The Birds

[John TenEyck]

I made these little guys as my first 2 sided, 3D carving on my new CNC.




The cherry one on the left was from a file on Vectric's website. I scaled up the file to make the larger Sapele one. That led to a lot of "learning" as it wasn't as straight forward as I thought it would be, but I'm a lot more comfortable now with this aspect of the software, so future projects should go more smoothly.

What you see is for the most part straight off the CNC. The only sanding required was around the perimeter where the two carvings meet, and on the flat of the tail. I continue to be impressed with the surface quality possible with a CNC. To do these by hand is beyond my ability and desire to learn how.

John

[Patrick McCarthy]

John, very nice. Hope competent would one have to be to operate or program a cnc? Previously I thought cnc’s were for flat work, but interesting to see carving done by a cnc.

[John TenEyck]

John, very nice. Hope competent would one have to be to operate or program a cnc? Previously I thought cnc’s were for flat work, but interesting to see carving done by a cnc.

Thanks. Like most things there is some learning required in order to do very much on a CNC. It really helps to have some experience with 2 and 3D CAD, but it's certainly not a prerequisite as many folks have gotten into CNC work with nothing but desire and hard work. I use VCarve Pro software, which is sold and supported by Vectric. They have an excellent set of training videos, from the very basic to fairly advanced. Much of what I know so far has come from watching those videos as well as some on YouTube.

For something like the little bird the required knowledge level is pretty minimal, actually, because it was a canned file from Vectric. They did all the design work as well as the toolpaths required to machine it. I had to modify a couple of things but it was minimal. It took less than 2 hours to make from start to finish. Many people run their CNC using files they purchase from Etsy, et al, again, where all the real work has been done for you. You just load the file, install the right tool, and cut the parts.

If you want to design your own stuff, whether it be 2D cabinet parts, or 3D sculptures, there is a lot more to learn but there are resources like the videos there to help you learn. Some people go take courses, too. It really depends upon what you want to do. I bought the CNC as much to keep my mind busy as any real need, but I also wanted to use it to minimize the drudgery of some woodworking tasks, like cutting out all the Baltic birch parts for one of the horizontal router mortisers I sell, or sculpting the seat of the rocking chairs my friend makes, and I also wanted to look at how it could enhance my woodworking by more easily incorporating inlays and relief carvings into some of my pieces. The carving and sculpting side of what a CNC can do is pretty remarkable. Do a little searching on Google and you'll see some really amazing work that people have done.

John

[Jim Becker]

Really nice work cutting those. Two-sided opens up a lot of opportunities...you can make a whole lot of ornamental things that way from stock 3D models for sure, too.