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The CNC Router Technician will be available Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am-5pm. To schedule an appointment, please contact Robin at schwa966@umn.edu. Available dates/times can be found here:

Once you reserve an appointment, your name will be added to the calendar for that date and time.

Things to keep in mind for appointment sign-ups:

Consultations must be made before any machining and are used to look over or help you create your file, decide on your material and set toolpaths. Depending on the complexity of your project, consultations will take anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour. The first half hour of file work is free, after that it is $20/hour for any additional file work.

Machining will be done after an initial consultation. Machining includes material setup, selecting tools, setting offsets and running the file/cutting the material. Depending on the complexity of the cut, machine time can take anywhere from 5 minutes to six hours plus. The technician will recommend how much machine time you should sign-up for based on your initial consultation. The estimated time should be tripled for actual run time, including material attachment, etc. Machine time is $5/15 minutes for Department of Art students, faculty and staff. For anyone outside of the Dept. of Art, the cost is $25/15 minutes. There is a $5 minimum for all machining!

Ultimately, the scheduling of CNC jobs is at the sole discretion of Workshop staff: we will prioritize jobs based on estimated cut time, staff workload and user preparation and availability.

Every first half hour of consultation/file work is free. Additional file work beyond 30 minutes is $20/hour.

Machine time:
Department of Art students, faculty and staff: $5/15 minutes
Non-Dept. of Art jobs: $25/15 minutes

We will supply standard 1/8" and 1/4" ball nose bits and 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" end mill bits. Any additional specialty bits must be purchased by you.

The CNC Router is available for use by enrolled students, faculty and staff in the Department of Art at a cost of $5/15 minutes (machining time).

The Router is available for use by non Department of Art students, faculty and staff at a cost of $25/15 minutes (machining time).

Appointments must be made for both consultations and machining time. Please e-mail Robin at schwa966@umn.edu to setup an appointment. Available dates and times can be found on the Router Calendar. No machining will be done without a preliminary consultation to set up files, create toolpaths and select correct bits. After we review and start your file, users are required to observe the router while it is in operation. Only lab technicians are allowed to start the CNC Router.