Hello! For this project, I set out to challenge myself by replicating Mt. Everest out of wood using the Shapeoko Pro XXL CNC Machine. My high school robotics team had access to a CNC machine but I didn’t use it as much, however, I was familiar with how it worked.

The first step was to download the stl of mt everest, and set it up in v-carve. I followed the instructions under the proficient segment of the instructions, but since I skipped over the beginning instructions, I wasn’t sure about how to run the carbide motion after creating the g-code. I also had to recreate the v-carve setup because the machine apparently doesn’t accept .crv filed that weren’t made with the full version. This added a bunch of time to my process but it helped me learn a lot more.

beginning of CNC cut

complete rough pass. The piece was nudged a bit so I got a thin wall at the back but it wasn’t a big enough issue to restart the whole project.

during smoothing pass

After the CNC aspect was complete, I started cutting the excess off with this saw. I knew it was possible to do an outline cut on the CNC but that would add 46 minutes to the time and this was much more practical.

then I switched to this better saw 🙂

I used the belt sander to make the piece more square

I added linseed oil to make the wood look nicer during prost processing

I also added a stain to the outside of the design and bottom to show a stronger contrast

Another view of my final project. This process was repeated for the second everest piece. Overall I’m very proud of myself for completing this project because I came in with very little prior knowledge.

Cost Analysis:

• wood: 1 ft * $2.78/8 ft = $0.35
• linseed oil: 2 oz * $9.66/32 oz = $0.60
• brown stain: 1 oz * $8.98/8 oz = $1.12
• labor: 8 hours * $10/hour = $80
• total: $82.07