In this project, I will be making a cutting board. It won't be any regular cutting board, as I will be using the laser cutter to add an engraving into a piece of wood I am given and then filling this with colored resin. My engraving will be a map of Lake Norman and its coordinates, so when I fill it the lake will be colored and defined. I also will add a thumb hole with the CNC machine and then use the router to round the edges. I am planning on giving this cutting board to my grandfather who live on Lake Norman for his 80th birthday.
This is my inspiration for my cutting board. I found this on Etsy by EstateDesignLLC. This board can be found here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1196142306/lake-epoxy-filled-cutting-board. Instead of Lake Louisville, I will use an image of lake Norman and add a thumb hole and the Lake's coordinates.
This is the image I will be using to make my Lake Norman design.
This is a sketch of what I want my cutting board to look like. I will deep engrave the coordinates and the lake image, and use the CNC machine to add the thumb hole.
Preparing My Wood Pieces
First, before adding any designs, I have to get my wood piece ready. I first used the planer to sand the faces of my cutting board. I then used the woodworking jointer to sand the long sides of the board. I am sharing my piece of wood with a partner and he used the table to cut the piece in half before using the CNC machine or the laser cutter.
This is my piece of wood before using the jointer and the planer. The measurements for this piece of wood are: 12 x 9.2 x 1.47 in.
This is my wood piece after using the jointer and the planer. The measurements for this piece of wood are: 9 x 12 x 1.41 in.
This is a video of me using the planer.
This is a video of my using the jointer.
CNC Machine Work
I will be adding a thumb hole to my board with the CNC machine, also known as a Shopbot. We will be using the Aspire software to make the file for the Shopbot. Here is the workflow that I used to make my Aspire file:
save file in Correl draw as a PDF
Go to aspire
Open your PDF file - click “open existing file”
Change the page size
Go to toolpaths and select the “profile tool path” option
Select the hole to add the toolpath
Change the tool to “End mill (1/2”)”
Select “calculate” to see the toolpath run
Save the file to EngProj
Download file onto computer connected to Shopbot
Add NITTO tape to bottom of board(which is now cut in half)
Find new dimensions of board
Raise machine with the command, "JZ, 3"
Move machine to home with the command, "J2, 0,0"
Move machine to "J2, 16, 4.5" and then have it tap the plate
Re-home
Run a test cut in the air by selecting file and selecting "Offset Cut"
Run your cut by selecting file and then "No Offset"
This is my Correl draw file that I saved as a PDF to send to Aspire.
This is my Aspire file, showing the tool path of the thumb hole.
This is my piece of wood, now cut in half by my partner, with NITTO tape applied.
This is a picture of my toolpath on the computer connected to the Shopbot. The file needed to be in landscape mode, so right now we are moving my toolpath to be in the landscape orientation.
This is a 3D view of my wood in landscape mode.
This is a video of me using the Shopbot/CNC machine to add my hole.
This is me using the drum sander to sand the face of my wood that I will deep engrave on. The Shopbot made a slash on my wood that was not planned, which will be discussed more later, so I ended up flipping my piece over and using the other face. This inverted my original design, so I will have to adjust my Correl Draw file later.
Laser-Cut Deep Engraving
For my lake design and the coordinates, 35.5020° N and 80.9180° W, I will be using the laser cutter to make a deep engraving for the resin. I started off by making a design of my cutting board. I added my Lake Norman map image with the background removed and I made a bitmap of this image. I added a circle to see where I would end up putting my hole. I used the text feature to write the coordinates and then I changed the text and size to get it to look how I wanted. I then deleted the circle I made because I will not be using the laser cutter to add the hole. I saved this design as an SVG. I tested this file on a piece of cardboard before running the real thing, simply to see how my design looked. I had to use the CNC machine first, but then I went ahead and deep engraved my design. I ran it multiple time to get the depth I wanted. Here is the workflow I used for deep-engraving:
Create file of design
Save file to EngProj
Upload to computer connected to laser cutter
Add wood to laser cutter
Place design on the screen
Change material settings to wood and deep engrave
Send the job and focus the laser
Run the job as many times as needed to get the depth needed
This is my Lake Norman image without the background.
This is my design with the hole still added.
This is my final design after taking away the hole and adjusting the text one final time.
This is a video of my practice laser engraving.
This is my practice laser engraving.
This is a time lapse of the laser cutter adding my deep engrave design.
This is my wood piece after the first run on the laser cutter.
This is my cutting board after running the laser cutter multiple times.
Resin and Final Touches
Once I had my wood prepared with the thumb hole and my design engraved, I painted my design with a coat of resin. This would act as my base. I then poured water in my design to find out how much resin I would need to fill it later on. It was held by my coat of resign I had added. I then added a hot glue wall to contain my resin after pouring it. I wanted to make my resin look marbled, so I chose two different blues, one lighter and one darker, and I split the amount of resin I needed in half to find out how much of each color I needed. I split this number in half to find out how much of each part, part A and part B, I needed per color. I mixed these two very well before pouring each color in different places getting the marble effect. My teacher used the propane torch to get all of the air bubbles out of my resin. I let that dry over the weekend and when I came back I used the drum sander to smooth the extra resin off, leaving the wood with the lake and the coordinates. I wet my board to have the grain rise and let that dry over night. I used the orbital sander to sand this off. I then used the belt sander to round the edges of my board to my liking. I oiled my board and let it dry over night. When I checked on it, it felt a little hairy so I used a piece of 400 sand paper and oil sanded it. My board is now done and I can give it to my grandfather for his birthday.
This is a picture of my board with the coat of resin added.
This picture shows my hot glue walls to prevent my resin from overflowing.
These are the two colors I used to make my marble lake.
This is a picture of my resin right after I poured it.
This is a video of my teacher using the propane torch.
This is a picture of my board after the resin had dried.
This is a video of me using the belt sander to round the edges of my board.
This is my board before oiling it, after sanding it with the orbital sander.
This is my final cutting board, ready to be given to my grandfather.
Problems I Faced
One problem that I faced while using the CNC machine was while the machine was running. As it moved to start cutting the hole, it added a line right outside of the hole. It turns out that while setting it up, we had based the height off of the jig and not off of the table as we should have. Because if this, it started drilling where it thought there would be just air, when in reality my board was there. I fixed this by making a paste with wood glue and wood shavings and filling in the dent.
This is my wood paste.
This is my dent all filled in with the paste.
The next problem I faced occurred after I had poured my resin and I had wetted my board. When I came back the next day, my cutting board had warped very badly. I ended up fixing this warp with many different steps. I wetted my board again and clamped it to the table with a piece of wood of top, trying to correct some of this warp. I then ran it through the drum sander to even out the taller edges. It helped a lot and I continued sanding my board to prepare it for oil.
This is a picture of my board clamped to the table, correcting the warp.