Snowboard CNC Sign

Original silhouette image

I love to snowboard, so I was inspired to make a sign with a snowboarder on it, and I decided to make my name beneath as well. I looked up "snowboarder silhouette" and found this perfect image.

Adobe Illustrator

Next, I took my image from chrome and put it into Adobe Illustrator. Then, I traced the whole image around with the pen tool. I then wrote my name at the bottom and made it into bubble letters. Next, I cut out a hole in the middle for the legs, and merged the two images, after drawing a box to connect them.

Fusion360

After finishing my image in Adobe Illustrator I put my design into Fusion360 by importing the DXF file into Fusion. I set my design size to be 6.5 x 12.5 in. Next, I extruded my outline and the design. Then I started to make my 2d pockets and contours which would determine which parts get cut by which parts of the machine. Firstly I selected the right bit sizes which were the quarter and the eighth-inch bits. Next, I put the axial stock to 0 and changed some more settings in the contours and pockets. In the end, I ran the simulation and saw that only about half of my pockets were actually getting cut out. To fix this, I went back to the holes and stretched them out so that the eighth-inch bit could cut them.

Cutting with machine

Firstly, I took a 12.5 x 6.5 inch piece of plywood and taped green duck tape to the back, and then proceeded to glue it down to the cutting table. Secondly, I emailed my Fusion360 file to makerspace@dawsonschool.org and downloaded my file onto the computer in the wood shop. I opened it in the software for the CNC machine and made sure that my settings checked out. I took the x, y, and z coordinates and changed them so that the drill bit was right over the correct corner. Then I clicked a button for it to start, and watched the machine cut.

Final Sign

After 20 minutes when the job was done, I was left with this sign! Finally, I sanded all around it to make it smoother. It looks even better than I thought it would turn out.

Reflection

The thing that went the best was probably the actual cutting process because it went smoother than I was expecting. I had a couple of my 2d pockets and contours deleted so I was a bit worried about it not working fully. One thing I could definitely improve would be making sure that everything that I need to cut out was bigger than the eighth-inch bit, because that was my biggest slowdown, and cause for concern. If I did this project again the only real thing that I would change would be to use my time a little bit more efficiently in class because although I kept pace most of the time I went a little bit slower from spacing off.

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