Hello All!
Thank you to everyone who attended the CNC Meeting this past Sunday. We shared a lot, and most importantly, learned a lot. For people who couldn’t make it, we have the recording: Jan SIG.mp4 - Google Drive
And here’s a brief recap of what we discussed (along with pictures!):
I started off sharing my eyes–because I’m keeping on eye on you!
This was my second version. I used epoxy with mica powder (all purchased off Amazon) to bring out the color. This was a 2-step pour where the goldish interior was the second step. In between the pouring steps, and after the epoxy dried (of course!), I sanded the wood before making my second cut. I used a 60 degree 1/4’’ V-bit for the second cut. Biggest issue I ran into was not making registration marks (to set the origin properly) for the second cut. This is why the goldish color is a little bit off. Version 3 will be better!
Next, @stepho showed us this incredible work of art she made which took countless hours but is also a wonderful de-stressor while watching TV 
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She used the CNC to cut all the holes in her beads, which made the process a lot more convenient and less tedious. She used the drill toolpath and managed not to set the spoilboard on fire. Slowly but surely, we’re figuring this stuff out! 
After that @atwatsoniii showed us the interesting bowl he’d been working on using Fusion 360.
Al used an aspect of Fusion 360 where you can take a picture of the bowl and have it line up its location. That way he could tell the CNC machine where to cut the workpiece after he’d already made updates to it and moved the workpiece around. That would’ve been super helpful for me when I was screwing around with my epoxy and not knowing how to line up my workpiece last Saturday night at 1am. @atwatsoniii, where were you again at 1am?!
Afterwards we had @SteveW share with us how he was inspired from last month’s meeting & wanting to use the spiral betty technique to create some more CNC art.
He did this by using a carbide end mill with a fine tip and making tiny little holes in the workpiece. Feel free to check it out onsite and ask him more about it when you get the chance.
Finally, @jamesfreeman shared with us another useful technique in vCarve 11.5: The ability to freehand draw.
This way we can get as creative as we want. He also shared with us another terrific website which allows us to create a vector file using a photo and colors! The website is here: https://pbnify.com/
Thank you to everyone else who came and learned with us. A big shoutout to @jamesfreeman and @Iammikecohen for working through the technical aspects of the meeting many, many hours the night before. We’re aiming to expand our Special Interest Group (SIG) offerings, and I invite you to look into the brand-new Laser SIG @Iammikecohen is having at 11am on January 21st.
Also, for the next meeting our theme is a 1-day build. This means we want you to build anything that takes 1 day or less working time. Epoxy drying/curing, or anything where you have to ‘sit-and-wait’, doesn’t count towards the 1-day build. Feel free to partner up with others in a joint effort. And there will be a prize, so get to cooking up some amazing alfredo chicken in that CNC kitchen you got!
Looking forward to seeing y’all Sunday, February 4th at 9am at Asmbly for our next meeting. Stay warm & out of the wind!
