For this project, we had to create two identical shapes using the CNC machine. Since I have two identical dogs at home, Max and Midnight, I thought a dog would be the perfect thing to make!

I first found a nice dog shape on the noun project. It looks a bit like a cat, but it’s okay. Then I uploaded it to Carbide create and made it into gcode. I chose to cut the perimeter of the dog head out of the wood completely, and the eyes and nose to .2 in as pockets. I input the dimensions of the piece of wood I used, followed the rest of the settings, then saved the gcode.

Then I had to get started with setting up the Nomad3 CNC machine. Using the machine in general felt very daunting and took some trial and error, but I had already done the CNC part of the final project (and struggled a lot with it) so I was prepared.

I had a lot of trouble with the tape- the scissors were too sticky to easily cut the tape, then it would get bunched up, and make it so that the wood would not lie flat on the base. Eventually I got it figured out and got a thorough layer on the bottom of the wood.

I probed the machine with the gadget, switched the bits out and redid the measurement, then started the code. It took around 15 minutes for the entire thing to run- 9 for the vector cut, and 6 for the pockets.

Watching the machine was very scary and loud. But, eventually I successfully cut out a piece. I removed it from the base, and vacuumed around it. I was successfully able to repeat the process again for another one.

I then took the pieces downstairs for post processing. I tried to use the belt sander, and for the most part it went really well, but one of the dogs ended up with a nick in his ear and some unevenness between the ears. Sorry Max!

After I sanded off all the bits of wood sticking over the edges, I took both pieces outside and gave them a coat of spray paint. I left them overnight to dry, came back in the morning for another coat, then I was done! Yay!

 

Cost Analysis

• materials
  • 1 sqft of wood- $2
    • https://www.homedepot.com/b/Lumber-Composites-Plywood/N-5yc1vZbqm7?NCNI-5&searchRedirect=plywood&semanticToken=320r10r00f2200000000_2022121004152576606522467121_us-central1-xrvj%20320r10r00f2200000000%20%3E%20st%3A%7Bplywood%7D%3Ast%20ml%3A%7B24%7D%3Aml%20nr%3A%7Bplywood%7D%3Anr%20nf%3A%7Bn%2Fa%7D%3Anf%20qu%3A%7Bplywood%7D%3Aqu%20ie%3A%7B0%7D%3Aie%20qr%3A%7Bplywood%7D%3Aqr
  • spray paint- $1
  • sandpaper- $1
• machine use
  • 2 hrs on CNC machine @ $40/hr
  • https://www.3erp.com/blog/cnc-milling-cost/#:~:text=The%20average%20CNC%20machining%20cost,sophisticated%20CNC%20machines%20cost%20more.
• labor
  • 3 hrs @ $15/hr

total cost- $90 ($45 per object)