10 Key Benefits Of Craft Machines

As technology continues to make slow yet steady progress toward taking people's jobs, many creative people turn to technology to make a creative living through the creation and sales of various crafts. Sites like Etsy and Amazon Crafts, among others, have created viable marketing and sales platforms for people to reach audiences interested in buying custom or one-of-a-kind crafts.

In this still-budding industry, craft machines are indispensable. Not only do craft machines, such as CNC routers, 3D paper cutters, and laser engravers help people reach or exceed their creative visions, they also provide a key component to help people scale their businesses, ensuring profits stay one step ahead of costs.

That said, some people do not pursue immediate profits via the creation and sale of typical crafts. Instead, they use craft machines as a means to innovate. Although some craft machines were made for just that--crafts, many of these machines and the innovative ways they are put to use help change people's lives. In doing so, they help change the world.

1. Art

CNC routers are, perhaps, one of the best-automated means of sculpting intricate forms from blocks of wood, plastic, or even metal. Using a subtractive form of production, a CNC router can superimpose a 3D design onto a raw block of wood and carve away everything extraneous to the 3D model. What is left behind can be a fluid-shaped sculpture, a vase, or a bas-relief for hanging on the wall? Similarly, paper cutters can cut just about any pattern of any shape.

Additionally, laser engravers can produce some of the most intricately burned drawings that are ready for sale or display. You can find out more about which materials will work best with your machine by contacting Boss Laser.

2. Custom or personalized accessories

Paper cutters are perfect for making lightweight ornaments. CNC routers are perfect for constructing small pieces of furniture, kitchen accessories, or even musical instruments. Furthermore, because of these craft machines, people are able to create their own designs using the software that often accompanies these machines. In fact, they can create an entire line of custom or personalized products, something that is impossible to buy at regular big-box retailers.

3. Affordable problem solving

3D printers can be used to create such things as vases, clocks, or toys. However, some people use them as a means to solve real problems. For instance, with a 3D printer capable of printing metal, people can download schematics and print automotive parts or medical equipment. In fact, they are often used to print custom prosthetics to help people with specific needs, something which might otherwise be inordinately expensive. Additionally, Zutter machines offer you the opportunity to bind a variety of printed materials.

4. Profit

Because crafts machines have the capability of creating nonstop, they are able to outproduce people or workers. Additionally, other than the supplies and electricity needed to make them run, they do not need to be paid a wage. Because of the low overhead associated with craft machines along with the increased production capability, creatives and entrepreneurs can achieve a profit that might not be possible with handmade products.

5. Consistency

Unlike the flaws, quirks, and mistakes that occur during the production process of handmade products, high-quality craft machines, such as embossers, allow entrepreneurs and creatives the capability to repeatedly produce the same high-quality product with the same overall look and specifications. This type of consistency is important for any business because customers want what the marketing material describes. Deviations can lead to returns or bad reviews.

6. Vision

Many people do not use craft machines for the seeming intended purpose. For instance, CNC routers have recently been used to help create modular furniture. In other instances, they have been used to create entire homes.

Similarly, laser engravers have been used to create a new type of greeting card, a 3D greeting card that unfolds when you open it. In short, craft machines can help people achieve their vision of how to make the world a better place.

7. Networking

Because many craft machines use digital supplies, such as CAD designs, owners can collaborate with other creative people. For instance, someone in one part of the world can create a 3D design, and someone on the other side of the world can easily access that 3D design and print, carve, or engrave it.

Additionally, machines can be remotely networked. For instance, laser engravers are sometimes network accessible. If you do not own one, you can still log in and connect via your computer. Once you are logged in, you can initiate production.

8. Democratization

In the industrial revolution, rich factory workers held fast the ability to produce. This ability enabled them to make vast amounts of money. Although they did create jobs for many people, the bulk of individual wealth went to owners.

Conversely, craft machines, such as portrait machines, allow the average entrepreneur to establish their own processes and begin production. As such, the means for production has been decentralized.

9. Quality

Although manufacturing quality is related to consistency, it has more to do with a craft machine's ability to produce something that will withstand usage and be able to live up to the normal wear and tear a product might experience. For instance, embossers will not punch through paper. Additionally, a CNC router can carve a hinge into the wood and ensure the edges are thick enough to not break.

Additionally, craft machines produce a type of expertise that many people are just not able to produce. For instance, a laser engraver can engrave steadily at resolutions many times smaller than a person could ever manage. Engraving the intricate patterns of a spiral maze or a butterfly's wings is very manageable for a laser engraver, ensuring the final product has a level of detail that will be both intricate and amazing. Finally, paper cutters can cut intricate patterns in a variety of papers. As long as you purchase your product from a reputable retailer, such as CraftOnline, you can enjoy machines that will make your life extremely easy.

10. Sense of well being

Even if you purchase a small laser engraver or paper cutter to make ornaments or simple coasters, the sense of well being can be significant. Walking into your living room amidst accessories and decor that you created--that you did not buy off someone else--this type of experience has been reported as being satisfying and enabling. In the simple act of creation, people become more confident. The craft machines, themselves, become a launching pad to other ideas, other endeavors, and greater achievement.