Turtles

• Raeedah Alsayoud

I decided to make two replicas of turtles as part of our project.

The steps are:

  1. Use noun project to find a pic of turtles and download the file as a .svg
  2. Use Carbide Create to work on my piece 
    1. import the file
    2. Setup- job set up to edit the measurements based on each workpiece
    3. Scale my .svg to fit on the piece of the wood 
    4. Change to the toolpath window in the top left
        1. added pocket to all parts of the turtles 
        2. added a circle outside of the turtles. Then use a contour to cut the piece 
        3. save the file as g.code
  3. Carbide Motion
    1. Secure the Workpiece
    2. Upload my g.code
    3.  Initialize machine 
    4. Insert correct bit
    5.  Install a probing pin and set up the bitzero- job- measure X, Y, and Z 
    6. Remove the prob 
    7. press run to start the work – Video for CNC work CNC Video
  4. Post-processing and finishing 
    1. Sand the pieces with a circular sander and sanding paper to make them smooth.
    2. I used epoxy with blue and white colors on one piece to fill the hole. Then paint with white color outside. However, the final result did not look satisfactory even after painting with white color on the outside. I then decided to draw on the surface to improve its appearance and help conceal the blue spots. Also, I decided to sand the bottom again to remove the white color. Now I can say that I am happy with the final result 🙂

      Before Drawing

       

      After Drawing

    3. On the second piece, I drew on it before I filled the hole. Then, fill the hole by mixing 0.05 oz of A and B from the liquid plastic mixture. Then add white and green colors before pouring the liquid inside the hole. I used a liquid plastic mixture because it is easier to fill the hole and faster to dry.
    4. Clear coat on both pieces    

Achievements and problems:

Although the homework assignment was generally easy, I experienced a lot of stress due to several initial problems.

  1. Access: The first problem was access to the CNC machines. I tried to use the machine several times, but it was already reserved, and I had to wait until it became available and asked the person if I could use it while they reserved it, and ended up without it (I understand it’s a lot of responsibility). I just got access 5 days ago. I started the HW immediately using Nomad 3. I faced another challenge. The person before me had used the CNC insert a bit incorrectly, and I could not change it before starting my project. I asked for assistance from the lab assistant, TA, and Fernando, and after 25 minutes, they managed to remove it. However, Fernando informed me that the machine would be out of order. 
  2. CNC: I decided to use the Shapeoko to complete my assignment; however, one of the problems was I had inserted the bit all the way up, which caused the problem of burning the wood since the bit can not go all the way.To resolve this issue, I used a longer bit and inserted it carefully, ensuring enough space to go through the hall piece of wood. During the process of cutting the second piece, I noticed that it did not cut all the way to the end, unlike the third piece, even though I had checked all measurements and the bit. I am still trying to understand why this happened. To fix the second piece, I used diagonal cutters to cut the circle, with some force applied, which caused the piece to break slightly on the back.
    1. One problem I had was that the turtle was too close to the circle. As a result, part of the left leg is cut. In the future, I will make sure to scale the pic correctly.
  4. Post-processing: I thought using epoxy would be easy. I mixed the color with epoxy and started to fill the hole. While doing that, some of it spilled over onto the top of the hole. Even after trying to clean it with alcohol, the epoxy remained. To make the project look better, I decided to paint the outside white.

Cost: 

The total cost is $86.55 and each piece is 43

  1. Materials : $21.55  
    1. 2 pieces of wood – $1.61
    2. Epoxy – $6.98 (home depot)
    3. Clear coat – $6.48 (home depot)
    4. paints – 6.48 (home depot)
  2. Labor: $10 per hour – $65  
    1. 6 hours and half
  3. Machine: free (Thanks to OEDK)
    1. Each piece 10 min- total 20 min

 

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