A Squiggle Box.

Round or square or triangular or any other regular polygon shapes are reasonable shapes for a box.  This little box is my protest against "reasonable".  Presenting my Squiggle Box.  

It was made from a cut off scrap of a butcherblock countertop board, clamped into my low profile CNC vise.  

In my Vise

I had to extend the 1/4" spiral end mill to handle the depth needed for this box.  In addition I had to mount the vise down on the rail for the tailstock of my radial axis.   Cuts started with the center area.

Once the CNC finished it's part of this creation the box block was take to my bandsaw. First to trim away the corners. Next to my trim router table where a flush cut bit cleaned up the bottom 1/2" that the CNC avoided to preserve the jaws of my vise that held it. 

Just the box.

A lid was still needed so another scrap was used to make the lid.

Lid.  A poor fit.

Initial test found that the lid fit depended on how it was oriented to the top of the box.

Correct Orientation

Second test revealed that both orientation and alignment were require to arrive at a snug fit.

A good fit!  Finally. 

The top and bottom were rounded over to remove the sharp edges.  My roundover bit left burn marks though so more sanding will be needed to clean it up before applying a finish.

This little box succeeds in standing out from the ordinary.  It will still hold what other boxes the same size will hold. It is easier to grip and pick up than a smooth round box.  Both features are enough to justify its creation.

4D

CNC Made Wrench Handle for my CNC Vise

I designed and made my low profile vise a few years back.  It is used often, but never had a good handle.  Finding the crescent wrench to tighten/loosen the vise is always an adventure. 

My Low Profile Vise

Among my wood scraps I had a nice slice of dense white oak that needed a better life.  This open end wrench handle was born from that piece of wood:

Amateur Mechanic 18mm

It slips over the outer jammed nut on the vise shaft:

On the Vise Shaft

It slides on easily and stays on nicely.  I can wiggle it off when I need to rotate it down and out of the way of the CNC above. 

VCarved text on the outer side says "4DTs Low Profile Vise Handle".

A 1/8" diameter end mill was used to make the pocket for the 18mm nut. That pocket doesn't go all the way through so a 3/8" hole for the vise shaft remains. This hole on the threads helps keep the handle from vibrating off when the CNC is working. 

An earlier and simpler version I made for the bench vise in my garage:

18mm plywood

It slips onto a large hex nut that is pinned to the threaded shaft. 

 Comments encourage!

4D

Small Boxes from Hardwood Scraps

 As I now have more trays than I need, yet also more scraps to use up, it is time to move on to making boxes from the thicker scraps.  My trays.

Clamping the boards down to CNC the box varies depending on the block and what shape of box I want to make from it.  Some were held in my low profile vise.  Some were wedged in place, and some were held with clamps on the left and right when the board was longer than the box being cut from it. 

Assorted Boxes

To get a good fit for the lids I used the same inside vector that I used to pocket out the box to make a rabbet on the lid perimeter.  A 3 degree tapered end mill was used, but I told the software it was a 1/8" end mill.  That let the lids slip on easily but snap/wedge tight.  I cut the lid shape 1/16" too large, then trimmed them flush to the box shape with a flush trim bit on my router table. 

Lids On.

Several nice scraps of hardwoods were used, including Ash, Birch, Bubinga, Cherry, Koa, Maple, and both red and white Oak. 

Making small boxes was an easy way to use up several scraps.   A long scrap I would cut in half and glue the halves together to make a shorter thicker scrap more useful to make a box from. Thin scraps got used up to make the lids.  Sometimes the same wood as the box, and sometimes a different wood. The little red Bubinga box has a lid made from a Koa scrap.

Comments welcomed.

4D 

A Table Lamp that Tips

Tipped to the Right.

Why a lamp that tips?   

Not for momentary joy or by a design mistake. With a way to keep the lamp leaning over at least a few obvious benefits become available.  Park the lamp on a corner of a table, then let it tip toward the middle to better illuminate the table surface.   Have kids that like to play on the floor?  Tip the lamp out to better illuminate the floor beside the table.  Using one or more 1"d steel balls and a rim of dished pockets you can move the Center Of Gravity around so the lamp will stay leaned in the direction the ball(s) are positioned at. Maximum lean angle is 12.5 degrees. 

