Figure 1: Original vector layout

For this assignment, I selected three different vector images of soccer players from thenounproject and aligned them along a 2.5 x 5.75″ block on Easel. I specified the cut depth to be .15″ after trying it once at .25″, which was a bit too deep. After generating g-code on Easel, I ran the CNC machine to carve the soccer players out of my wood piece.

Figure 2: Easel simulation

The cuts came out good overall. The lines were pretty clean and the curves were smooth. The only flaw was that some of the features (i.e., arms and legs of the soccer players) were too small to be machined with the 1/8″ drill bit, so they came out like small dots rather than longer arms/legs. This can be seen if you compare figures 2 and 3 with figure 1, the original vectors. Nonetheless, I think the overall look of the images was maintained.

To post-process, I sanded the wood block on all sides until it was smooth. Then, I covered the entire block in tape and cut out around the soccer players using a blade to create a stencil. I then spray painted the players black. After removing the tape I realized that some paint was on the top surface (not on the players), so I decided to apply a wood oil to try to cover it to some extent and to make the unfinished wood look nicer. The danish oil I used gives the wood a nice medium finish, but the black paint is still a little noticeable. However, I like the darker finish on the wood, and the soccer players still “pop” out since they’re painted black. If I were to do this again, I’d resize the vector images so that no features are lost when machining (or use a smaller drill bit), and I’d probably reduce the depth of the cut to .1″, since it doesn’t seem to take much depth to make a nice pattern in the wood.