I was a bit intimidated by this machine at first, but it turned out to be a fun machine with tons of little quirks (some that were very cool to know about and some that made me squirm with frustration in my seat when completing my project). Viewing this from a “at-home” entrepreneur perspective, it would definitely be useful to have a machine at home that can mill those complex patterns, such as the outline of an object or the geography of a mountain range.

Step 1: Get CNC certified

For this step, the goal is to just get CNC certified by the instructor or TAs of the course to ensure that one comprehends what they need to do in order to gain different settings for the machine and to not damage any of the equipment badly. I did this and was then ready to start:)

Step 2: Choose my picture…indecisiveness takeover

As always, it is difficult for me to choose what outline I want as my CNC model; however, I chose a cross because 1. it has symbolism for me and I would remain proud of it, 2. I would get to cut it out and have another depth in the object in a different region, and 3. I did not know what else I should do.

Step 3: Begin the process!

Now I get to go through the Carbide Create program where I set the dimensions for the depth of each of the wooden pieces I used (each one had an individual depth since they were different) and then would set the same depth for the inside of the delicate star on each of the cross’ arms. I then made sure that my toolpaths were correct and saved the files and opened the other Carbide application to be able to initialize the machine and probe it so it knows where to start the process. I was worried that the probing, when doing the corner, would move the metal device, so I would semi hold it so it stayed in the same spot, allowing me to hit the same spot every time in case I messed up and had to stop the machine and wanted to resume with that same toolpath.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: Start the cut and find I have made a couple of mistake:/

When starting the cut, I ran into a big problem of the tape losing its adhesiveness to the stage since the wood was warped, not allowing all of it to touch the wood surface and keep itself tied down. Therefore, I asked Danny and Fernando for their recommendation and they took me to the Wood Shop in order to basically shave off the top little bits at a time so it would be flat. Then, I did that same thing again on the bottom to ensure it is even. Finally, I tried again and it worked! It just took around 20 minutes for each job:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5: Finish my cuts and sand, sand, sand!

After I finished cutting the wooden pieces, I really wanted them to be soft with no sharp edges. Therefore, I sanded them with a variety of grits, going from 60 to 120 to 220 to 320 and finally to 400. It took a longer time than expected, but they turned out beautiful and some of the smoothest I have felt wood in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 6: Post process time!

For post processing, I wanted it to look a little bit rustic, so I decided to go with thee good ol’ Linseed Oil! It turned out beautiful with my graceful stroked and I could not have been happier with it:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7: Model it:)

Pretty and rustic! Looks like something I would buy to hang up on the wall:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 8: Time to see if it is worth it

This project was relatively straight forward as it possessed very simple problems that could be fixed in a timely manner. I enjoyed getting to learn a new way to efficiently cut wood into a shape I want with very specific calculations for creating the very depth I want as well, ensuring that it can be replicated very easily if I wanted to make duplicates of the original. Saying that, it would be a tad difficult to recreate this product without the machine, and it would be even more difficult for me to validate me buying the machine for just personal problems. Therefore, it was a fun project that I would only complete when I have the machine to use at my own will while it was purchased by someone else. Now, let’s see the cost:)

Labor cost (minimum wage $7.25/hour for 2 hrs): $14.50

Cost to use machine ($40/hour for 2 hrs): $80

Linseed Oil: $11

Pine wood: $9

Sandpaper: $2

Total cost: $116.50 for my time, effort, and materials for this project.

If I was more experienced, it would take less time to complete, reducing the cost significantly and making it a more manageable project to work with at home if given the necessary tools. Overall, very fun!