Recommendations for paid services where someone will design plans to spec?

[NoMoUserNames]

I've done a good bit of woodworking in the past. My usual approach is to rough sketch it, make a million notes, some more detailed sketches of specific joins or different angles, and then make a detailed sketch with more exact measurements (using a ruler, but still very much by hand). From there I just start cutting, and inevitably adjust plans as I go when I run into minor issues. Not the BEST approach I'm sure, but it has worked for me and keeps me interested in projects.

I have tried poking around a bit in tools like Sketchup, but the learning curve always seemed to be just a bit more than I was willing to invest. Especially since in the end, I'd still be measuring and cutting everything in my garage anyway using your basic table saw, jigsaw, router, etc. Since learning the modeling tools wasn't "the fun part" I never invested enough time to learn them. The pros didn't seem to outweigh the cons. I'm don't hate, and I am a technical person, but it seems to just take a fair bit more time to learn.

However, I've just found out that there is a makerspace in my city with a REALLY nice shop. Including a full size 4'x8' CNC router (and some other tools that would make life easier like a big drill press). It's only a small monthly fee ($100) for membership, and well worth the investment in terms of time saved if I could just use the CNC for all of my major cuts. Just being able to skip the "MDF dust cleanup" step at home is almost worth it right there.

BUT...if I wanted to go that route, I'd need proper plans to feed the machine. I see more than a few sites that sell digital plans, but before I start messaging them at random to inquire about customization, I wanted to ask here. Is this something that anyone has experience with? Any shops/sellers you'd recommend? Or do you want to tell me that I am overthinking it and I just need to learn to use the modeling tools myself?

Thanks in advance.

edit: Just adding here in case anyone comes across this in the future. I did find a good video on using sketchup specifically for an arcade cabinet. This whole build series is really great, but this particular video goes through the whole sketchup design process.

[RandyT]

Depending on the software they have available for the machine, you may end up needing to learn that part as well.  That is, unless the person who helps with your design has the same software and can rely on the tooling, machine rigidity, z-offsets, etc. being as expected.

There are several skillsets involved:  Design, Toolpath Generation, Machine interface and finally, experience with said machine to know what it can do.  Some of that might be integrated, depending on the software, but as complicated as FDM printing is, this would be that on steroids.  A 4x8 is pretty close to what is referred to as "Big Metal", and it's a different game.

For a "one-off" you'd probably be best served to pay someone to make the parts, or at least learn the design phase of the project.  The tools have become easier to use over the years and there's no shortage of YT videos to help you along.  From there, you can do things by hand and be confident that the parts will fit together, so long as your measurements and cuts are the same as those in the model you created.  Sometimes, CNC can be more trouble than it's worth for a single item.  I have a 4x8 machine myself, but decided to design my latest project differently so I wouldn't need to use it.  But I did design it completely and generated a fully-dimensioned part list before I cut a single piece of wood.

But if the CNC is something you expect to use often for other projects, jump right in and start tinkering.  Just don't expect not to break (expensive) bits, waste material and get poor results until you learn the ins and outs.

[NoMoUserNames]

I appreciate the context. This most likely will be just a one-off, so likely not worth the effort then. Which is fine because that wasn't my original idea anyway.

[Crazy Cooter]

I taught myself some sketchup (v. a long time ago and you'd be surprised how you actually use it.  I've drawn arcade cabinets, control panels, landscape design, home remodelling ideas, room/furniture layouts, a motocross trailer, a camp trailer, garage/shop layout... it becomes more valuable the more you use it.  Just start with a 2d shape and then extrude/push/pull as needed.  The key breakthrough (for me) was "Make Group" for grouping multiple shapes into a specific item so it stopped interacting with other items/surfaces.  That allowed me to move each button around a control panel without it turning into a wireframe spiderweb.   The second breakthrough was "Make Component" so I could have a copy of a part off to the side separately and keep an eye on material waste.  ie: copy each side panel and put it on a 4x8 rectangle to minimize cuts/waste.

Of course I still didn't build it exactly as shown heheh 

[NoMoUserNames]

I think you've convinced me. I'm going to follow some tutorials and just try and learn to use it. Seems like the kind of thing I can work on between work conference calls.