Hey CNC woodworkers - I'm venturing out into new bowl shape designs that I can create with epoxy and wood. This piece is more artistic than functional, but still can be used as a bowl if you are careful with it. I was inspired by the lotus flower, and call it the “Lotus Bowl”. The shape was designed in Blender — a free 3D modeling program (link below) that I spent over a year learning how to use. Blender is great for generating more organic shapes, but doesn’t have the ability to generate GCODE for a CNC machine. So, I imported the file into Autodesk Fusion 360 and did the Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) to generate tool paths for my Tormach PCNC 1100. This CNC machine is great, but limiting in the X & Y axis, so the bowl is a lot smaller than I’d really like it to be. I’m considering getting a new machine at some point in the future to make larger projects; something dedicated for wood router machining.
My goal is to inspire, educate and entertain! In this video I gloss over a few details - feel free to ask me any questions on my process and I’ll try to answer them. I also have a lot of other videos that detail this techniques with some other basic shapes
Epoxy notes: I have tried a lot of epoxy brands. I was using KSResin’s LiquidCast 1:1 epoxy, but it is a little soft when it fully cures. I like how it quickly sets and cures in 24 hours; this allows it to hold mica powder a little better than slower curing epoxies, and speeds up my process. However, I still tend to go back to WiseBond epoxies. I use the Quick setting epoxy to seal the wood, and the deep pour for the main part. Both brands require about 3 days before de-molding and machining, so it doesn’t save much time to use KSResin over WiseBond.
Note: Some of the links are Amazon affiliate links that give me a small kick back at no cost to you. Please use the affiliate links to help support my channel as a way of saying thanks for making these videos. I also participate in WiseBond's affiliate program and can give people a discount from that; I simply like their products, and would use it whether or not I was in this program. Keep an eye on their Facebook page as they sometimes run promotions that give more than 10% off!