Maximum Lean

This design consists of three wood parts.  A hub that the light hardware connects to. A simple center post. Lastly a domed base. Simple. Three parts. The lamp can tip but won't fall over. The base is a larger mimic of the top hub. The power cord runs up through the center post which is done in two halves. It exits the side of the base which is also cut in top and bottom halves.  The 1" steel balls were ordered from the jungle store, along with the 12mm threaded brass balls.  I used two halves each for the post and base to make it easy to route the power cable through. Base is 2.25" thick and the center post large diameter is 1.5". 

Almost Straight Up

A 12mm diameter brass ball screws down onto the harp. The shade ring with a 3/8" diameter hole rests on it and stays level no matter how far the lamp tips.  

I used the modelling tools in Aspire to make the pockets for the 1" steel ball on the curved surface of the base top. The moulding toolpath was used to shape all the other parts. Nine pockets evenly spaced around the perimeter allow just 3 steel balls to vary how far and in which direction the lamp tips.  

Undecided

This project, as many do, threw a few challenges to me when making the parts.  2-sided CNC projects must be perfectly aligned when flipped over.  Even when I think I have that challenge solved it is worth verifying alignment before each new cut. 

First try making the bottom of the base proved my design theory was wrong.  The curve was so flat the weight of the base itself was so heavy it wouldn't tip even with the steel balls all on one side.  

Second try I recut the bottom dome using 1/2 the previous radius.  It still was harder to rock the base than I want it to be.  Adding the light hardware, bulb, and shade might have made a difference so I added them to check. Testing proved the weight of the light hardware and shade weren't enough to make a difference.   

I had a cherry block that was large enough and thick enough to make a new base bottom. 1+5/16" thick.  Third try did indeed tip with the steel balls rather easily.   A bottom dome with close to a 6" radius center works well. 

This concludes my chase to see if this crazy idea works. I'll throw some maple stain and a top finish on the parts next time I have my finish table set up.   

Comments welcomed and appreciated. 

4D

 

A Cherry and Walnut Plant Stand

Next Project. What wood do I have enough of to make something useful out of?   

1. Cherry.  Thick board found.  I can make a new plant stand with cherry as the top and walnut as the legs. 

2. Walnut.  5/8"diameter dowel legs.

Now there are two.

I like small simple projects such as this plant stand.  A simple but interesting top, with a simple set of legs below.  A small amount of material is needed. My CNC is already set up to cut the top and has a fixture ready to cut the tenons on the leg tops.  When done with those tenons the fixture can be reconfigured to hold the top to cut the mortises for the legs. 

I had a thought about mass production.  I could move the setup for cutting tenons to a different area on the CNC, and leave the angle jig set up for cutting the angled mortises on the top. Use G-code and 3 post processors so it will remember 3 home positions.  No, I don't have any plans to mass produce this plant stand.  A worthwhile mental exercise though. Readying  and clamping down the block for the top so it's center is always in the same place is a challenge to overcome. Blocks would all have to be the same overall dimension. 

The block of cherry wood was marked and clamped to the bed of my CNC.   Toolpaths for rough cut and finish cuts were created.   This top is cut from one solid piece.  While being rough cut it pointed out that the bit I was using was very dull.  The smell of burning cherry wood isn't horrible, but the smoke created persisted far too long.  That dull bit was thrown away. 

A lower point of view.

With walnut legs for contrast each part, legs or top, can be appreciated separately.  A bit more visually interesting than the monochrome stance if legs matched the top.  A design consideration I coined is "scenario of use".  Will a simpler plant stand all made of the same wood look best among the other things in the same room or space it ends up in?  Or perhaps the two woods/two colors both compose well among other things they share space with. 

Comments are welcomed. Self promoting ads aren't. 

4D

Using Square Nuts for Connections in Knock-Down Projects

Barrel Nuts vs Square Nuts?

