Introduction

This week’s project was to use the Carvey CNC mill to cut a noun into a small plywood block. I selected two nouns from the Noun Project website, a sea turtle and a fish. I then downloaded the files onto Adobe Illustrator to resize them to fit onto the plywood block. I then imported both files into Easel onto the MakerBar computer connected to the Carvey.

First Cut

I first selected a small plywood block and then measured its dimensions using a caliper. I moved the files around to make sure they were on the block and not touching the ‘red area’ where the clamp would be located. I decided to have three fish instead of one as they were very small. I used a 1/16 inch fishtail down cut bit and cut to a depth of 1/8 of an inch. I followed all of the steps Easel told me to do in order to set up the plywood block for being cut.

After cutting for ten minutes, my nouns had been cut! The cut was really clean, though I felt I could try for a more skilled cut.

Second and Third Cuts

To make my project a little more complex, I changed my Adobe Illustrator files so that each part of the sea turtle (legs, fins, shell parts, head) were all separate. I decided to carve out each of the parts instead of cutting around them. To add complexity I also decided that the turtle would have three different depths, with the inner shell being the shortest cut and the legs, fins, and head having the deepest cut. I also added a fourth fish to take up more space. I used the same bit as before.

I again followed Easel’s directions for preparing for the cut. The cut this time took 8 minutes.

I repeated the entire process from the second cut for the third cut. I was really happy with how both cuts came out, and the depth differences looks really cool, somewhat making it look more realistic. One thing I might change, is I wish I would have made each fish at a different depth.

I also made a fourth cut for fun with the same turtle and fish design, but with a different cutting method and path. I cut around the parts instead of carving them out, again with different depths, but I liked the second and third cuts a lot better.

Post Processing

Later on, I decided I wanted to make my two cuts more visually appealing. So, to start I decided to cut down the plywood so there was less empty space. For one of my plywood blocks I use a jigsaw and sandpaper to cut off and round out the corners of the piece.

For the other plywood block, I used the Carvey to cut a line around the sea turtle and fish on one side.

After cutting down the plywood, I used acrylic paint to add color to both of my pieces. I painted in the carved out regions of the turtle and fishes on the plywood that I had cut with the jigsaw. I sanded away any paint that ended up on the surface of the plywood. On the other plywood piece I originally wanted to use a resin to fill in the carved out regions of the turtle and fishes but I did not have time to follow through with that plan. Instead, I painted a coral reef esque background for the cut using acrylic paint.

Cost Analysis

Material Cost: At Home Depot a 3/4inch thick 24in by 48in (1152 square inches) plywood is $31.58, so the cost of square inch for a 3/4inch thick plywood is $0.03. The average size of my plywood blocks was around 18 inches, so each plywood block would cost $0.54. As I carved 4 3/4 inch thick plywood blocks, the total material cost is $2.16.

Labor Cost: At $10 an hour and 2.5 hours worked (30 min finding files and using Illustrator, 30min setting up cuts, 1 hour keeping an eye on cuts, 15 minutes using jigsaw and sanding, 15 minutes painting), the total labor cost is $25.

Paint Cost: As each acrylic paint container costs around $1, and I used 7 different colors, total cost for paint is $7.

Total Cost for this project is $34.16.

My submission number is 24.