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Awesome Cnc

Wooden Zoetrope Bowl

Wooden Zoetrope Bowl

Greg Blanpied makes CNC-machined and laser-cut functional art fabricated using parametric math and geometry. Among his amazing pieces is this elegant bowl, which acts as a zoetrope when filmed or spun beneath a strobe light. He’s also created a zoetrope vase.

Making Knock-Down Stools and a Carrying Case

Making Knock-Down Stools and a Carrying Case

Cris from Get Hands Dirty is always looking for ways to make her small living space more efficient. In this project, she created a set of wooden stools that can break into parts and be stored in a custom carrying case. It served as a great opportunity to test out her Mekanika Evo-S CNC milling machine.

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How to Fix Curbed Rims… with a Robot

How to Fix Curbed Rims… with a Robot

If you’ve ever curbed the rims on your car, you know how awful it can look. But with the proper equipment and expertise, it’s possible to repair damaged rims. Wheel Restore USA shows how their diamond cut wheel lathe can make even heavily damaged wheels look as good as new by removing a thin layer of metal. They also have a wheel-painting robot.

Making a Giant LEGO Gear Coffee Table

Making a Giant LEGO Gear Coffee Table

Woodworker Frank Howarth wanted to turn a slice of a fir tree into something different than a typical coffee table. So he set out to create a giant version of a LEGO gear. After patching a crack in the wood with bacon-shaped ties, he encountered a frustrating obstacle while cutting the pattern but persevered.

Rama Works XO Lighter Mini

Rama Works XO Lighter Mini
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Australian product design firm Rama Works presents an elegant and refined way to carry a BIC Mini lighter. The XO Lighter Mini is a CNC-machined aluminum lighter that takes an impressive 14 tools to create. It features a grooved and grippy texture and a raw metal finish that will patina over time. Personalization is also available. Limited to just 500 pieces.

Samurai 120 Desktop CNC Machine

Samurai 120 Desktop CNC Machine

This compact CNC machine from Samurai Machine Tools changes tools in as little as 2.3 seconds with its pair of rotating tool carousels and quick-change heads. Its spinning head remains stationary while its pedestal moves the part it’s milling. Watch it in action machining a piece of aluminum. Prices for the machine start at £4990, or about $6345 USD.

LEGO 3-Axis Hot Wire Cutter

LEGO 3-Axis Hot Wire Cutter

An electric hot wire cutter is the easiest way to get smooth cuts from styrofoam. LEGO mechanical expert Akiyuki Brick Channel took a basic hot wire cutter and mounted it in a machine that can spin a block of foam and move the wire to cut the kind of objects you might create on a lathe. It can also cut shapes from flat sheets of foam.

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Machining an Aluminum Isogrid Skateboard

Machining an Aluminum Isogrid Skateboard

An isogrid is a kind of metal structure that uses hollowed-out triangles to provide strength while reducing weight. Barry from Titans of CNC Machining used the technique to create a truly awesome skateboard. He started by plotting a design in SolidWorks, then used a CNC mill to carve the board from a block of aluminum.

Making The Most Complicated Cutting Board

Making The Most Complicated Cutting Board

Broinwood is known for making intricate cutting boards with a combination of technology and craftsmanship. His most complex design yet features more than 1700 elements. His process involves CNC cutting the butcher block and inverted pieces, gluing and hammering them in place, then milling away the excess wood.

Machining a Ball Inside a Box

Machining a Ball Inside a Box

One of the more interesting items you can produce in a machine shop is a sphere inside of a cube. Emil Hogslätt shows how he produced one such object using a DMG Mori 5-axis milling machine. The finished product is immensely satisfying, as are the soothing noises the machine makes as it cuts and smooths the aluminum piece.

NES Controller Valet Tray

NES Controller Valet Tray
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Reimagined Wood Shop has the perfect gift for the video game fan that has everything. This substantial 12″ x 5″ valet tray holds your coins, wallet, phone, keys, and more, all while looking like the classic Nintendo Entertainment System controller. Each one is CNC-carved from a block of solid lumber and comes in a variety of woods.

