If you're starting with a CNC milling machine, your first task might be finding good CNC Wood Projects.
If you still need to become familiar with the design process, you may want entirely made projects you can download and start processing on your machine.
The following list has different websites where you can find CNC ideas, inspiration, and even the finished project files, which you can download.
Some of these sites offer G-code files for download. We don't suggest using these, as the CAM software for a specific CNC machine generates G-code. It could cause unpredictable results. Instead, download files you can import into your CAD/CAM software and export the G-code files yourself.
Many of these websites allow free usage for personal use only. Some may even qualify for free commercial usage. Please check the terms of each site's license so that you don't get into legal trouble. We've tried to provide quality sites, but even well-known sites like Etsy can have different legal requirements for each store.
NOTE: Ratings are for the CNC files only.
Reviews of the different websites are meant only to determine the quality of the CNC vector files, whether in DXF or SVG format. The file quality is determined by how easily the design can be turned into a toolpath using Vectric Aspire - then with that toolpath(s) using the software simulator to "machine" a replica of the design.
Many free ClipArt download sites make for excellent free CNC design files. They provide simple CNC projects, along with many CNC design ideas.
The website navigation, variety, and number of designs are also factors in the reviews.
Are Free 3D Relief & DXF Files Really Free?
I wrote about this in a related post titled: Free 3D Relief Files for CNC Designs.
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4.5
Etsy's well-known website has thousands of designs, and many are affordable. In addition, many of the licenses are flexible for selling products. I have purchased some designs from Etsy. Some of these required zero design fixes, while others did. In my case, I only wanted to use parts of a design.
It's impossible to review Etsy generally for CNC file quality as you need to review each store. Etsy already has a pretty good rating system for that purpose.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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5.0
ShopBot is a line of machines, including CNC, that have been around for more than 25 years. Like many other CNC manufacturers, they provide CNC wood projects you can download and start using on your new machine.
While they are free to download, many are the same as the Vectric Software free projects. In addition, ShopBot includes a copy of VCarve Pro with every tool they sell. So the two companies have a direct relationship.
You can expect the Vectric free projects to only open with one of the Vectric software products. The projects from ShopBot do include DXF files.
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Dive into the exciting world of DIY with 3axis.co's extensive collection of free CNC woodworking project files. Discover over 9561 free DXF files and 690 SVG files for laser cutting, perfect for both enthusiasts and professionals.
Learn about the advantages of CNC and laser cutting, explore diverse project categories, and find inspiration for home decor, organization, and more.
Transform your creative ideas into reality with 3axis.co's user-friendly and versatile resources.
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Explore CNC Cookbook's free DXF files for CNC machining. This comprehensive guide covers various categories like animals, vehicles, and symbols, offering ease of use and compatibility with CAD/CAM software.
Ideal for both professionals and hobbyists, these files enhance precision and creativity in CNC projects.
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5.0
ToolsToday is a distributor of industrial cutting tools. They sell the popular Amana CNC bits at very competitive prices. I've bought all of my Amana bits from them.
They have a great selection of CNC wood projects to download. None of them are free, but they are of excellent quality. Pricing is reasonable, in my opinion.
They have YouTube videos to accompany the projects, which explain the process. I have watched a few of those.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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1.0
There are lots of CNC projects at this site. Most of them are in DXF format, which should work fine for most. There are a lot of laser projects on this site, also. Finally, there are furniture and other assembly-type projects.
Pros:- There are some excellent designs on this site.
- Everything is Free.
Cons:- The site navigation, including category links, does not work.
- You'll need to scroll through the pages to find what you want.
- In addition, the designs will require node editing.
- There were lots of open vectors.
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There's an excellent selection of exciting projects on this site. None of them appear to be free, however.
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3.0
The free downloads include outlines of all 50 US states, lots of Christmas projects, puzzle patterns, animal outlines, flower outlines, and county maps for all 50 US states. There are also some interesting SVG generators on this site.
