I got started on my CNC machining homework by looking at a few designs on The Noun Project website. I knew I wanted my noun to relate to my home country, Turkiye, so I scrolled through a few key words and ended up finding the perfect design to work with. I chose this simple and cute tulip design, as it is the national flower of Turkiye and also my favorite flower!

After having my design, I loaded up the .svg file on Carbide Create. I went through all the instructions on our homework assignment to set up my file on Carbide Create. I measured my wood, which was 6 inches by 3.5 inches, with a thickness of 0.7874 inches. I put these values into Carbide, and started specifying the cuts on my design. I added an outline around the tulip and added three tabs to keep the wood secure in place. I scaled the design up to be 3 inches by 3.5 inches, to meet the assignment requirements. I chose to make pocket cuts for my design, and set the outline to be a contour cut through the height of the wood. Once I had my file ready I was ready to start CNC machining.

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to use the Nomad 3 for my assignment since I felt more comfortable using it, although I am still confident in using the Shapeoko Pro. Since my design was fairly simple, I chose to keep a ⅛” bit for the entire cut. I tightened my wood into place with a thin wood under it to cushion the machine from any chance of the bit hitting anything beyond my wood. I had exported my Carbide Create file to the Carbide Motion application, and started to get ready for my cut. I set up the probing tool on my wood and went through the corner probing process.

Once everything was in place, I ran the machine and my cut came out wonderfully. I did have to pause the cut midway to vacuum all the sawdust, since the Nomad 3 doesn’t have a built-in vacuum, but beyond that everything went smoothly. After my first cut, I re-probed my second piece of wood and did my second cut.

Onto the post-processing! I started by sanding down both of my pieces, making sure the tab pieces are all smooth and the surface feels nice and soft. I used a 280 grit sandpaper first, and then went over that with a 320 grit sandpaper.

After feeling satisfied with the smoothness of my pieces, I moved onto coating. I knew I wanted to use beeswax since I really liked the finish of it from my box making project. I applied one layer of beeswax and loved how warm the wood ended up looking.

 

 

 

 

 

I could have been done here, but I really liked how the pieces with resin looked so I wanted to try it out myself. I found the resin, read through the instructions, and got to work mixing the chemicals. I chose a pretty pink powder for the resin, and once my resin mixture was thoroughly mixed, I poured it into the pockets of my tulip design.

 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely love how the resin and the wood look together. I am extremely satisfied with my work, I can say these are one of my favorite pieces I have made in this class so far, love them!!

Cleaned-up Area:

Cost Analysis:

Time: $21.75

3 hours→ $7.25/hour

Materials: $14

2 small wood planks → $2/plank

Resin kit→ $10

Total: $35.75