I got a chance to check out the Mill and it’s pretty cool! If you’re in Minneapolis, be sure to stop by for a visit. In the meantime, check out this Thrillist video (which I couldn’t get to embed in this post, alas.) Remember shop class? Of course not, because you went to public school, […]
Travis Good reports on the development of the Shapeoko CNC Mill Kit
Recently, I had a class of 7th graders designing in Sketchup. One of the projects is to accurately design a block of 2″ x 2″ x 1.25″. These designs were then converted to G code with Millwizard by an 11th grader who then milled them in the high school across the street on a Taig Micromill. This was a fun project that helped illustrate the concepts and processes of separating the design from the manufacture of objects.
The way it worked out was that the middle schoolers would make some designs, and share them with the high schooler. If the files were designed correctly, proper size, no overhangs, then they would be converted to code and milled. He was able to process 4 files in one class period by cutting in 2 inch insulating foam. Then, the next time I met with the 7th graders, I gave them the blocks they designed.
Artists Chris Reilly and Taylor Hokanson appear to be getting some impressive results from their DIYLILCNC. They certainly aren’t the first to develop an open source CNC mill, however their build looks particularly nice.