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4.0
You can find a small but interesting selection of user-donated projects on this Open Source forum for CNC machines. Unfortunately, it does require you to register to download the files.
Since they are user-submitted, the quality of each project will vary. As they are actual CNC operators, I'd expect the quality to be good.
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Crealandia is a platform for buying and selling handmade items, designer jewelry, designer clothes, household goods, gifts, and souvenirs.
This one seller has a collection of 76 router files and templates. None of them are free, but they are priced very reasonably.
There are some very unique designs.
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5.0
Instructables is a place that lets you explore, document, and share your creations.
In 2011 Instructables became a part of Autodesk, which believes in empowering innovators everywhere to take the problems of today and turn them into something extraordinary. By sharing what we make, we can connect across boundaries and prepare ourselves with the skills needed to adapt to the future’s challenges.
The Instructables community is one of the most welcoming and supportive DIY communities. Connect with other makers and get involved! You might be surprised how good you'll feel.
It's a great Maker's site!
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4.0
There are many interesting patterns and vector drawings for download on this site. Several projects include a dollhouse, gift boxes, a birdhouse, and a mobile phone holder. The website is clear that the projects are for personal use only.
Pros:- Everything is Free.
- No registration is required to download.
- There is a large variety of designs.
- You can download SVG, DXF, PNG, EPS, PDF, CDR, DWG, and STL formatted files.
Cons:- There's an excellent chance you'll need to do some vector node editing cleanup before using the design on a CNC machine.
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This site is an older site for another CNC manufacturer. It has some exciting CNC wood projects, including candlesticks, a croquet set, a wooden vice, a carved pepper mill, and a Thomas the Train Track set. The CAD/CAM files are in Vectric Vcarve format.
Their new site is at https://lwmcnc.com/, where they sell the Maverick line of CNC machines.
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This site has a lot of different kinds of projects. Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any free ones. Some projects, such as the HO Scale Railway Buildings, are offered as collections. Other projects include dollhouses, 3D scenes (not bas relief), castles, and many more. They do provide some 3D relief models of animals.
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CutRocket is a CNC project download site by Carbide 3D. There is a large variety of CNC wood projects under tools, signs, storage, organization, toys/games, household, electronics, jewelry, and art. They are free to download in various formats.
The projects do require using the Carbide Create software.
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There are a few projects on this site, but they look unique in design. A few are free, but most projects have a price. Some attractive yard signs include a giant cupcake, an American flag, and a Highland cow.
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4.5
This site has a large variety of CNC project files you can download. There are 1,397 free ones, but many also have prices. There are also collection discounts packages of designs and a bundle discount for the entire site. There are some exciting fire pit design projects, but these are for plasma CNC machines.
Pros:- A lot of great, free designs are available.
- Download includes both DXF and SVG-type files.
- Great website navigation.
- Very reasonable pricing on some DXF file packages.
Cons:- Designs are geared more toward CNC Plasma Cutters instead of CNC Wood machines. There's a lot of overlap between the two types of CNC.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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3.0
There are many different Vector designs for free download on this site. Many are for Laser cutting, which you could also cut using a CNC router. There are also some CNC projects only. Most are in DXF format.
Pros:- There is a large variety of download files available.
- Everything is free.
- The site navigation works well.
Cons:- Based on the review, there is a 50/50 chance of getting only a CorelDRAW file in your download.
- DXF file had a lot of node points. This could affect the performance and quality of your CNC machine.
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CNC Projects is a CNC cutting service based in London. They offer a collection of CAD files to download for free. These combine their CNC wood projects and the public's contributions.
Most furniture-type projects are downloadable in Rhino 3D model or Autodesk AutoCAD DWG format. Therefore, you will need access to either of these premium software products to access these files.
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4.5
Laguna is a CNC Machine manufacturer. They do have a great selection of CNC files for wood.
While free, you will need to enter your name and email to get the files. Although I did try one project, the process was easy, and a DXF file format was provided to download.
