The process of my personal CNC project was fairly simple in comparison to my final project with Mia. We faced so many challenges with the CNC portion that I learned a lot and was able to implement these changes during my project. 

I chose a cute and simple design—a popsicle with zig zags that are lifted above the surface. I really enjoyed the software aspect of this project, editing on VCarve and ensuring the sizing was correct. When it came to operating the machine, I was able to repeat steps from our final project. My first piece cut out perfectly—it looked just as I had hoped and I ran into no issues.

Because I wanted to cut the popsicle shape out of the wood, I mainly ran into a problem with the cutout shape lifting due to a lack of double-sided tape. There was no double-sided tape, so I used duct tape and made tape rolls as well as taped down the sides of the wood. Because the sides were taped down but the portion behind the popsicle was not completely covered, my second piece started lifting and the machine was trying to cut the piece in the air (it was no longer secure to the base). 

I stopped cutting to ensure that I would not mess up the machine and began the cutting process again. This time, I only ran into a simple problem as the machine would continue to stop operating. I found the solution to this problem was that the magnetic piece holding the door shut was moving due to the airflow within the machine. Following this quick fix, the machine continued to cut but when it finished, it had not completely cut through the wood. 

(my first cut in hand and second cut on the table)

I was unsure what to do next as I had run the entire process, fixed previous errors and double-checked the file before cutting but it still did not go through the piece of wood. I even made sure to check the thickness of the wood was .48 inches before cutting. I initially thought the problem was that I used the wrong drill bit, so I measured a new one that was .125 inches (⅛) and began the cutting process again. 

Luckily, the machine cut all the way through my piece of wood this time, and the process was complete. While cutting the final popsicle, I remeasured the old drill bit I used and it was .125 inches as well, so I’m still not sure what the problem was. Although I felt almost defeated after cutting this piece for the 3rd time, I am glad that I persevered and continued to try again because I ended with a beautiful result.

For post-processing, I decided to simply sand both pieces to the best of my ability because I learned from classmates that the wood I chose often bled color throughout the entire piece and I did not want that to happen to my popsicles. Below is my final design!

(final pieces)

(entire cnc process)

Cost Breakdown:

• • Labor:
    • 4hrs at $20/hour = $80
  • Materials:
    • Machine Usage ($30/hr for 4 hrs) = $120
    • Wood ~ $5
  • Total: $205