On Saturday, February 4th, the CNC Club held an in-person training session at the Rockler Woodworking Store in Ontario, CA. There were 12 members in attendance. The training was led by Chris Thomas, who shared his vast knowledge of CNC software and machining.
Those in attendance learned about V-carving, fluting paths and ball nose cutters. Chris shared a few projects that used those features.
The project shown on top started as a learning exercise, where he was testing different path operations with the ball nose cutter. Everyone’s experiments should come out so nice! The bottom bowl shows that there is no limit to what can be achieved when skill is coupled with creativity!
Other topics of discussion included the Vectric Trace Bitmap tool for importing images:
The Vectric molding tool path:
And the chamfer tool path:
Those in attendance also received tips on making signs, drop shadows, chamfering, how to use round-over bits, and how to use keyhole bits.
Brett Nissley and Rick Reimer shared some of their recent projects:
Brett (on the left) showed his wireless cell phone charger and a lathe turned bowl. Rick showed a beautiful piece demonstrating CNC carving. An excellent gift in time for valentine’s day!
Wireless phone charger:
Valentines Day platter:
Some other projects brought in by Chris were the dog, which is a combination of the CNC router and CNC laser burner, and the bull.
Chris also shared a box and a truck; both to demonstrate multiple parts for a single project. Hope to see more of these trucks for the annual toy give-away in December! The bowl on the right demonstrates that creativity can transition flaws in the wood from character defects to works of beauty.
Teach the Teachers on February 24 at Cerritos College. The CNC Club trainers will be instructing school teachers on how to use their CNC machines. There will be an Introductory class and an Advanced class. Volunteers are welcome to assist. This training is affiliated with SWM, the Society of Wood Manufacturing, which is a Southern California Chapter of AWFS® focused on industry-education support. If you head over to the SWM website at https://www.awfs.org/education/swm/ you will come across this photo:
On the left is the Inland Woodworkers current president, Mike Trejo, and in the red shirt is last year’s president, Kenneth Thomas.
During the general discussions, we heard a good suggestion: head over to Amazon for smaller CNC bits. The diameters are not that accurate, but the prices are great. They don’t last as long as the name brand bits, but it doesn’t hurt so much when they break (and small CNC bits will break!)
