I began by choosing a design I’d like to cut. I found many images of rice cookers on thenounproject.com and chose one that I believed I could modify to suit the CNC machine constraints. I imported it into Adobe Illustrator to begin modifications. This included scaling the design to be between 3×3 and 5×5 in. With the provided piece of wood measuring 4.1*5.2*0.71 in, this allowed the design to be at its maximum size at 3.5in tall with some room for cutting space around the outline. I scaled and modified the design in Carbide Create to remove details that were going to be too small for the bit to cut, as well as making some details larger so that they could be machined and adding the spoon. I was able to assign cut parameters to each section of the drawing. In this way I was able to designate an outline cut to go through the depth of the wood and the inside lines to the desired depths so that the Rice Cooker and outline would be raised above the base.

Opening the design in Carbide Motion, I used the probe and bit to set the origin point as the bottom left corner of my stock. Then I switched the tool to the 1/8” endmill, measured the tool and began the cut, following the designated steps to initialise and run the G-Code in the Carbide Motion program. 

My first cut didn’t quite go all the way through the wood since when the drill first made it through the wood at the top left of the piece, the bit caught on the tape and caused the stock to pull away from the base. Since the tape was no longer securing the piece in place, I paused the machine and stopped the current cut where it was. After vacuuming up, it was clear the cut had made it almost all of the way through the piece so I took the piece out. A light amount of sanding on the base of the piece was sufficient to remove the remaining few mm of uncut material, and the machined noun popped right out.

I repeated the process for the second stock, ensuring I used more force when securing the stock to the base machine plate so that it would not be pulled up partway through the cut. 

I sanded both pieces with a hand sander to smooth the piece and remove any roughness left over at the cutting edge. I chose a blue colour to spray paint the piece since one of Rice’s primary colours is blue.

Cost Breakdown:

• Materials:
  • 1×4” stock wood  *2 5” lengths = $0.34
    • 8ft 4×1 = $3.35 at Lowe’s
  • Spray Paint = ~$5 per can, assume at least 20 uses => $0.25 per piece at maximum => $0.50
• Labour
  • 6 hours * $15 = $90
• Machine/Equipment Costs:
  • CNC machine
  • Sander
    • Free with OEDK access
• Total cost = $90.59