05

COMPUTER CONTROLLED MACHINING

This week, I learned how to use ShopBot to do computer-controlled machining.

I decided to make a bar chair and I used an example from AtFab as a reference. I redesigned the stool by adjusting the height and the are of the top surface so that the size is about a bar chair. Figuring out the thickness of the OSB board is 0.44 inches, which is 11.176 mm, I adjust the joint part to fit the board we are using. I used Fusion 360 for designing it and assemble them to render the effect, making sure the design works. As I don't want to use screws, I didn't design holes.

Then I proceeded to cut out the design. I met some problems in transfering the xxx file format outputted from Fusion into the ShopBot associated software. When I created the fillets for the inside corners, I found 1) some inside corners doesn't allow me to add fillets (not showing the check mark); 2) even for some corners I can add fillets, fillets are not created after clicking. I reached out to Tom and found out it comes from two problems: 1) some areas are not closed; 2) I used mm in my design and assumed VCarve can convert them to inches automatically, but it doesn't. So I cleaned the skecth a bit (removing redundent lines and close all lines), and converted all numbers from mm to inches manually, then it worked out. The cutting process took about 11 mins and I ensembled it. It can hold me without any screw or glue! But for future usage, I still used some glue to fix them together.