Hey y’all!!
Okay so first of all… this project was a journey. I’m talking ups, downs, slight panic, and eventual CNC glory. I wasn’t feeling 100% when I started this one, but by the end? Oh, I was deep in it and loving every second. Spoiler alert: Star Wars nerds, this one’s for you.
So here’s the deal—I’ve been trying to level up my creative game and thought, hey, wouldn’t it be dope to make custom frames for the canvas art I’ve been painting lately? Art + engineering = my dream combo. So when the opportunity came up to do a CNC milling project, I said bet, and immediately knew I wanted to do something that felt very me.
Step 1: Finding the Right Muse (Enter Ahsoka Tano)
As a big ol’ Star Wars: Clone Wars fan, choosing Ahsoka as my muse was a no-brainer. She’s cool, she’s powerful, and honestly, her headpiece (tentacle-thingies? lekku? still not sure what the official term is…) makes for a pretty iconic silhouette.
I had a few design ideas floating around but quickly realized that not all of them would translate well to SVG format. Some were way too detailed and turned into hot messes when run through the converter. So I picked a clean, bold silhouette of Ahsoka and used an online PNG-to-SVG converter to prep my design. Worked like a charm!
Step 2: Carbide Confusion (but we made it work)
I brought the SVG into Carbide Create, which is the software we use to talk to the CNC. Instead of doing a boring box outline, I wanted to cut along the actual shape of her headpiece—aka, those iconic tentacle-y things. I basically set the toolpath to follow the outer edge and create a cutout of the silhouette.
Step 3: A Classic Mistake (wood flies, dreams die)
The first run? Disaster. I didn’t secure my wood block tight enough and it straight up moved mid-cut. RIP. Had to shut it down and start over. But I wasn’t gonna let one rogue piece of plywood defeat me. I came back on a new day, fresh block in hand, and ran the job again—this time, successfully!
Failed Ahsoka
Successful Ahsoka
Step 4: Sand, Sand, Baby
Post-processing was mostly sanding. Some parts had rough edges or tight corners where the CNC bit didn’t glide as smoothly, so I gave them a little love with the sandpaper to make everything nice and clean. Didn’t get to paint them yet (life got busy), but once this project is graded, best believe I’ll be painting and sealing them up with some galaxy-themed colors
Before sanding
Post sanding
Final Thoughts: Jedi-Level Joy
Even though this one started with me feeling a bit out of it, I ended up having such a good time. It was super therapeutic, and now I’m seriously hyped to use these new CNC skills to make custom wooden frames for my canvas art. Imagine selling a painting and the frame that I made myself? Ugh. Love that for me.
Stay tuned for the painted version—coming soon to a galaxy (or blog post) near you
Until next time
| Cost Type | Cost | Price | Source | Quantity | Total |
| Materials | 3.5 in. x 6.5 in. x 0.75 in. wood | $31.87/ 3/4 in. D x 5.5 in. W x 4 ft. | link | 1 ft of wood block | $31.87 |
| Vacuum (to clean the station) | $79.99/unit | link | 1 | $79.99 | |
| Sand Paper | $5.99/pk | link | 1 | $5.99 | |
| Labor | Woodworking Operator | $20/hr | link | 2 hr | $40 |
| Prototyping Engineer (You!) | $36/hr | link | 1 | $36 | |
| Overhead | Facility Cost (Machine Time) | $75/hr | link | 2 hr | $150 |
| $343.85 |
Workstation:
