2.5D CNC SIGN!

STEP 1: BRAINSTORM

I first had to make a GOOGLE DOC making a step by step project plan. I also hade to find an image that I wanted to use.

STEP 2: DESIGN IN ILLUSTRATOR

I had to upload my image into Illustrator and then use Image Trace to create the lines in my logo. I then had to make sure everything connected correctly, and I created a duplicate of my logo just incase something happened.

STEP 3: UPLOAD MY DESIGN TO FUSION

I had to upload my design into Fusion from Illustrator and then I had to extrude all pieces of my design to the size I wanted. Next, I had to create my stock size by creating a rectangle around my contoured piece and making sure it was as tall as my highest extrusion. I then had to create my toolpaths by using a 2D pocket and a 2D contour. After making sure everything worked correctly I had to post process.

STEP 4: SET UP ON CNC AND RUN

After Post Processing, I had to glue down my piece of wood that Mr. Supiro cut to the right dimensions. Then I had to set up the CNC to my piece of wood by setting the X,Y, and Z coordinates to the lower left corner. After doing this I uploaded my design and then began the cutting. I had never seen the machine do a switch of the bits so I hit tool check which stops the process. This was an issue but Mr. Supiro ended up fixing it for me and then I was able to restart my process and cut what I intended to cut.

STEP 5: SPRAY PAINT FINISED CNC PEICE

I decided to spray paint my piece a glossy black.

STEP 6: LASER CUT AND PAINT

I used the outline of my piece and sent it to the laser cutter and cut it. After doing that I ran into a slight problem because I realized the glue would show through the back of the acrylic when I glue it on the wood. I ran a little test with black, matte black, and white to see what would look the best on the back. After testing all 3 I learned that the black on the back caused the yellow acrylic to look green, so I went with white. I hand painted that on in 3 layers and then after it dried I went in with acetone and a q-tip to clean up the edges and the extra paint on the top of the acrylic.

STEP 7: GLUE ACRYLIC ON WOOD

After cleaning up all the edges of my acrylic, I glued the acrylic on top of the spraypainted wood. This ended up being super cool because the acrylic had a sort of neon finish to it.

STEP 8: BRAINSTORM

After finishing all of this, I realized I could add a bit more to my project but I wasn't sure what. I began by thinking I could add a football to the back but I couldn't find an image I liked. I then laded on the concept of a helmat in the background because I could play around with the facemask.

STEP 9: LASER CUT HELMET BACKGROUND

After figuring out how to make it all one shape by playing around with some of the Illustrator tools, I laser cut my background shape and spray painted it black.

STEP 10: CUT OUT FACEMASK AND PAINT

I then cut out the facemask shape in the same yellow acrylic I used for the outline of the buffalo. This time, instead of hand painting the back of it white, I spraypainted the back so it would be a lot more efficient and less time consuming.

STEP 11: GLUE IT ALL TOGETHER!

I glued the facemask on the helmet and figured out where I wanted the buffalo placement to go and then glued that on as well.

FINISHED PRODUCT!

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

In your own words describe the major steps to successfully design something in Illustrator, use it to model in fusion, and use the laser cutter after cutting on the CNC.

There are many major steps to successfully design something in Illustrator, use it to model in fusion, and use the laser cutter after cutting on the CNC. Firstly, you have to find an image from the internet that has only a few key colors. This makes it easier to do the next step, which is to image trace and expand. After doing this, I made all the fills transparent and exported my project as a DXF. I then had to import my DXF to Fusion. I then had to use Fusion's extrude tool to turn my 2D vector into a 3D shape. After that, I had to create the shape of my stock around my design. Next, I had to create my toolpaths by using the 2D pocket option and the 2D contour option and clicking on the bottom of my design vector and stock vector. After making sure everything was running smoothly, I had to post-process it so that it would get sent to the CNC Machine. I had to align the X, Y, and Z coordinates to my 0-0-0 point from Fusion. After doing this, you upload your design, and then you can start your cutting process. Using the laser cutter after the CNC is not super tricky because since I already had my design in Illustrator, I could just separate the parts I wanted to laser cut onto different layers and then make the stroke size 0.001, then follow the instructions on the Maker Space Portal Page to send it to the laser cutter.

2. What did you learn about the process of painting and masking?

I didn't use the painting and masking technique on my piece, one thing I learned is that you want to minimize air bubbles. To do this, you begin putting down your masking from the center and then smoothing down the sides to get the slighest amount of air bubbles.

3. What part of CAD/CAM did you find most complicated or confusing?

In CAD/CAM I found the most complicated and confusing aspects were firstly, understanding which type of toolpath to use. Since there are so many I had to get a brief understanding of which ones can preform each type of toolpath. What else I found confusing was setting the speed of the bit, which tool to use and how to get it to switch tools, and setting the tool to cut just below the point I had set.

4. What lessons did you learn along the way about working through a multi step project?

There are many lessons I learned along the way about working through a multi-step project. Firstly, I learned about how important it is to plan and document what you want to do. Next, I learned how to use multiple types of programs together. Next, I learned about toolpath requirements and how to make them. I also learned about the importance of reflection through Unrulr posts. Finally, I learned a lot about problem solving. I ran into a couple of problems throughout this project like "breaking" the CNC and gluing transparent acrylic onto dark painted wood. The first problem Mr. Supiro helped me combat by resetting the CNC machine, parking it back at its home point, and teaching me how to manually put a drill bit back on to the CNC. The second problem took some trial and error with different paint colors on the background of scrap acrylic but I ended up figuring it out and it taught me that sometimes you just have to try out some different methods before finding the right one.

5. What tools/software did you learn to use in order to create your piece?

To create this piece I learned how to use several different tools and software. I learned how to design a piece of artwork in Illustrator and how to define layers. I also learned how to import a 2D design to Fusion, use the extrude tool to make a 3D model, and then generate the CNC toolpaths. I learned about tool changes on the CNC machine. Lastly, I learned about using acetone to clean up acrylic paint from edges and the top of acrylic.

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