8. Computer controlled machining

For this week’s assignment, I created a 2-D vector of an art-piece using Inkscape. I got the inspire for the design from a painting that I saw while visiting a gender policy center in the city of Praire on the island of Santiago in Cabo Verde. Here is a picture of me standing next to the painting.

I uploaded my picture to Inkscape and used the bitmap tracing tool to capture some of the physical features of the woman depicted in the painting. Next, I deleted all stray marks and other images that I did not want from the traced vector image. Then I designed a head piece, earring, and facial features for the silhouette image using the free hand drawing function in Inkscape.

I printed the final drawing and labeled the tool paths that I used in VCarve. \

I uploaded my vector file in VCarve and then assigned tool paths for each of the lines in the drawing. I also added drill holes in the file, which would mark where to install screws to attach the work piece to the surface board on the Shop Bot.

After assigning all the tool paths and the surface depth of each tool path, I created 3 separate g-code files: (1) Drill holes, (2) Engraving, and (3) Profile. I complete the project by running three separate jobs. The first job marked the drill holes. The second job created pocketed paths in the work piece. The third and file job cut out the profile silhouette.

Here is the file product, which I will stain and hang on the wall in my home.

Lesson learned: -Plywood is not the best type of wood to use for this particular part piece. Some places in the carving that did not hold up and broke off.

Overall, this week was a complete success for me and I am very proud of my work.