They also include a short video of the project. They primarily did it to showcase their Laguna CNC machine - nothing wrong. Nice machines.
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4.0
There are many files to download from this site, including 3D STL Reliefs, Vector Animals, Doors, Furniture, Watches/Clocks, and many more.
There are many free designs, however. Many more of the designs are premium. Premium designs use a point-based system for payment.
Pros:- DXF files are of reasonable quality. Likewise, SVG files are of excellent quality.
- The cost is appropriate for the premium designs.
- There is an excellent variety of designs.
Cons:- Site navigation is difficult to find, just the free designs.
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AvidCNC is a manufacturer of professional machine tools. There are less than a dozen free CNC files for Wood to download, but some are creative. Downloads are available in Vectric Vcarve format.
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Thingiverse is another popular public share of maker projects. Many different CNC project types are creative and unique, and you can download them for free.
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5.0
Design and Make is owned by Vectric software and offers a large quality selection of 3D Clipart, models, and Vector drawings.
The models come in three formats - V3M, STL, and RLF. The projects come in 3 formats - V3M, STL, and PNG. V3M models are specially designed to work with Vectric's Aspire, VCarve Pro V8+, and VCarve Desktop. Also, Design and Make Machinist (our free 3D carving software).
Hacks of the Week have been a massive hit, with customers giving them inspiration for their next project. In addition, special pricing is often offered on multiple models included in the weekly hack.
You can download some of these collections for free if you purchase one of the Vectric software products. Otherwise, almost everything on their Design and Make website has a price.
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5.0
Vectric is a provider of the very popular VCarve, Aspire, Cut2D, and PhotoVCarve to design CNC projects.
These projects are free to download; however, you'll need one of their software products to open the project files. Vectric does offer a free trial.
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This site offers plans to build a modular workbench system using your CNC machine. For example, How to make the Workstation top with a CNC template and drill guide.
Some of the projects are free, and some are not. In addition, there is a lot of good inspirational content on this site. For example, Popular Woodworking has published many of Tim Celeski's designs.
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Cults is a popular site for high-quality DXF designs. They can be downloaded for free and used with lasers and CNC machines.
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Zmorph is a manufacturer of high-quality 3D printers. In addition, they offer a selection of incredible and free CNC Woodworking projects. Projects include a Wooden Organizer, Watch Stand, Sunglasses Stand, Contour Gauge Duplicator, Bowtie (yes, it's wooden), and a back massager.
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Maker Union is a site by Scan2CAD. Here they offer a large selection of free DXF files for download. Over 1,400 high-quality designs are ready for use.
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4.0
You can download various categories of vector patterns for decoration in SVG format. All the vectors are hand-traced, making the curves smooth and suitable for CNC machines. Unfortunately, you must click through the images several times to get to the download file. But they're free.
Pros:- A large variety of vector patterns.
- DXF, EPS, and SVC file formats to download.
- A lot of different kinds of projects, not just for CNC machines.
- Friendly Showroom page with user-submitted completed projects downloaded from this site.
- Everything is Free, and no registration is required.
- The reviewed SVG formatted designs looked clean.
Cons:- Designs will require some node editing, especially the more complicated designs.
- The site is not only for CNC machines, so you will need to focus on the patterns section.
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This link takes you to a project plans download for a wooden stool. It does look like a nice one, though. There are also many laser-cut files on this site and STL models for 3D CNC carving.
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You can find some excellent CNC projects on this site, including a cheap and easy CNC cutting board with coffee wood stain. The projects include how-to videos, and the downloads require you to have Carbide Create to open the work files.
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Brian Laws Wooden Clocks is an exciting site with many designs for different geared clocks. He has them grouped into Easy, Medium, and Hard clock designs. His site also has a lot of information on building the clocks and sourcing the wood. Check the FAQs and license for the intended usage, as I read that these are for personal use only.
