way someone would just have to do the grammer and compiling. Etc. I would love to have something on the shelf to reference when building and something to read when im not building or playing with the cnc itself.

I just wanted to see what others thought. Would you pay for it? I have no idea how to go about it but i have seen other sites that have created similar. With the little time i get i wouldnt be able to do much so if anyone likes the idea and would be willing to get it off the ground it would be great. Also ideas greatly welcomed. Again i hope im not stepping on toes but this was just a thought i've had for a while.

Daniel
P.S More thinking as i go along, it could also release a year book that outlines all the best topics, machines etc posts and plans etc. I could see a great worthwhile magazine. Maybe this might start something that everyone can enjoy.

[SPEEDRE]

I think that's a great idea, but. I'd guess that it could mean, a subscription fee to the web site to support the publishing cost. We could be looking at paying for both the cnczone here, and, the magazine as well. We now enjoy great open access to all this fertile ground, I'm not sure that messing with it is a good idea after all. I think I want to take back my vote and say " yeah, but not so much".

[daedalus]

i think a cnc hobby mag would be great, but the last thing i would want is one based around these forums. What makes this place great is that its an open forum with lots of users, and it would suck if it was a paid-for service, simply because the volume of expertise would be greatly reduced.

I already subscribe to a couple of hobbyist magazines, and i pay for good quality vetted and well written articles with decent documentation. I dont think you will get that standard by just writing up what people are talking about on a forum without being directly involved.

Take for example model engineers workshop, which last month started a series on cnc milling on the KX1. The magazine has a good range of articles and shows about the quality of writing / documentation people will expect. Now i would happily buy a cnc mag as well, but would expect similar quality.

[twistedfuse]

I totally agree, the only reason i have a cnc machine and well on the way to building more, is due to the free content on this site. However i still feel as tho more could be acomplished by a small fee. having a collection of plans etc in print would be great. Imagine a complete article on building say a Joes 4'x4' Hybrid machine, a comparison between hardware like ballscrews etc, tips on how to balance the gantry etc. I feel the magazine could have an advertisment page to allow companies like hobbycnc and other companies to advertise, would bring in some good money to help with costs.

Like i said im not 100% certain how this all would work but im sure it would be benefitial for all of us if there was a way to organise and find a way to still have free cntent but also a way that members/subscribers recived some extras. Maybe someone here has an idea on how we could do it.

Daniel

[twistedfuse]

Daedalus,

Again i agree with you too. Few years ago i was into hobby fireworks, there was a site where everything was free and it was great, but after subscribing to another website the articles there were better, written so well and there was so much extra information that most poeple missed or didn't want to give up for free(i guess much like the model engineers etc). Also the books published,monthly newsletters/magazines were also the same.

The sites were great lots of information on the free site that got you into it all, but it was alot better to upgrade and get the better articles and newer projects, plans and files. I feel theres only so much to be hand fed and also after speaking with a few of the respected people and even some new people with alot of information, they have not posted because theres no incentive to do so.

Again im all for the free content but i can see a huge benfit from having some type of idea that would work for everyone to also have a subscrition service with a published article. The hardest part is trying to figure out just how to do it to suit everyone.

Daniel

[daedalus]

May i make one suggestion to you twistedfuse, have you considered contacting one of the existing machininst magazines about doing an article or two? Im sure they must have a considerable interest in cnc related content, even if its not their main content. Whilst this probably isnt what you want in the end, it might be a useful exercise in getting to know whats involved.

--Tom

[twistedfuse]

Tom,

Not a bad idea. Hadn't thought about that. Might be a way to fill in the time till we can all think about how to do something like this. lol.

Daniel

[High Seas]

For what its worth -- there was an online magazine - right here on the site!
Guess it sort of fell off the side I guess - not too many participants - but for a good fun for a while. It did help "consolidate" some of the frequently asked questions etc.
As a bonus -- Paul (owner/admin) sent out emails/postings when new material was added.

Mind you, it was just "us" guys as authors and not slick National Geographic coffee table magazine not in print form -- but ecologically sound!

Model Engineer?ing and occasionally Shop-whatever are fun to look at - but my paper collection gets smaller all the time - but what a full hard disk with pdfs!

Jim

BTW - the reminants magazine can still be accessed on the site (missing some graphics etc) - and you'll note the dates are all outta' whack - 99 - well before the site opened. Must be left over Y2K reboot!

[bsharp]

Sounds like a great idea to me. Almost all other hobby magazines also make money off the adds they have in them in the back. And it is a great way to get people interested in the hobby. There are millions of people out there that have never even heard of DIY CNC. But if they where at the doctors office waiting and they picked up a copy of cnczone and browsed through it it might spark some ingenious idea in someone that may innovate the entire field of DIY CNC. Hey yea never know?

[atemylunch]

Ditto's on the mag idea.

I subscribe to both Nuts and Volts, & Servo Mag these guys cater to hobby robotics. Not to far removed from what we do, and they have articles on CNC and machining. Perhaps they might be interested in something?

[jeep534]

Have You guys forgotten about Digital Machinist ?????

archie =) =) =)

[oxford]

I'd buy a copy if the contents suited my needs.

Outside of a gift subscription to RD, I am not the subscribing type.