Advanced Wood Design Mfg. Inc. is located in  bucolic Cedarburg in mid-western Wisconsin. Surrounded by apple orchards that have been in operation for 75 years, it is located in a converted apple warehouse just minutes away from the historic downtown Cedarburg. Advanced Wood Design manufactures premium wood carvings, furniture quality cabinets and staircases for commercial and residential projects.

Steve Peterson is the owner and President of the company.  Steve has been a residential home builder since 1982.  The homes he built were mostly traditional in design.  He found that using ornate woodwork, as well as unusual stair designs and arched openings his clients and prospective buyers were quite thrilled with the uniqueness that is typically not found with most other home builders.  His interest in beautiful architectural woodwork grew into a passion for researching ways to manufacture the pieces of wood art such as unique corbels/brackets, carved moldings, curved staircases and handrails, or any custom shape or object someone can conjure up.

Handrails machined with VisualMill 4th and 5th Axis modules

After purchasing a CNC 5 axis wood carving machine he was in need of the proper software to run these machines.  Two years prior to this he had no idea what CNC was, much less what software was necessary.  Discussions with several software companies led him to purchase ProCam from TekSoft Corporation. After using this product for almost a year he reached the conclusion that the software was not compatible with my needs.  Steve believes that it was an expensive mistake on his part but the education he gained to find the appropriate software for his applications was worth it.  Additionally he purchased ArtCam, from Delcam Corporation which once again turned out not to be appropriate for his needs.  While he was still using ProCam and ArtCam he purchased a CAD program named Rhino.  He was amazed at the capabilities of Rhino and upon the suggestion of a Rhino representative he decided to invest in VisualMill for his CAM needs.  This is one of the best decisions he has made with regard to his CAM requirements. VisualMill provides sophisticated yet easy to use machining techniques for all of his complex parts and allows him to move smoothly, quickly and effortlessly from the design phase to the machining phase.

Steve says that "We were able to begin cutting simplistic parts within a week of acquiring the software.  The more I use VisualMill the more familiar I become with the software and most definitely the more I get out of it.  I am always learning something new that is beneficial to my needs."

Steve now has standardized on VisualMill for all his machining requirements. He brings in his models directly into VisualMill and uses several high end strategies to achieve a smooth and accurate finish. He has found VisualMill's 5 Axis stationary capabilities very helpful in many situations. Steve believes that the product’s strength lies in its ease of use and the power it packs with its multiple machining strategies.  "VisualMill" , he says, "is without a doubt the best valued CAM package on the market.  We can hardly wait for the simultaneous 5 axis upgrade!"