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Clayton Boyer has another interesting wooden gear clock plan site. The CNC wood projects offered at cost include the DXF files for carving. There are a lot of exciting and unique designs. Not all the projects are for clocks, but most have something to do with Gears. For example, the Brew Tipper Kinetic Sculpture pours your beer into a glass.
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This site is a forum site for the Shark CNC. There are a lot of free CNC projects offered up by many of the forum members. You can download many of the files in Vectric VCarve format.
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April Wilkerson is the creator of "Wilker Do's." She prefers to be called a Maker, a DIYer, a Woodworker, or a Metalworker. She has a popular YouTube channel, and her site has free downloads for CNC machines. There are a small number of CNC Wood Projects available.
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Ready To Cut is a Vector Art forum for CNC with many vector shapes you can download. The site also has a section for CNC Art Requests and CNC Tutorials.
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Maslow Community Garden is the project file-sharing site for the Maslow CNC machine. It's a place for community-driven open-source designs to live. Each project is automatically linked to a topic in the Maslow forums to encourage discussion. In addition, GitHub provides each project with a wiki, issue tracking, and community management tools. The downloads are free.
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The WikiBlock is an open-source design library with designs for outdoor furniture. I added several project designs to my cart, which were all zero-cost. The check-out process, however, does require you to enter an email address and phone number. The site emailed the download links to me shortly after. There are a lot of excellent outdoor furniture designs.
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This site offers a large selection of furniture template designs for both laser and CNC machines. The downloads are not free, but they offer a private-use license and a higher-priced commercial license. They provide download files in DXF format, compatible with Vectric software. There are a lot of unique furniture designs.
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This site is a membership site for CNC Project downloads. There is a wide variety of projects. Membership is not inexpensive and has a limited number of downloads per month based on your membership purchase. However, all the designs come with the Fabricators License.
Their designs are also geared toward plasma, laser, and waterjet CNC machines. However, DXF files are compatible with router machines, so the formats should be easily compatible.
They have some free DXF file downloads, and this link will take you to those.
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I could not find any free designs on this site, but the prices all looked very reasonable. In addition, some excellent plans for Kids, Home Interiors, Gameroom, and Workshops exist.
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There are some excellent furniture designs you can find on this site. However, downloading one project did require my email address and name to subscribe to MailChimp.
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DeskProto is a 3D CAM program. It can import 2D vector files (DXF, EPS, AI, SVG), 3D geometry files (STL), and bitmap image files. It then calculates CNC tool paths and writes out the NC program files for any brand of CNC machine.
They don't have a lot of 3D model files for download, but they're free, and they're excellent. 3D models are a Picture Frame, Coat-Of-Arms relief, a Cellphone front, and a ring.
DXF patterns include a beer tray and a stool.
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This site's primary business is designing CNC Vectors, Reliefs, or 3D Models from a picture.
They have a small selection of free 3D relief files to download. There are also some free vector files and LEGO vector files.
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4.0
This site boasts over 2.7 million+ high-quality stock images, videos, and music shared by our talented community. Free high-resolution picture and Vector SVG downloads. This is another excellent site!
Pros:- There are many, many, many images, vectors, and illustrations on this site.
- Everything is free.
- High-resolution PNG format and SVG format downloads are available.
Cons:- You'll need to create an account to download.
- Vector quality varies by the person who uploaded it.
- You'll need to be selective in which vector designs to use with your CNC. Not everything will efficiently work.
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4.5
LoveSVG has some of the best free SVG cut files around for crafters. These are available in various formats, including SVG, DXF, EPS, and PNG. The best part- all files are free for personal use! They do also have commercial licenses available at a modest cost.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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Dxfprojects has an excellent selection of download files with some furniture plans also. They used to sell premium drawings in their Etsy store. The store is empty right now, however. Their average review rating is 4.8 or higher.
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4.5
This site has a large selection of familiar brand logos, free to download. They are available in either SVG or PNG formats. SVG file types are common for CNC CAD/CAM software.
