Interesting 3D Carving Machine: Knife making or no?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I saw this

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3036999/wan ... y-material" target="_blank

The article claims it can be used for plastics, wood, metal, etc, and carves patterns and shapes. But, am I correct in that, in order to use this to make a functional steel knife, heat treating would still be necessary? Or, if you purchased, say, a plate of knife steel, you could use this machine to carve your blade pattern, and finish it with sharpening wheels and the like, without a heat treatment oven?

I have seen ads in knife magazines for companies that will heat treat for you, if you don't own a heat treating setup.

[jabba359]

The Carvey only cuts very soft metals, such as aluminum, brass, and the like. Even in their non-hardened state, blade steels would be much too hard for this machine. A more powerful mill would be needed and you'd likely want a setup that has a liquid cooling/lubrication setup to keep the bit from getting too hot and binding. A lot of knife blade mass production is done with lasers or water jets, or on a much smaller scale using bandsaws to cut out blades. The blades are then heat-treated after being cut out.

I have a similar machine to the Carvey (Nomad 883) on order right now that I plan on using to make handles. I've wanted a CNC mill for many years, so when a decent Kickstarter campaign was run earlier this year for one of these lower powered, desktop CNCs, it happened to coincide with a little work bonus and I put in an order for one. Mine should be here early next year, so now I just have to teach myself how to create the necessary 3D models. I'm decently technologically and artistically inclined, so I figure that if I apply myself then I should be able to get it all figured out.

There seems to be a huge interest in these types of machines. The Nomad that I ordered through Kickstarter had a goal of $30k and ended up raising over a half-million dollars. The Carvey just started their campaign a couple days ago and blew past their $50k goal and are currently at $315k. I hope that this hobbiest interest helps drive down prices on 2.5/3D CAD programs, as many of the programs cost $1,000-2,000+ and exceeds the budgets of many of those interested. I'm currently exploring some of the free options (123D Design), but would be happy to see more free and lower-cost solutions. I know how to do basic drafting on paper, but have never tried it in the computer world, so we'll see how it goes.

[CNCaluminium]

Hi
Also I want to buy a desktop CNC mill for my home.
On kickstarter they have launched this new project:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10 ... for-anyone" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:)