This step includes bringing your own personal ideas to life! Once you have a clear idea of what you want to create, the drawing can then be designed in fusion 360. In my case, I wanted to design board that was a circle and and curved lines engraved throughout to pour epoxy in later. 

This step includes moving your design to Fusion 360 to finish the designing process. Create a sketch and import it  on the x - y plane. Once your sketch is visible, use the extrude tool to your desired depth of wood (1 inch).  At this point in the project your design is digitally in 3D form.   

This step includes designing a stock to be sent to the CNC machine. Right now the 3D design is simply a digital idea and the software doesn’t know that it is cutting a board. Therefore, to mimic the wood, add a rectangle the size of the wood you will be cutting on and put in equally over your design in Fusion 360. Extrude this rectangle to the depth of your wood as well.

This step includes changing final settings in Fusion 360. Before sending your finished design to the CNC machine verify that all the settings are correct. Go to the setup tab, then geometry. Verify that it is on silhouette, select your outline at the bottom and finally move to the “passes” tab and be sure it is on multiple passes. Finally, go to the post processing tab and verify that your project is named and is on 1001. That completes the design process in Fusion 360, so save the design to your computer and email the file to the computer that is connected to the CNC machine. 

This was completed before some of the previous steps, but it includes preparing your physical wood to be run on the CNC. I chose to use cherry wood, and needed to glue together multiple cut pieces so that it was wide enough for my project. I glued the pieces together and let it dry overnight. 

Use painters or masking tape to put a layer of tape on the surface of the piece of wood that you are using to cut your sign on. Put a similar amount of tape on the base of the CNC machine, and add a couple passes of super glue to the tape on the CNC machine. Line up both the tape on the wood and base to be facing each other (this way the wood will stay in place while being cut).

Access the computer connected to the CNC machine, select you file and precisely adjust the x y and z axis’ on the machine by using the arrow keys. Double check all settings and press play to run the job. Keep an eye on the job as it progresses and use the shop vac to clean up any buildup of saw dust. When the job is complete remove it and punch out the newly cut shape. 

Find the colors that you want to use and mix the color pigment with the two bases for one minuete. Then, carefully pour it into the grooves in the board and let set for 24 hours.