New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Does anyone here have/know someone who has a large-ish CNC mill for wood. 3-axis is fine, like one of those big flat bed mills.

 

The other day I had an idea. Whether it's a good idea or not, I don't know.

 

The idea is to take topography from selected regions of NZ and translate those into 3D contours to be milled into the front of cabinet doors creating a cool pattern that has meaning behind it. The doors would be made to the dimensions of a standard Ikea Besta cabinet. I chose the Ikea Besta because it's somewhat universal, it's pretty cheap, but not terribly made, and with Ikea coming to NZ in the future, it may be cool to have a "Pimp my Ikea" option.

 

Here's a rough idea of what it would look like:

 

CNC cabinet doors.PNG

 

Contours in CAD.PNG

Contours of the Southern Alps (Wanaka to Franz Joseph) sliced into 16 layers and modelled in AutoCAD.

 

And for material, I would use plywood, so that the dark layers would add a nice grain to the contours. Something like this:

 

 

I have had a quote from a local CNC workshop, and it came out way more than I expected (around $1200). So yeah, if anyone knows of someone who may be keen to give this a shot, let me know!

 

That looks cool.

I think it would be quite expensive, program needs to be written and it would take a long time too so probably billed for time.

It would be very niche, so you might want normal doors to hang if you decided to move......

[Rocket-Boy]

Does anyone here have/know someone who has a large-ish CNC mill for wood. 3-axis is fine, like one of those big flat bed mills.

 

The other day I had an idea. Whether it's a good idea or not, I don't know.

 

The idea is to take topography from selected regions of NZ and translate those into 3D contours to be milled into the front of cabinet doors creating a cool pattern that has meaning behind it. The doors would be made to the dimensions of a standard Ikea Besta cabinet. I chose the Ikea Besta because it's somewhat universal, it's pretty cheap, but not terribly made, and with Ikea coming to NZ in the future, it may be cool to have a "Pimp my Ikea" option.

 

Here's a rough idea of what it would look like:

 

CNC cabinet doors.PNG

 

Contours in CAD.PNG

Contours of the Southern Alps (Wanaka to Franz Joseph) sliced into 16 layers and modelled in AutoCAD.

 

And for material, I would use plywood, so that the dark layers would add a nice grain to the contours. Something like this:

 

 

I have had a quote from a local CNC workshop, and it came out way more than I expected (around $1200). So yeah, if anyone knows of someone who may be keen to give this a shot, let me know!

The first pic would benefit from having a dark resin poured into the grooves and then sanded back, it creates a really nice effect.

 

Frank Howarth has a great video on doing pretty much the same as your second pic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0A03jskWVg

 

You could probably do what you are looking at quite easily with something like a x-carve which isnt overly expensive.

[Rocket-Boy]

I can do a Canterbury Plains or Australian Outback edition. Will be way easier to clean!

Free State in SA would be the easiest, just leave the board exactly as it is

[patches]

That looks cool.

I think it would be quite expensive, program needs to be written and it would take a long time too so probably billed for time.

It would be very niche, so you might want normal doors to hang if you decided to move......

 

Yeah the quote I got was 3hrs programming (@ $120/hr) and 2hrs machining (@ $350/hr), excluding GST.

 

As for keeping the doors, yup! The Ikea standard doors start from about $20ea and come in dozens of coluors and designs. So I would definitely replace custom with stock when moving... Unless of course I include the cabinet as one of the chattels when selling the house and hike the price up, hahaha!

[patches]

The first pic would benefit from having a dark resin poured into the grooves and then sanded back, it creates a really nice effect.

 

Frank Howarth has a great video on doing pretty much the same as your second pic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0A03jskWVg

 

You could probably do what you are looking at quite easily with something like a x-carve which isnt overly expensive.

 

The first pic is just a basic screenshot of my model, taken in Navisworks. Unfortunately Navis didn't have a decent plywood texture/materia, and I was too lazy to play with lighting for a good render. But yeah, the plan would be to get the dark and light contrast from a good quality ply.

 

Speaking of resin though, you just gave me another idea. Similar to those resin/wood table-tops that some carpenters make. ie.

 

 

The "next level" of these very expensive cabinet doors could be to CNC the alpine contours, then pour a transparent resin over to give a glossy flat finish (for easy cleaning as Wayne suggested).

 

hmmm.... if only I had a CNC machine

 

ps. that Mt St Helens work is amazing! WAY beyond my skill level, haha

Edited May 21, 2020 by patches

[Wayne Potgieter]

The first pic is just a basic screenshot of my model, taken in Navisworks. Unfortunately Navis didn't have a decent plywood texture/materia, and I was too lazy to play with lighting for a good render. But yeah, the plan would be to get the dark and light contrast from a good quality ply.