There are many different brands, including Car, Bank, Fashion, Fast Food, Soda, Superhero, and a large selection of Other logos.
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5.0
WorldVectorLogo's mission is to make all logos accessible to you. As a result, this site has a wide variety of well-known logo vectors.
SVG file types are common for CNC CAD/CAM software. All are free to download.
Pros:- The site is simple and easy to navigate.
- The download process is an easy one-button click process.
- The site has many well-known logo brands.
- The vector quality was excellent.
Cons: -
4.5
All the famous and well-known sports logos for NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL are available to download on this site. They are available in SVG or PNG file formats.
SVG file types are common for CNC CAD/CAM software. If Cricut is your preferred cutting machine, they have a Cricut / SVG Tutorial.
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4.5
This is another free download Brand logo vectors website. CDNLogo boasts having more than 500,000 logo vectors for download. While the download is free, you first wait 15 seconds to watch an ad.
Pros:- Excellent selection of international brand logo vector downloads.
- Website navigation option to find different brand logos based on colors.
- Many logo downloads provide multiple file formats; SVG and PNG formats are the most common.
Cons:- 15-Second wait for advertisement when downloading the logo.
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This is a forum dedicated to the CNC Plasma cutting online community. They have a section of their platform dedicated to DXF file projects uploaded by their forum users. Many excellent designs should be adaptable with a CNC wood router machine.
You must be a contributing member now to download these, which means $20 per year. This entitles you to several features, including weekly DXF file giveaways from professional designers
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This site doesn't look like much. I could not even find a website logo. But they have a large number of free DXF files available for download. You can find some excellent designs here.
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This is an excellent site with a small number of free download files. However, many premium files are also available for download at a minimal cost. Most downloads include EPS, SVG, DXF, and PNG formats.
There are many categories of files, including Clocks, Monograms, Holidays, Kid's Stuff, and Quotes and Phrases.
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This is an excellent site for DXF file downloads. There are free files mixed in with the premium files. There are both wood and acrylic DXF project files available.
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Obrary is the library of open designs you download and make for yourself. A lot of excellent furniture-style designs are free to download from this site. In addition, there are projects for both CNC Routers and Lasers.
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4.0
A brand name logo download site. Many famous brands in the categories of Auto & Moto, Fashion, Social Media, Technology, Food & Drinks, Finance, Transport, and Sports.
The site boasts more than 500,000 logo files. Download formats include AI, EPS, CDR, SVG, and PDF. Unfortunately, not all logos are available in all forms.
LOTS of popup ads for Shutterstock. You'll most likely receive one when downloading, but the download is free.
Pros:- A large variety of brand logos and logo templates.
- Website navigation is simple and easy to use.
- All logos are free for downloads.
Cons:- Popup ad while waiting for download to start.
- You need to create an account for multiple free downloads per day.
- All downloads indicate PNG format, but that format is unavailable for download. We only needed the vectors, however.
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This is an exciting site with logos from around the world. Selection includes Country logos, regions, and cities. In addition, famous Corporate logos from each country are also available.
Everything is free.
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There are many public domain vectors on this site. In addition, there are many Country Flags, Geometric Patterns, Symbols, Animals, and more.
Downloads are available in SVG, AI, or EPS formats.
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5.0
Excellent site. Everything is free. This website is dedicated to vector images in all graphic formats with a public domain license.
They intend to finance this website through advertising and not be dependent on donations to keep the site running. This way, they can provide reliable and robust hosting services with additional security services like Cloudflare, which will help them run the website without interruptions.
Pros:- The vector images I reviewed were of excellent quality.
- Everything is free with a public domain license.
- SVG formatted files can easily be downloaded without creating an account.
- There is a large variety of vector images.
Cons: -
5.0
Founded in 2004, Open Clipart is an online media collection of more than 160 000 vectorial graphics, entirely in the public domain. You can read more on the Wikipedia page.
