Kate Hartman and I were experimenting with CNC milling leather. We used an Othermill on different types of leather with varying results. I think we finally got something usable at the end. More to come.
These tests were inspired by a fantastic project from Adidas.
I don’t think I’ve thought about using a rock tumbler for about 30 years, but I heard recently they were great for deburring CNCd parts. I found an affordable one and I just started experimenting. My first to attempts have been pretty good, one of aluminum one of delrin. The parts feel great, all soft edges. Now I need to work on the polish.
I’ve been working on this belt buckle design off and on for a little while. The goal was to have the whole thing be cut out on the Othermill. But it ended up being a better idea to create all of the Delrin parts on the Othermill and the aluminum parts on the Roland 4 axis mill. I ended up cleaning the front up on the metal lathe (clear back plate is laser cut acrylic).
Next one I’ll powder coat and maybe do a design on the front. I’m also experimenting with using a rock tumbler to finish the CNCd parts. More on this later.
Finally finished up some CNC’d toy cars for some nephews. 2.5D cut plywood with some off the shelf wheel assemblies and a couple of coats of shellac. These might look pretty good cut out of walnut.
It turns out reclaimed floorboards are kind of perfect for milling. They are flat, made of high quality hard wood, and are free. Just remember to remove all of the nails.
This may not be Kosher with the Lego purists out there, but I milled up a Lego brick with studs on both surfaces. Basically, it has two male ends instead of the traditional one male, one female.
Side note, I used old floorboards as the stock material (maple I think). This may be the perfect material for small desktop CNCs. Flat, milled hard wood that is essentially free. Just watch out for nails.
Milled a quick wooden Lego experiment. I can’t believe it fit the first try. Heavily influenced by Notcot.
More to come.
Running some tests for a very small, very detailed walnut piece.
Working on a walnut and aluminum enclosure for the fantastic Weezie. So far, glued up some walnut and did some initial CNC work. More to come.
