I was really excited for this project, through which we were able to use the Carvey in order to mill a shape into a block. Based on Dr. Wettergreen’s suggestion, I looked into calligraphy shapes. I am personally really interested in Arabic calligraphy, having done some in the past. The challenge with milling a calligraphy shape would be the variation in thickness. There were plenty of cool patterns, but a lot of them had some very thin edges that I knew were not going to mill at all.

I decided on the final shape shown at the very end. It is a very simple calligraphy pattern with some thin edges on the outside. While a very small drill bit might have gotten all the pockets, I decided to stick with a 1/32″ drill bit. The larger drill bit allowed the mill to run faster, but the entire design did not transfer over. I was perfectly fine with this since I wanted to explore the limitations of the machine.

As one of the first steps, I downloaded the file from ‘The Noun Project’ and cleaned it up before bringing it into Easel. Once in Easel, the file was sized to fit on the block, and the depth was adjusted. The deeper the cut, the longer it would have taken. In preparation for using Easel, I measured out the block dimensions accurately, especially the depth (block shown below). Next, the bit had to be changed to a 1/32″ upcut drill bit (shown below), and the piece had to be securely clamped (shown below).

Once the block was secured and the bit was installed, I was ready to work through Easel and send the job. As pictured below, the Carvey carefully worked on milling the pattern, eventually getting deeper and deeper. The total mill time was around 40 minutes.

 

As far as post processing, I decided to take the blocks and use the router on them. I routed a bevel along the top surface, and sanded all the edges down. The sanding not only gave them a rounded look, but also helped clean up any burnt areas.

Cost Breakdown

The cost breakdown for the part is as follows:

• Carvey, $2499
  • https://www.inventables.com/technologies/carvey
• Labor, $30
• Total, $2529