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Wanted: Assistance with a CNC project

Wanted 
3K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  JFPNCM 
#1 ·
Good morning,
I am in Northern Delaware.

I am currently installing 3/4" thick, red oak flooring in a large open room. I'd like to CNC route custom floor grills for the HVAC floor vents. I plan to install them with screws covered by oak plugs as I install the wood floor and sand and finish them such that they are at the same height of and seamless with the oak flooring.

Is there anyone here who has a CNC router and would be willing to assist in the production of the floor vents. I would make a donation toward your time and wear and tear on your machinery.

Thanks,
Pat
 

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#2 ·
Pat do you want the grills 3/4" thick too? You don't necessarily need a CNC to do that. If you make the first one, and I'm thinking drilling out the major waste and coping saw the shape then you can use that one with pattern or flush trim bits to make copies. Just don't design it with sharp inside corners.
 
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#3 ·
Turns out I was over-complicating it: they are available for sale. Just picked them up. Frame interlocks with tenons of the flooring. Insert grill looks okay, but I'll have the option of making custom inserts in the future if these do not hold up. They are 3/4" and the frames once installed with the flooring will be sanded and finished, so they are contiguous.
 
#6 ·
Welland is a brand several flooring contractors mentioned, and Lumber Liquidators sells a product that looks suspiciously identical to the Airwood Vents, branded with their name on the packaging.


I attached a photo that shows one with a few pieces of flooring sitting loosely around it to see how it looks.
 

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#7 ·
I've seen some that have ornate patterns in them before that sold for $35 I think but I couldn't tell you where as it has been a few years since I saw them. The one pictured would be easy to make and would be a good way to get rid of small offcuts.
 
#9 ·
My project is slowly advancing. The kitchen cabinets are all in and the templater came and measured for the granite countertops yesterday. I tore out the remainder of the old kitchen, put in a powder room for guests, and enlarged the main bedroom, interleaving new wood flooring with the old bedroom flooring, and have laid out the wheelchair-accessible main bathroom/laundry room/ storage space, new windows on the first floor and upgraded siding.

And, I neglected to put up a finished photo of the vents. Here's one
 

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#10 ·
You did right.

Making something like that is only an enjoyment project as there is no why in heck a person could make those and save money. And I have more scrap than most any human(a 30x40 barn FULL or exotic and local hardwoods) and a full blown shop with several CNC machines. And I would buy those vents.

We need to know which battles to fight and you chose right. If someone wanted to make them for the simple enjoyment of it that is a great reason to make them, to save money or make them better, not so much.

Your floor looks so nice!
 
#12 · (Edited)
I love those flush mounted vents with the framed out area and I couldn't understand how anyone would want the drop in that has a lip. Yours look great!

After installing the flush mount for a client a long while ago I found out one reason to get the drop in vent type. One of the adults slid their chair over and a chair leg slid right over the vent without them even noticing. When they plopped down on the chair yep the slats broke. With the drop in type the there is a lip so sliding a chair or table over the vent isn't going to happen.

I will still use the flush mount vents in my new renovation, but just thought I would toss that experience out for others. The flush mount are easily more breakable, especially if it's a scroll design as opposed to the stronger slats. I used a scroll design at my house and they broke pretty quick. I do have one vent in a horrible spot, still the slated vents tend to be much stronger.
 
#14 ·
I prefer to be dovetail on the forums., my name is easily known if you want to email me.

Anyhow, I use CNC for some things, mostly lettering for floor inlays, sometimes for some of the shapes within the inlays. Because of the way inlays are made I still make many 100% by hand, some a combination of CNC and by hand(by hand for me means small power tools down to using a hand saw). For stuff I dont sell(which is 99% floor inlays) I like to do some 3D stuff, though in the last couple years I haven had time to do any.

I live 65 miles out of Chicago and never had a client or actually anyone over here. And my shop is at my home, so it's not a commercial shop. I dont have any huge 90 thousand dollar Camaster CNC machines or anything like that, but I am lucky to have a couple outbuildings for my shop and wood storage. They may not be the best, but I am happy. All you would see here is one guy that's pretty unorganized with a heck of a mess swimming in lumber and machinery all over the place.
 
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