INTRODUCTION

For my CNC project, I wanted to make something unique and a little more complex than my usual projects. I decided to make a working maze with a marble and an acrylic top.

PROCESS

I started by finding a file on Noun Project of a circular maze. The first time I adjusted the file in Carbide Create and cut it on the Nomad, the wood came unstuck mid-cut, and I had to restart. In fact, this happened three or four more times. Eventually, Professor Bisesti showed me a few tricks on how to stick the wood better. I ran into a new problems then, where the walls of the maze were too thin or the channels were too small. I tried a few different files to correct these issues, and eventually found one that worked. I finished cutting the first maze on the Nomad and decided to finish the next day. Then the Nomad broke. So I learned how to use the Shapeoko, and finished cutting the second maze. My next step was to laser cut the acrylic tops and find a marble to fit in the channels. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a single marble in the whole building, so instead I broke open a ball bearing (again, with the help of Professor Bisesti). I placed the makeshift marble in the maze, and used copper tape to secure the acrylic top to the maze. Here is the final product!

cost estimate

CNC wood: $4

Acrylic: $1.50

Ball bearing: $8.90

Labor: $10/hour: $100

Total: $114.40