KraftyQuote / For CNC router shops
For CNC router shops
Quote the passes, not the profile.
A 3/4″ sign doesn’t come off the spoilboard in one pass. KraftyQuote’s router rows take the one-pass cut time and multiply it by the passes your step-down needs, then add pocket clearing and bit changes, so the machine time on the quote is the time on the machine.
How a router row works out its minutes
Pick CNC router as the machine type on a quote line and the row asks for what the time depends on:
- One-pass cut time, the toolpath at full feed, once. KraftyNest fills it in when you nest the parts.
- Thickness and step-down. Passes are the thickness divided by the step-down, rounded up: 3/4″ at 3/16″ is four.
- Pocket area and depth, cleared at a rate you set (8 sq in a minute if you leave it, about a 1/4″ bit at 80 in/min with 40% stepover).
- Tool changes per sheet, at 3 minutes each unless you say otherwise, shared by the parts on that sheet: two changes on a sheet of ten signs add 0.6 minutes to each.
Worked example: a 3/4″ plywood sign
| Profile: 12 min a pass × 4 passes (3/4″ at 3/16″) | 48 min |
| Pocket: 30 sq in, 1/4″ deep = 2 passes, at 8 sq in/min | 7.5 min |
| One tool change | 3 min |
| Machine time on the quote | 58.5 min |
| Machine cost at $3.45/hour | $3.36 |
Quoted on the one-pass time alone, the same sign carries 12 minutes of router time instead of 58.5. The other 46.5 minutes are real spindle time: $2.67 of machine cost at that rate, plus your time if you stand at the router while it runs, and they are minutes the router can’t spend on the next job. The $3.45 is the app's default router rate, about what a hobby-size router costs to own and run (the machine hourly rate calculator's router preset comes out at $3.44); your own figure goes in its place.
Nesting sheet goods
KraftyNest lays parts out on the sheet, true-shape, and counts the cut length. Sync it to the quote and the router row takes the profile cut as its one-pass time; engraving and pierces go in once, because they don’t take depth passes. The confirmation shows the router’s figure before you apply it, and it never overwrites the actual minutes you timed.
Router stock, priced
Free calculators with depth passes, bit starting points and the cost per part for the sheets and boards routers cut most: 3/4″ Baltic birch, 3/4″ MDF, 3/4″ walnut and maple and 1/2″ HDPE. Each one opens the app with its numbers on a router row.
What else is in the quote
- Materials, hardware and labor on every line, with a scrap allowance and your shop overhead spread over billable hours.
- The price that holds your margin after the selling channel's cut: Etsy, Square, Shopify, PayPal and others are built in, with sales tax and a deposit if you take one.
- A customer quote and a shop ticket from the same numbers, as a PDF or an email.
- KraftyFlow, a job board with a stage timer, so the time you actually spend comes back next to the time you quoted.
- KraftyStock, which takes the material off your inventory when a job is done and flags what is running low.
Set an hourly rate for your machine with the machine hourly rate calculator: purchase price, years of life, hours a week, power and upkeep.
What's free and what's paid: estimating, quote and shop-ticket PDFs, and nests of up to 5 different parts are free on every plan, with the cash, Square, Shopify and Etsy channels. Maker Pro adds the other sales channels (PayPal, Faire and more) and quotes your customer accepts online. Workshop Suite adds SVG/DXF import, nesting with no part limit and every KraftyDesign shape but the knife blank. See the plans.
Questions
How does KraftyQuote work out passes?
Passes are the cut depth divided by the step-down, rounded up. A thickness that divides exactly is not rounded up: 1/2″ at 1/8″ is four passes, not five. A pocket uses its own depth, and a blank pocket depth counts as one pass.
Where does the one-pass cut time come from?
From your CAM software’s estimate for a single pass, or from KraftyNest, which writes it when you sync a nest to the quote. You can type it in either way.
Will this change quotes I already saved?
No. A machine row only works out its minutes this way once you choose CNC router as its type. Saved quotes open and price exactly as they did.
Is the 8 sq in a minute clearing rate right for my machine?
It is a starting point for a hobby or small-shop router in hardwood. Time a pocket on your own machine and put your figure in the clearing rate field.