Creating and Setting Up File:

The first step of this project was to decide on a design that I wanted to CNC.  I personally really appreciate coasters, so I decided to CNC two gear coasters. I got a gear design off of the nounproject, and then adjusted its dimensions to get them to fit the given pieces of wood.  On the carbide create software I then added the cuts I wanted for the gears. This included a pocket cut in the center, and a chamfer cut tracing out the gear.

 

CNC Cut:

After setting up my file, I went on to cutting my gear coaster out on the CNC machine. I used the larger machine for my tutorial. This was a very smooth process. I learned how to set up the origin of my cut with the probe tool, which was very interesting. The overall cut for one gear coaster took about 30min. To the left are my two CNC cut gears. Once the cut was finished I made sure to vacuum my area.

Sanding:

The cuts from the CNC  were very precise, but resulted in rough edges and surfaces on the gears. Therefore, I decided to smoothen my coasters out by sanding them with the orbital sander and then proceeding with a 240, 320, and 400 grit sand paper. It was a bit difficult to sand the pocket cut, and the inner faces of the gear, but overall this step resulted in a smooth finish.

 

 

 

Painting:

After sanding my gears, I went on to spray painting them. I did about three coats of metallic gold. After letting them sit for about two hours I sprayed two coats of  protective gloss.

Result:

Cost:

Time: $10 x 5hrs 30min = $50.50

CNC: $40

Spray Paint: $3.50

Wood: $0.50

Total: $94.50