LaserPecker 4 Laser Engraver

LaserPecker 4 Laser Engraver

The latest LaserPecker is a tabletop laser engraver that can place designs on all kinds of materials, including wood, acrylic, stone, metal, ceramics, dark glass, and even food. It has both a diode laser and a pulsed fiber laser for working with different materials. With its slide module, it can engrave items up to 6.29″ x 11.81″

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Polygonal Turning

Polygonal Turning

It makes perfect sense that you can mill round objects by turning them on a spindle. But this video from the Titans of CNC shows us how it’s possible to use computer-controlled machines to mill sharply-defined polygonal objects on a spinning machine by synchronizing the spindle and the milling tool.

Making Ceramic Tiles with Machined Textures

Making Ceramic Tiles with Machined Textures

Jimmy DiResta wanted to see if he could make ceramic tiles while incorporating CNC tech. He started by using a desktop milling machine to cut designs into Corian, then used those to create plaster casts for the clay. He used an Evenheat kiln to fire the tiles. The voiceover provides a great glimpse into his learning process.

Raven CNC Carving Machine

Raven CNC Carving Machine

CarveWright’s tabletop CNC machine lets makers cut large-scale pieces with precision. It can work with wood, foam, or plastic up to 15.5 in. wide x 12 ft. long x 5.5 in. thick, with a cutting depth up to 2.125 in. A belt-drive moves materials through its cutting area. It comes with easy-to-use Designer software for creating projects.

Machined Metal Disco Ball

Machined Metal Disco Ball

An ordinary disco ball is made from hollow cardboard or plastic covered with a bunch of tiny mirrored tiles. But this unique disco ball from the Titans of CNC Machining is made entirely from a single block of aluminum. After milling the sphere, they used a unique burnishing tool to create its shiny facets.

Machining a 10-Ton Gear

Machining a 10-Ton Gear

The guys from the Beyond the Press channel take a moment away from destroying stuff to show us how something is made. Starting out with a 10-ton steel wheel, Finland’s ATA Gears used their DMG MORI CNC milling machine to gradually whittle its way around its edge to create the grooves in a massive gear.

Making Parametric Wall Art

Making Parametric Wall Art

Last Leg Woodworks shows us how they made this cool piece of modern wall art using Inventables’ X-Carve Pro CNC machine and their free Easel software. The piece was carved out of 77 slices of baltic birch plywood, then hand-assembled using mortise and tenon joints.

Karas Bolt V2 Pen

Karas Bolt V2 Pen
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Karas Pen Co.’s machined metal pen features a pushbutton bolt-action mechanism, fine-tuned for smooth operation. It comes in a number of colorful anodized aluminum finishes, along with brass, bronze, and copper options. Pilot G2 and Schmidt Easyflow 9000 refill compatibility provide versatility.

Nested Circle Clock

Nested Circle Clock

Thanks to his Swiss heritage, Alexandre Chappel felt obligated to build a timepiece of some sort. So he set about making a unique tabletop clock that tells time on a series of nested circles. He used a CNC machine to cut all of the wooden gears. He should probably add a pointer, so you know where to look for the time.

Waterjet Glass Spiral

Waterjet Glass Spiral

With enough power to cut through glass or even metal, industrial waterjets can be incredibly impressive. In this video from WARDJet, they show how one of their computer-controlled machines can slice a spiral so precisely in a sheet of glass that the glass can be stretched out into a dome after cutting.

Optic Portable Laser Cutter

Optic Portable Laser Cutter

Laser cutters are useful tools to have in a workshop, but they take up a lot of space. Rendyr’s Optic Laser Cutter folds up small when not in use, and its detachable cutting mat means you can cut on top of objects like tabletops for a virtually limitless work area. It has dual laser diodes totaling 15-watts and a built-in filtration system.

Micro-machining a Mountain

Micro-machining a Mountain

As impressive as large-scale milling machines can be, compact machines that can create intricate parts are equally fascinating to us. In this clip, Bantam Tools shows off their Desktop PCB Milling Machine as it carves a miniature topographic map of Washington’s Mount Rainier out of a cube of aluminum.

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