I like woodworking and building stuff, but to tell you the truth, I like the parts at both ends better than the middle.
By that I mean that I like doing the design work, then the final assembly and installation. All that parts making in the middle is noisy and dusty . . . I would rather leave that to others.
I’ve grown to like all the kinds of built-in stuff in houses like kitchen cabinets, bath cabs, bookcases, mudroom cubbies, inglenooks, wine cellar stuff, window benches, and all the rest.
For the past few years I’ve been using CAD to design stuff, then make drawings for use in my own shop, or for using in buying finished components from carcase makers, door and drawerfront folks, and others. Over a year ago, I converted to using Sketchup, and the design side of things got easier and more fun.
Now I am ready to dip my feet into eCab, and find some willing Thermwood shops, and start going really crazy. This is woodworking on steroids!
Does anyone here work in eCab? I would like to discuss the possibilities.
Replies
In the last year I have completely restructured my business around the production shareing concept. Even though the nearest shop offering production shareing is 300 miles away I still load up the materials and my laptop drive out there so I can be there during the machining and bring the parts back. My last job had 32 sheets of plywood, it took us 10 hours to machine it all, two days for my total time including the driving. This was a very difficult job involving lots of curved cabinets and mixed materials/thicknesses (Plywood, MDF, Melamine and MDO). It would have taken me 2 weeks to machine it all in my shop. My goal is to double my Gross income this year without hireing any help or moving into a larger shop (currently 2,000 sqft). It will be easy. As I get faster on the design end my turn around times are getting shorter and shorter. Imagine a 15,000 kitchen completed in two weeks by one person.
Things to note.....
Just because the software is "free" many dont respect it properly. this software isn't like Sketch Up or Auto Cad. It is very sophistcated and requires a powerfull computer to run correctly. Also there are no third party manuals and the Ecab manual is really more of a reference book. You will need to take the course to be able to make full use of this software. Also it will take a few jobs before you can really get profecient at it. If we were talking about one software packages from Ecabs competitors (Cabinet Ware or Auto Cabinets) that cost $6,000 you would not think twice about dropping 2 grand on a good computer and taking a training course. Even though Ecabs is free it is stilla top tier package.
The Forum is a huge asset.
Find a production shareing partner before you set your heart on this. You might find the machineing fees too high, or the nearest machine too far away.
All the production shareing shops I know of are also full cabinet shops. They will not have patients for a lot of "stupid" questions and they will expect your file to be ready to machine. If your file is not right (there are tons of little details like remembering to change the dado depths when the thickness of a part is changed) the shop will refuse any responsibility. Rightly so. I have heard from one of the shops I use that they have machined someones job and then a couple days later they get an irate phone call because things don't fit. That can easily happen.
The devil is in the details. Ecabs is not a global paramater type package, every cabinet has its own set of paramaters. That means every cabinets construction details have to be checked and double checked. There are probably 20 pages of paramaters for each cabinet, and just because you change a part or add a drawer dosent mean that the associated details will change the way you think they will in your mind.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Edited 7/13/2007 12:17 pm ET by mudman
E-Cabinets is a well kept secret. Most of the negative comments about it being difficult to learn, or it only works with Thermwood routers, or its a trick to get you to buy a machine, or how good can it be? -- it's free, are misguided in my opinion. Thermwood is a family owned company which has a few things going for it. First is innovation, second is service.I was looking for design software when ecabs first come out. The initial cost for this kind of program was between $5K - $20K not including yearly upgrade fees. So I signed up for ecabs and got the first release for free. Now we're up to version 5.1 (build 4). Sure there were bumps along the way but another attribute of the Thermwood team emerged: persistence. I've never seen a software development team more responsive or more talented the these folks.Sounds like you fit the profile of one who could benefit from this program. My advice would be to join up, get the program and visit the user forums. As for production sharing possibilities try Northwoods Manufacturing, in NH not too far from Lake Placid, I think. Here is a link to get you started http://www.northwoodsmanufacturing.com/cnc/CNC_BROCHURE.pdfAlso browse the ecabs site http://www.ecabinetsystems.com/ and read some of the supporting material that is available such as the "New Furniture" which is a pdf book explaining what the whole idea is about. Also on the site you can see some of the features of the ecabinets system. Its far more than a design program.Finally if you can get to one of the big trade shows AWFS in Vegas or IWF in Atlanta you will be impressed with the real time demos.Hope to see you on the e-cabinets forum soon.Regards.Glenn
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled