An Inspiring Journey from Chef to CNC Master
Bahadır Kaplan, a culinary teacher at a vocational high school in Giresun, has another passion as ambitious as his culinary mastery: Chess. With an ELO rating of over 2000, Kaplan plays in Turkey's highest-level chess league and also shares his passion with new generations by giving lessons at the chess club in Giresun.
This deep commitment to chess eventually led him to the idea of producing special and uniquely shaped chess pieces for tournaments. However, there was a major obstacle: Mr. Bahadır had no prior experience using either a manual lathe or a CNC machine. While complex, massive, and industrial-type machines requiring years of operator expertise made this dream seem impossible, his encounter with Rownd Precision changed the rules of the game.
From Zero Experience to 4-Axis Manufacturing
Rownd's intelligent ecosystem, which eliminated the technical expertise barrier, was designed precisely for users like Mr. Bahadır, who have a passion for manufacturing but no engineering background. Kaplan began working in his garage with the Rownd desktop CNC lathe, quickly embarking on a learning process.
Thanks to the user-friendly interface, he first grasped the basic turning steps. Then, he learned to use the advanced C-axis provided by the machine to process detailed and asymmetrical figures like chess pieces.
Bringing His Own Designs to Life with SolidWorks and Rownd Post Processor
Wishing to bring his unique designs to life, Mr. Bahadır also learned SolidWorks and SolidCAM programs from scratch, which he had never used before. He completed the critical stages of the production process, such as creating toolpaths and generating G-code, using the post-processor in the SolidCAM environment. Bahadır Kaplan managed to convert his self-designed chess piece designs into G-codes that the machine could understand with a single click, thanks to this integration.
A Desktop Factory That Quadrupled Production Capacity
The result? On this journey that he started with zero CNC experience, Bahadır Kaplan now produces special, tournament-standard chess pieces with perfect surface quality, all designed by him. Moreover, he found the opportunity to grow his small business by increasing this production, which he could only do in very limited numbers with traditional methods, by 5-6 times thanks to Rownd CNC.
The ability of a culinary teacher and chess master to establish his own desktop factory using industrial production power is the most concrete proof of how Rownd technology democratizes manufacturing capability.
You don't need to be a technical expert to design and produce your dream product; make your next move with Rownd!
