Where's the Bathroom?
In our building it can be difficult for visitors to find a toilet. I decided to make some signs to help with this. The CNC machine I have is a dream for making signs, and I've made others in the past
I designed these shapes using Easel, which is a program from Inventables that is used to run their CNC machines. There's a plug in called "Offsetter" that made the outlines for me.
I designed these shapes using Easel, which is a program from Inventables that is used to run their CNC machines. There's a plug in called "Offsetter" that made the outlines for me.
|
|
Process (in brief)
|
First I cut the shapes out using the CNC machine. I suppose it's possible to do this with a jigsaw, but it would not be as accurate.
|
|
The shapes needed a little sanding
|
|
|
Next I cut a slot along the edge of the figures by setting my table saw fence to about 1/2 the width of the plywood.
|
|
This cut gets made by passing the material across the blade head first and then again foot first. That way the cut ends up perfectly centered on the material.
|
|
|
I cut an a steel angle bar to length and drilled holes into it.
|
|
The slot in the plywood that it just fits the angle bar with a tiny bit of wiggle room. I used wood glue and CA glue to fix the two pieces together.
|
|
The Illuminated Signs
|
These signs were a big learning experience for me in using the CNC machine that we've got in the shop. From a teacher stand point, this is a cool way to get students using Adobe Illustrator, electronics, and CNC manufacturing.
In the future I may do a write up on how these are made, but for now I will say that this project would need some changes in order to work as a school project. If a whole class was making these, it would be better if they didn't need the CNC machine for the whole project and could construct parts of it with more traditional methods. |
|