CNC – 3D, baby!

… well, 2.5D anyway.

This is by far the most complicated design I’ve even attempted on the CNC machine. I learned a lot. In particular, I learned that the machine is *slow*. This carving took about 14 hours to cut out. I had to break it up over 2 days, and went “a little past quiet hour” on the second.

I could speed it up considerably next time with a few configuration tweaks.

In addition to extra speed, I really need to figure out my tool width — the tool marks on this one were really severe, and it took a lot of sanding to get things to where they are. I might try seeing if I can get it to step “offset” on each pass, to randomize where the tool goes. shrug. I’ll ask around.

I found some source art on the ‘net, but had to turn it into a heightmap myself, by hand. The concept is, you take a bitmap, then color it black anywhere you want the machine to cut all the way through, white where you want it to cut not at all, and shades of grey for all the levels in between. It takes a little mind-bending to stop trying to color it with highlights = white and shadows = black… I am really pleased with how the heightmapping (and thus the 3D nature of the backboard) turned out.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is. My first 2.5D cut on the CNC-to-be-named-later, hot off the CNC, and all ready for Christmas delivery! Kristi did a great job with paint and varnish. I really like the “fossil” effect of the brown.

2 down, 2 to go. The next two need to be designed, too. argh. Maybe I will find something cool that is simple to cut… (edit: I’ve decided to deliver 2 great ones rather than 4 mediocre ones. Watch this space for more signs in 2011)