PROCESS

I CNC milled two California grizzly bears!

To begin, I found an image of a grizzly bear on the noun project and uploaded it to Easel. I added a circle around it that would go through the depth of the wood, and chose an etching depth of 0.4″ for the bear.

I worked with Krithika on this project. When setting up the X-carve machine, we kept getting an error when attempting to start the cut. We did some troubleshooting by initially trying to separate the cut and carve sections of the operation, but eventually realized the solution was to disable the detailed bit setting. Once this issue was cleared up, we were able to complete our cuts with no further issues.

After cutting out the two identical bears, I sanded them down, first with 100 grit then 300 grit sandpaper. I decided to try out a different finish for each bear: I used a finishing oil for one and used a darker wood stain for the other. Overall, I like how both turned out.

CHALLENGES OVERCOME

The most challenging and time-consuming part of this project was setting up the X-carve machine. Because we kept getting errors and having to restart the setup process, including manually zeroing the machine each time, this project took longer than I had initially expected. However, I have greatly increased my familiarity with the machine, so the process would definitely be smoother in the future.

COST

• Machines/ Equipment:
  • CNC Machine rental 1 hour at $35/hour – $35
• Materials:
  • Plywood + Finishing Oil + Stain – $10
• Labor
  • 3 hours at $20/hour – $60

Total – $105

As always, the labor is the most expensive component, pushing the cost for the two parts extremely high. With more experience, this cost could be reduced.