A classic solution to bolt wood parts together is to use a barrel nut (aka cross dowel) to insert threads for bolts to thread into.  Using a drill press you can make a perfect hole for the barrel  nut.  Barrel nuts are relatively pricey compared to standard hex or square nuts.   If you have a CNC though it is possible to embed square nuts for threads rather than barrel nuts.  The pocket for a square nut can be made with a 1/8" spiral upcut router bit.  An optimum shape for such a pocket can be found using these drafting steps:

Making a pocket for a square nut.

From left to right in the image above:

1. Know the dimensions of your nut.  A digital caliper is a handy tool to keep near your CNC.

2. The critical shape to use is the top rectangular view of the nut. 

3. In each corner draw a circle the diameter of the bit you'll be using.  I usually use a 1/8"d spiral upcut bit.

4. Draw in the diagonal lines from corner to opposing corner. 

5. Where the diagonal lines cross the initial circles, center another 1/8" circle. 

6. You can delete the diagonal lines and initial corner circles.

7. Trim away the inner sections of each circle, and the corner of the rectangle where they cross the circle line. 

Make sure all the vectors are joined, and you've got a vector shape you can pocket out  to sink that square nut into.  Although my software (Aspire from Vectric.com) has a dogbone tool it doesn't make corners optimized to leave the most flat surface for the nut.  These steps do. 

I buy square nuts from McMaster Carr.  I prefer using stainless steel nuts as they won't rust if the wood has a high moisture content.

To cover the square nut a simpler rounded rectangle shape pocket above the nut can be filled with a CNC cut plug.  One example of an inserted square nut:

Embedded Square Nut

I've seen many CNC cut slots made to access hex nuts in plywood or other sheet goods. In most there is a little room around the nut for the tips of needle nosed plyers to keep the nut from spinning while tightening or loosening the connection.  Using a square nut and a snug fitting CNC cut pocket the nut won't spin. A side benefit is that you won't have to worry about the orientation of the nut.  Using barrel nuts you do. 

4D

A Flashlight Stand. Not all Projects are Complex.

I bought a new pickup truck. Then I bought a set of side step rails to install on it. 

To install the brackets for the rails I had to crawl under the truck.  It was dark under there but I had a flashlight.

I needed both hands to install the brackets, and holding the flashlight so I could see the working area was a challenge. 

I needed a base to mount the flashlight in so it would stay upright and aimed. 

Scrap of wood. 15 degree hole.

Nothing pretty.  A scrap of wood left over from a previous project.  Unusual shape, but a good weight and broad footprint to keep the flashlight from easily being knocked over.  

I used my CNC with my adjustable angle clamping fixture to hold the board at 15 degrees from horizontal. The hole was just a bit larger than the base of the flashlight so I could line it with some cork. The cork provides a good friction fit so the flashlight stays in place. 

My Adjustable Clamping Fixture. 

Simple.  

Useful.

4D

 

Coasters. Everywhere I Look I see Coasters!

I'm having quite a bit of fun playing with the drafting features of my CNC software.  It has a polygon drawing tool. This lets you make polygons of any whole number of sides above 2.  Triangles to 45 sided polygons and above.  Of course once above 20 sides or so the shapes start to look more like circles.  

In a previous post I mention how nice this tool and a few others could be used to make complex geometric patterns.   One great use for such pattern work is to add detail to simple project surfaces.  To quash a bored few minutes I've been using the software to make patterns for coasters.  A simple shape.  Unlimited pattern possibilities.  Here are a few.

From simple to very complex. The tiny details on some could be left out with no loss of visual impact on a 4" diameter coaster. The patterns I've confined to the inner 3.5" diameter area.

While I like the shadow effects of the V-cut patterns, for practical use the cuts should be filled with epoxy or inlayed using the VCarve inlay technique and contrasting wood.  Clear epoxy might let you still appreciate the carved look.  The slight chamfered edge makes them easy to handle. I'd cut a circle of adhesive backed cork to stick to the bottom surface if I made them. 

A good project to do with a CNC using small scraps of wood and a short amount of time.   Even complex toolpaths don't take much time to cut on such small areas.  Four or maybe six could be cut from a strip of wood to make a set. Use the same pattern for all, or use unique patterns on each individual coaster.

4D