All,
This is the March CNC Recap for Mixed March Madness. The theme was participation in CNC using mixed techniques. in using mixed techniques, whether it be using a laser+CNC, 3D printer+CNC, regular CNC+rotary CNC, etc.
@TravisGood shared his candy machine which had some DELICIOUS peanut M&Ms! Interestingly enough he made this entirely using the Shaper Origin and found the design on Hub.ShaperTools.com, and it’s called the candy machine. There’s a 3 part series that can be watched for how to do this on YouTube on the Shaper Hub channel. Magnets were used to hold the top on. Travis didn’t change the design in any way from how it was recommended on the channel. Travis is showing us just how valuable the Shaper Origin is!
@SteveW showed us a roundover bit, which can be used to move further into hole and make a deeper cut when an other bit of wood would otherwise chip away. Roundover bits enable a cleaner cut–I’m looking forward to learning more about these bits in the months to com
He then showed us an egg basket from cherry wood that he made for an outing he went to on Saturday night. He used a 1/4’’ down cut on the roughing and 1/4’’ ball on the finishing pass. It smells nice.
Finally, Steve then showed us this 10-piece laser cut print+cut design he made after learning print+cut last month. Now’s that impressive!
@stepho brought made a bike wheel rack for her father. She used vCarve and plans found online using ShaperHub.com. There were some difficulties ensuring that the wheel slot lined up with the holding platform. That means Stephannie had to go back and manually make updates to ensure the slots lined up. And the coolest thing is that this is her first project after the CNC class! WOOHOO!
@michleon100 showed us his updated laser cut cephalopod. He added an Arduino and now has the blue light back-lighting. Shows you what you can do when you add in many layers of laser cutting, painting, and electronics to create such an incredible work of art.
Random things we also talked about:
- You can use the controller to find the center if you give it an X and Y value.
- Use a micrometer to check your bit. It might be off 0.25’', and if you want precision then you’ll have to put this in your CAM software.
- Steve reminded us that the quality of the plans we purchase is directly related to the price paid for them.
- vCarve has a bunch of projects with project files you can take a look at here: Partner Projects Archive | Vectric
Now, moving out to our next event a little over a week ago–it’s signs! If you can make them silly, it’s a bonus, because next month is April, the month we act a fool! So bring your favorite, most exciting sign to Asmbly on April 7th at 9am, and get silly with it!
Massive thank you to @jamesfreeman for the awesome, year-long collaboration we’ve had with these meetings. I appreciate you working with me even when I don’t even have a baby at the house, and thus have no reason to be slacking! Lol. I’ll see what I can do to pick up the pace. Until next time…