Beginner Archimedes Circle Charm

Software:

SketchUcam

Machine Time:

3 minutes - OpenBuilds MiniMill

Bit or Laser Size:

2mm bit

Feeds & Speeds:

Feed rate: 5000mm/min.
Spindle speed: 24,000 rpm

Materials:

1) Oak or any other type of wood.
2) Copper wire, we used ours from a 12/2 romex.
3) Old English stain
4) Clear Lacquer
5) Sand paper
6) Super glue

Archimedes circle

Ok let's get started!


1) First get your wood piece. We just used a oak sample from Lumber Liquidators!




2) Measure your wood piece. You want to measure the length, width, and the thickness of the wood. We measured and cut our wood so that it was 75mm x 75 mm. The thickness of our wood was 9mm.



3) Next you want to make your desired charm in Sketch U cam. Use the exact measurements you recorded to make the model for your charm. You also put the design you want on the charm! We used a Archimedes circle!



4) Set up your CNC machine (in our case the OpenBuilds MiniMill) and cut! Once you've made you've designed your charm its ready to be brought to life! Set up your machine with the correct bit size, feed rate and spindle speeds. And start cutting! Are charm only took 3 minutes!



5) Sand!! You've finished the hard part, now you need to sand down and make your charm smooth. Remember sanding makes a huge difference!



6) Insert your copper wire into the design cut out.Make sure to bend the wire to fit exactly in the cutout and put into place. You can put super glue inside the cutout to make sure everything stays in place. Then hammer the wire into your cut out and quickly wipe up the excess from the super glue!



7) Sand again! To give it that professional smooth look, sand down the wire so that its even with the wood. Sanding the edges of the charm and making them curved will also add to the effect.



8) Stain your charm! We used Old english stain to get a nice meduim brown color.



10) Last but not least apply a clear coat of Lacquer! Very important step! It makes your charm look polished.



Your done!! I hope this tutorial was helpful for you! Would love to see the charms you make!

Optional step: Make a necklace for your charm! You can use yarn, twine or string! I did mine with twine and i braided it into a fishtail braid!