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

[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.

[patches]

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.

 

hahaha! yup!

 

When I lived in JHB I had 3 wooden pallets behind the garage, rotting away. They were purchased on a whim after watching one too many youtube DIY furniture vids.

 

These memes are closer to the truth for most pallet furniture ventures.

 

 

[patches]

Speaking of DIY, did you see that the government is relaxing the consent laws around things like sleep-outs, carports, etc.

 

About time!

 

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/121606376/diy-dream-come-true-building-consents-for-low-risk-projects-scrapped?fbclid=IwAR0wdGdP4hsvWLjzO-TGtSF6rsU6Q59jvc1B9B8Ei5UnyZsnqhTrag2tmM0

[Wayne Potgieter]

any suggestions for a nice weekend away this weekend?

 

Driveable from AKL.

[patches]

any suggestions for a nice weekend away this weekend?

 

Driveable from AKL.

 

Depends in what "nationality" you are when asking

 

For an American a 20hr round trip for a long weekend is viable (ie SanFran to Vegas)

For an Aussie a 17hr round trip (ie Sydney to Byron Bay)

For a Saffer, a 12hr round trip (ie Joburg to Durbs))

For a Kiwi... 6hrs max

[Wayne Potgieter]

Depends in what "nationality" you are when asking

 

For an American a 20hr round trip for a long weekend is viable (ie SanFran to Vegas)

For an Aussie a 17hr round trip (ie Sydney to Byron Bay)

For a Saffer, a 12hr round trip (ie Joburg to Durbs))

For a Kiwi... 6hrs max

4hours?

[patches]

4hours?

 

Round trip or 1 way?

 

Round trip... then Hamilton

 

But yeah, friends of mine went to Karekare this past weekend and said it was great. Under 4hrs each way will get you to Paihia, or somewhere nice in Northland.

 

Raglan could also be a decent little getaway.

[patches]

Some awesome camper van deals on at the moment.

 

From about $30/day

$1 to book, cancel up to 7 days before.

 

Thinking of doing a little South Island jaunt in September/October. 

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Some awesome camper van deals on at the moment.

 

From about $30/day

$1 to book, cancel up to 7 days before.

 

Thinking of doing a little South Island jaunt in September/October. 

 

Saw the ads on FB yes. Looks like a very nice deal now.

[DawieO]

any suggestions for a nice weekend away this weekend?

 

Driveable from AKL.

Russell. About 4 hours. Love the Bay of Islands.

[davetapson]

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!

I was looking for quotes to cut plywood panels for a boat I'm making.

 

The price to cut per sheet cost more then the plywood itself, which wasn't cheap, so I cut by hand. In retrospect, it was probably cheap at the price.

 

There is a guy who has set up a site to buy slack time on cnc machines and claims to be the cheapest - I'll try and remember to Google him up at a more sensible time of day.