To cut something on the CNC machine, you first have to choose a shape to cut. I went to thenounproject.com and chose a design from the huge selection there.  I then downloaded it as an SVG file and opened it in Adobe Illustrator.

From there I imported it into Easel, then I set my material and bit sizes. At first it showed that there would be problems cutting the shape.

To resolve the issue I tried different cut path styles (Fill, Outline, Outside, etc) until I found one that worked. It ended up having to be “Outside.”

I also resized the shape to fit within the material.

To make it more interesting I made the cut depth deeper as it got closer to the middle. This is why the circles look darker toward the middle.

To test it out I used a g-code simulator. It looked like I expected so I loaded the file onto a flash drive and cut it on the CNC machine.

I chose a ball point bit to give the bottom edge of the cut a rounded look.

After setting the origin on the machine and running through a few lines of code I realized I needed to either change my file or rotate the vise holding the material 90 degrees.

Changing the file was faster, so I opted for that option. After doing that, and reducing my cut depths just to make it go faster, I cut it out.

Intermittently throughout the cut I cleared away the dust with the air hose, and when I was done I cleaned everything up with the Shop Vac.

To post process it I rounded over the edges of the piece with the belt sander, then hand sanded it all down to 400 grit.

I then applied a generous coat of Tung Oil with a shop rag and let it dry for a few days.

It turned out looking pretty good:

 

I have always been interested in CNC routing, so this project was especially cool for me.