Cutting hardwoods, plywood, and balsa

Wood is the easiest material to mill with desktop machines. The material is relatively plentiful and much of what we do with wood can also be applied to engineered wood such as MDF, pressed/particle board, and manufactured board. I have recycled materials from scrapped IKEA furniture for years and cut it with a CNC machine and laser for all sorts of projects. You can even make some interesting engraved art with the laminated stuff. A lot of what I do extensively recycles materials like this to minimize waste (I recently built a full flight-simulator panel using engineered wood repurposed from an old foosball table).

Softer woods, such as balsa, can’t be cut effectively with a high-speed end mill if they’re too thin. The fibers will quickly shred and destroy the workpiece. This is also true for any wood, but really soft wood is most susceptible. If I am cutting thin bulkheads for a model airplane it is far more efficient to use...