Mechanical & fabrication · 2019–2022
CNC milling — Ooznest WorkBee
Learning CAM and subtractive manufacturing properly, mostly in aluminium and oak salvaged from old kitchen worktops.
An Ooznest WorkBee CNC router got me into CAM and subtractive manufacturing — the other half of the making toolkit, and a very different way of thinking from 3D printing. Additive lets you be careless about geometry. Subtractive does not: you have to think about workholding, tool access, feeds and speeds, and the fact that a mistake removes material you cannot put back.
Most of what came off it was smaller furniture pieces and gifts for friends and family, machined in aluminium and in oak recycled from old kitchen worktops. Reclaimed hardwood is good material and free, which is a hard combination to beat.
Designing in Fusion 360 and then having to actually manufacture the result is the fastest way I know to learn design for manufacture.