All graphics are stored in the Open Clipart collection using the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. Primary standard supported all across the web, SVG files are very portable and can easily be scaled, edited, or printed without deformation.
All vector downloads are free.
Pros:- Large selection of quality vector clipart.
- All downloads are free with public domain licensing.
- Many of the vector drawing images worked seamlessly with CNC VCarve software.
Cons: -
There are about a dozen efficient CNC projects on this site. Projects include a Reloading Tray, Foot Stool, Simple Christmas Tree, Plant Hanger, Round Gun Rack, and Halloween Napkin Holder.
Very detailed instructions are provided, along with download files. All are free.
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Use metal, wood, and even circuit boards to take your electronics projects to the next level with a CNC router. Learn CNC best practices and Fusion 360 tips, and get inspiration for your next electronics project.
Projects include CNC Joy Bonnet Case, CNC Milling Wooden Keycaps, CNC Wooden Building Bricks, and a Wood Case for Raspberry Pi 3.
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Created by Mike Molfenter in 2018 in response to Mike's passion for Woodworking, 3D Printing, and Prototyping, Pixels to Prototypes' mission is to help customers make their ideas become physical realities. Mike has spent years in the manufacturing industry and applies this knowledge to designing and creating prototypes. In addition, Mike enjoys providing consulting and products for consumers, hobbyists, non-profits, and small businesses.
10 different CNC projects are offered, including download files. Projects are all for a woodworking shop organization.
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There's only one project on this site - Mid-Century Modern DIY CNC Cabinets and Bar Cart. However, the Fusion 360 Project is free to download.
The project is part of a Snowy Cabin DIY Home Renovation. It was done using a Maslow CNC Router. There are lots of instructions and pictures.
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This great CNC project is an example of accurately cutting from two faces. This article includes step-by-step VCarve Pro design info, plus how to set up the trivet blanks on the CNC.
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They have a large selection of vector clipart for free. SVG file format is included in the download.
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4.5
HellowSVG has an incredible selection of free SVG designs you can download. On top of that, all of the downloads are free. The files download in a ZIP file with DXF, EPS, and SVG formats typed files included. The only negative is that you must go through a check-out process to access the free download - no payment is required.
Pros:- The designs have quality vectors.
- All of the SVG downloads are free.
- There is a large variety of vector designs on this site.
Cons:- The checkout process for a zero-cost product.
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4.0
SVG Crown is another incredible site for high-quality SVG files. The vector designs are easy to download in a ZIP file. The compressed file includes both the SVG and PNG file formats.
The vectors work well with a CNC wood machine. There are many different categories of designs on this website. My favorite is 90's cartoons. There are some classic characters in there.
Pros:- Quality vector designs for CNC wood machining.
- All SVG downloads are free.
- There is a lovely selection of designs.
Cons:- The website's Search functionality does not work.
- At least one category Browse All button takes you to a 404 - Page Not Found error.
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4.5
Creative Fabrica's goal is simple, to provide excellent resources for your projects at a fair price.
Creative Fabrica combines a love for art and a passion for handmade crafts and fonts. They believe that each font and craft is a little piece of art. Likewise, they think that art should be made available to everyone.
They have more than 700 free SVG file downloads. However, they have more than six million products available on their website.
Pros:- This site has a massive selection of SVG files for CNC Wood Machining.
- There are some excellent designs available for free download.
- Commercial usage rights are very affordable by purchasing one of their subscriptions.
Cons:- Not all of the designs are free.
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You can find some excellent Bit Tray Storage plans on their site. They also have a small number of 3D Carving file downloads. They're not all free, but they are inexpensive. SpeTool is a manufacturer of CNC Router bits.
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This site has an excellent selection of free SVG files categorized by the design element style. The designs can be used for personal or commercial use.
The site also has several vector designing tools, including a Word Cloud Generator, Text In Circle Generator, Shadow Letterings, Pattern Letterings, Curve Text Generator, Spiral Text-In-Circle Generator, Wavy Text Generator, and Word Art Generator.