Case study / Immersive Adventure Holdings, prop manufacturing
$100K+less spent on machineryThe obvious answer was a 5-axis CNC. We designed a different one: a much cheaper 3-axis machine plus custom software that does the hard part.
The problem
Curves on every side.
A life-size statue has curves, overhangs and recesses on every side. Carving it from one block of foam takes a 5-axis CNC, a machine that tilts its cutting head to reach around the shape. Those machines cost well into six figures and need specialist setup.
The strategy
Turn the problem flat.
A 3-axis CNC only cuts straight down, so it cannot carve a statue in one piece. It cuts a flat slab perfectly. So we cut the statue into 2-inch slabs, carve each one on the cheaper machine, and stack them back together.
The software
CNC-3D does the slicing.
A desktop app we built. It takes a 3D model, or generates one from an image or a written description, and splits it into 2-inch slabs that fit the 48 by 48 inch machine bed. It checks every slab against the machine limits and exports the cut files and a cut sheet.
The shop floor
Cut in order. Glue in order.
Registration marks on every slab so the pieces line up. The team cuts the slabs in order and glues them into the finished prop. The statue here is a real job: 7 feet tall, 42 slabs.
The 3D view could not load on this device. It shows a 7-foot statue cut as 42 two-inch slabs on a 3-axis CNC, then glued together.
What it changed
More than $100,000 saved.
A 3-axis machine plus custom software instead of a 5-axis machine.
Any shape, one workflow.
Upload a model, or describe the prop, and get machine-ready slabs and a cut sheet.
Built for the shop floor.
Slabs are numbered bottom to top with alignment marks, so the team glues them in order without guesswork.
The result
A cheaper machine, doing the harder job.
How the number was worked out: the price difference between the 5-axis CNC machine the job seemed to need and the 3-axis machine bought instead.
- $100K+
- saved on machinery
- 42
- slabs in the statue shown here
- 7 ft
- tall, carved in 2-inch slabs
Is expensive equipment the only answer you have been given?
Sometimes the cheaper path is a different strategy plus a bit of custom software. Tell us what you are trying to make.