RANDY JOHNSON started woodworking in his dad’s shop and expanded his knowledge and skills at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where he focused on Chippendale and Queen Anne style furniture. Randy’s involvement with CNC started in the 1990’s when he helped select CNC tooling for a start-up cabinet factory in Minnesota. He continued following the technology when he joined American Woodworker magazine, where he published a series of articles on CNC woodworking techniques. Over the years, he has worked with various machines and software packages, from hobby level to industrial machines. He is the author of the book CNC Router Essentials, which covers the basics of getting started in CNC. Randy still enjoys swinging a mallet and pushing a hand plane since he believes success as a woodworker (hand or machine) is strongly related to knowledge and practice of the fundamentals.