lystn

Today on the podcast we’re thrilled to have Sami and Cory from Avid CNC. Avid CNC is an engineering and manufacturing company geared toward helping people be successful with their machine tools. The company offers a wide variety of machine sizes and different types of tools and attachments. As Cory says, the goal of Avid CNC is to provide great opportunities for people to automate some production or add precision to their workflow. The Origin Story Sami originally studied sculpture with a focus on digital fabrication, but she also got to work with her hands a lot. When she moved to Portland, she got a job as a CNC technician and a project manager in digital fabrication.  Sami describes her passions as the intersection between educating and making, so getting to teach CNC at the local maker’s space on an Avid CNC machine was an incredible start. Eventually, her journey lead her to work with Avid CNC directly. Now she has the opportunity to teach CNC every day through Avid CNCs video production projects and by writing curriculum! In the coming year, Sami intends to make an entire YouTube series that will walk makers through everything they need to know about Avid CNC machines. Cory had similar origins, he was in precision sheet metal and machining fabrication prior to Avid CNC. He worked his way through a bunch of different types of machining and sheet metal work and Avid CNC (CNC Router Parts back then) at one time, was one of Cory’s customers. After realizing a shared passion and vision, Cory made a career change and he has been on the team since 2013. CNC Machines and Workflow There are so many different variations on wood businesses and workflows in this industry. While Sami, Cory, and Steve had a bit of a chuckle about Steve feeling like he was the last to hear about them, he follows up with a very important question, at what point in the woodpreneur journey do makers usually find Avid CNC? Sami explains that the way Avid CNC communicates and connects with the maker and fabricator community has largely been through word of mouth. There are so many different facets of production, she says it comes down to what makers want to achieve or how they want their business to run. The nice thing is that the machines Avid CNC makes are so adaptable they can grow and scale with wood businesses. In that way, it’s never really too early to start considering investing in a CNC machine.  There is a wide variety of things that can be done with these machines and there are different roles they play based on the workflow of the businesses using them. A CNC machine is a part of the larger ecosystem of a woodshop and a large focus for Avid CNC has been developing their machines in such a way that they can grow and scale with the business as space and capacity grows.