All,
Here is the recap of the first CNC meeting of 2025! As always, the recorded zoom meeting link is at the end.
To give you an idea of what people in this meeting are thinking about making, (and have been working on making), here’s the list I remember:
- Mike wants to make a bunk bed.
- Owen made a topographical map.
- Christopher’s making cabinets.
- Prueesh wants to renovate a Winnebago.
- RJ wants to make a curved canvas (he’s a graphic designer).
- Patrick has worked on acoustic panels and is working on some cabinets for an airstream.
- Ted is making a hydrofoil for a sport he likes–I picture it as kiteboarding. YouTube it and you will be blown away.
Alright, now getting into it.
Owen showed us his topographical map from Minnesota. He used a -Terrain2STL. Said that the lake wasn’t exactly as it should’ve been to accurately draw out the topographical map so he wound up tracing the lines, and it was the worst!
Travis pointed out that CorrelDraw can be used as a center line draw tool for topographical maps, possibly making the tracing mechanism a bit easier. Trace at shapertools.com is another option if you want to outsource the tracing aspect of your design.
However, Owen’s project turned out spectacularly. His FIRST project on the CNC–check it out!
Patrick shared with us some acoustic panel he made.
Christopher shared with us his further coasters iterations. Went from 51 minutes of CNC time down to 9 minutes. Runs at 150 IPM. He used larger shanks at higher speeds for smaller bits. Wood used was 3/4” mahogany with Totalboat lacquer. After applying lacquer he used a sponge & natural bristle brush. Lacquer was used to seal the wood so it doesn’t warp. Christopher recommends it because with lacquer you don’t have to sand in between cuts.
Ted designed hydrofoils from 5/8” cedar fence pickets from Home Depot. Wing foil. Cedar is so porous and light and that’s why he made it. Remember, this is like combining kiting & surfboarding so reducing weight is paramount. The reason Ted’s making this is if he were to buy this board on his own it would cost $700-$800.
Christopher suggested using Viking Fence (https://www.vikingfence.com/) as another potential place to buy fencing from.
And that’s a wrap. Zoom link below + dets for next month’s meeting.
Passcode: =k$Vbmb2
Cya guys the first Sunday (February) of next month at 12:30pm at Asmbly! Looks like 12:30 is a good time.
@jamesfreeman @TravisGood @Christopher @bwatt
Joaquim