 

Speaking of resin though, you just gave me another idea. Similar to those resin/wood table-tops that some carpenters make. ie.

 

 

The "next level" of these very expensive cabinet doors could be to CNC the alpine contours, then pour a transparent resin over to give a glossy flat finish (for easy cleaning as Wayne suggested).

 

hmmm.... if only I had a CNC machine

 

ps. that Mt St Helens work is amazing! WAY beyond my skill level, haha

Resin pouring is something I am desperate to play with.

 

Looks like fun.

[Stretched@Birth]

hmmm.... if only I had a CNC machine

 

As Rocket Boy said, could probably do it with an X-Carve - https://www.inventables.com/technologies/x-carve - the router part can be used for normal router work too, so it’s an investment in tools [emoji849]

 

I’ve been wanting one for ages, but spent my tool money in a CNC laser engraver, so will have to save for a while first.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Resin pouring is something I am desperate to play with.

 

Looks like fun.

 

Not as easy as they make it look, temperature is key and bubbles are from the devil!!!!

The materials are also quite expensive just to play around with......

Edited May 22, 2020 by Steven Knoetze (sk27)

[Wayne Potgieter]

Not as easy as they make it look, temperature is key and bubbles are from the devil!!!!

The materials are also quite expensive just to play around with......

sounds like all my other hobbies.

 

1. Looks really easy

2. Is actually really difficult

3. A black hole for money

 

[emoji23]

[DJR]

Resin pouring is something I am desperate to play with.

 

Looks like fun.

Greetings from my Karoo friend who lives on my desk.

[hayleyearth]

Does anyone here have/know someone who has a large-ish CNC mill for wood. 3-axis is fine, like one of those big flat bed mills.

 

The other day I had an idea. Whether it's a good idea or not, I don't know.

 

The idea is to take topography from selected regions of NZ and translate those into 3D contours to be milled into the front of cabinet doors creating a cool pattern that has meaning behind it. The doors would be made to the dimensions of a standard Ikea Besta cabinet. I chose the Ikea Besta because it's somewhat universal, it's pretty cheap, but not terribly made, and with Ikea coming to NZ in the future, it may be cool to have a "Pimp my Ikea" option.

 

Here's a rough idea of what it would look like:

 

CNC cabinet doors.PNG

 

Contours in CAD.PNG

Contours of the Southern Alps (Wanaka to Franz Joseph) sliced into 16 layers and modelled in AutoCAD.

 

And for material, I would use plywood, so that the dark layers would add a nice grain to the contours. Something like this:

 

 

I have had a quote from a local CNC workshop, and it came out way more than I expected (around $1200). So yeah, if anyone knows of someone who may be keen to give this a shot, let me know!

Seen this done with a laser cutter before. One of my previous colleagues did it on a laser cutter we had in our modelshops.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

sounds like all my other hobbies.

 

1. Looks really easy

2. Is actually really difficult

3. A black hole for money

 

[emoji23]

 

Sounds like a bikeshop I follow on FB who is doing a repair on a stripped sump bolt for a Buell.

Destroy

It

Yourself

 

I have dabbled in Carbon fibre skinning, also looks super easy in tutorials. Any resin is just super sensitive on temp, making sure it is mixed THOROUGHLY and having a heat gun for bubbles.

[Rocket-Boy]

Resin pouring is something I am desperate to play with.

 

Looks like fun.

I made a backing board for my house number on the outside wall using that technique.

Its about the size of an A4 sheet of paper and around 80% wood 20% resin.

It used 1.5l and cost about R350 for the resin alone!

 

It was meant to be a test piece for a desk top I was going to make, but after I looked at the cost it wasnt really worth it. 

[WrightJnr]

Not as easy as they make it look, temperature is key and bubbles are from the devil!!!!

The materials are also quite expensive just to play around with......

It’s never as easy as it bloody looks!! Hate all these homemakers clips on social media, watch and go damn!!! I’m gonna try that, then try, fail and throw the **** in the bin. Feel like a failure and sulk the rest of the day.

[Stretched@Birth]

Seen this done with a laser cutter before. One of my previous colleagues did it on a laser cutter we had in our modelshops.

I assume it was done 1 layer at a time and then glued together? Kind of the reverse of this passive speaker I made?

[hayleyearth]

I assume it was done 1 layer at a time and then glued together? Kind of the reverse of this passive speaker I made?

Nope, these ones they use to do engravings etc too, so not just through cuts.