For this project, we were assigned to create something using the CNC router, Carvey. The first step was to pick out what we wanted to carve. At first, I wanted to do something fairly complex but I quickly learned that the program does not like intricate details and very thin lines on a small scale.

So instead I decided to use a cloud and lightning bolt, I found the two pieces separately on the noun project and put them together on Illustrator to save them as a single SVG file and import it into Easel for the Carvey to get the G Code from.

Then I took my wood, double checked my dimensions and clamped it in.

On my first cut, I used a 1/8in fishtail drill bit with an up-cut and 2 flutes. I found that this one led to a good cut, but I felt that a different bit could do better. On my second cut what I decided to use was a 1/8in ball bit with 2 flutes.

This led to a better cut, with smoother turns on the lightning bolt. Both of these naturally left some residue on the inside of the cut, to deal with this I took fine sandpaper and began to sand the inside. After this I decided to work on the aesthetics. I decided for one of them to use spray paint and for the other regular paint. For the spray paint I put painter’s tape all around the cloud and spray painted it gray. Then using a simple paintbrush painted the other one. I encountered some difficulty painting the lightning bolt due to its depth. I believe had I had a finer paintbrush I could have done this better. Then I routed the corners for some final aesthetics and just like that I was done.

Failures:

• Nick on the corner of the black one — This was simply a defect in the wood
• One of the lightning bolts has an odd cut on it’s corner due to the drill bit — This was solved by changing out drill bits
• Painting problems — This could be solved by being a better painter, or using more appropriate paints with more layers.

Cost Analysis —

This may have been the cheapest project of the year, in total I worked on it for about an hour (not including dry time for the paint), if I was to charge myself 15$/hr then it would cost 15$ + materials. However the materials were two pieces of scrap wood, but let us say they cost another dollar.

This brings the total to 16$ and the blog post to an end.