This Little Piggy Had Blue Eyes | ENGI 210: Prototyping and Fabrication

This week I learned how to use the CNC Mill! The assignment was to create two identical wooden pieces with multiple depths and to cut out the outlines.

The first step was to find an SVG file on The Noun Project and import it into Easel. I chose an outline of a pig’s face, since the snout was the first thing that came to mind when I read the multiple depths requirement.

The next step was to create a different workspace for each depth I wanted to cut. For my project, I needed three workspaces: the first was the face (excluding the snout), the second contained the eyes and nostrils, and the third was a cut all the way through to outline the piece.

The wooden blocks I CNCed were 4 x 3.5 x 0.75 in.

I cleared a pocket 0.2 in deep for the face:

Layer 1: face

I cleared a pocket 0.4 in deep for the eyes and nostrils:

Layer 2: holes

I cut outside the shape path 0.75 in deep to outline the piece. I disabled the tabs, so the pig would detach from the wooden block.

Layer 3: cutting through

Note: tabs shown here, but they were disabled for the cut

For the first two cuts, I used a 1/8 in fishtail bit and for the cut all the way through I used a 1/8 in end mill bit long enough to cut all the way through.

I actually messed this step up the first time I tried, since the mill bit I was using didn’t match what I had told the computer. I was also using the wrong bit for the job (ball instead of fishtail). As a result, the machine jumped around instead of cutting properly. The messed up resulting cuts can be seen below:

Ruined cuts

I used two wrenches to tighten/loosen the mill bits to swap them out. I clamped my wooden piece down in the corner, flush with the L piece, with the two red screws. My wooden block was so small that I didn’t need to clamp the other sides, since it was already rigidly fixed.

CNC setup

After selecting the appropriate mill bit settings and wooden block size on Easel, I set my cut to start. I performed my 3 cuts in the order listed above (face then eye/nostril holes then outline), making sure to cut the outline last so my piece wouldn’t move around after detaching from the block.

CNCed pigs!

Onto post-processing! I sanded the pigs before painting them with pink acrylic paint. After that dried, I dripped some blue paint into the eye holes. I had intended to use black paint for the eyes, but was unable to find any, so blue it was! Though I have to admit, it looked very strange…