CNC ROUTER

Routing Appointments/Hours

2013-05-31T16:41:13Z

The CNC Router Technician will be available Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am-5pm. To schedule an appointment, please contact Robin at schwa966@umn.edu. Available dates/times can be found here:

Once you reserve an appointment, your name will be added to the calendar for that date and time.

Things to keep in mind for appointment sign-ups:

Consultations must be made before any machining and are used to look over or help you create your file, decide on your material and set toolpaths. Depending on the complexity of your project, consultations will take anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour. The first half hour of file work is free, after that it is $20/hour for any additional file work.

Machining will be done after an initial consultation. Machining includes material setup, selecting tools, setting offsets and running the file/cutting the material. Depending on the complexity of the cut, machine time can take anywhere from 5 minutes to six hours plus. The technician will recommend how much machine time you should sign-up for based on your initial consultation. The estimated time should be tripled for actual run time, including material attachment, etc. Machine time is $5/15 minutes for Department of Art students, faculty and staff. For anyone outside of the Dept. of Art, the cost is $25/15 minutes. There is a $5 minimum for all machining!

Ultimately, the scheduling of CNC jobs is at the sole discretion of Workshop staff: we will prioritize jobs based on estimated cut time, staff workload and user preparation and availability.

Analog Router

2013-05-01T19:21:28Z

This plotter is made entirely out of cardboard and is controlled through simply code by the user. We thought this was a clever take on techology!

Specialty Cup Tray

2013-03-28T19:03:08Z

Graduate student Terry Hildebrand created this custom tray using the CNC Router. He also routed molds for the base of the cups so that they'd fit perfectly into their spots.

Custom iPad Frame

2013-01-19T19:06:50Z

We made some of these custom fit iPad frames for a show in the Department of Art's Quarter Gallery. This version is cut from MDF, however the frame could be cut from any type of wood. It could also be stained or painted according to display needs.

SFDS

2013-01-02T16:33:51Z

SFDS is a Fabrication and Design shop located in Brooklyn, NY. They create props, furniture and scenery for a variety of clients and use the CNC router as a major tool in their shop. Below are just a few examples of some of the exciting work being created.

This piece was part of FriendsWithYou's Rainbow City installation from 2011 in NY.

One of the SFDS employees, Kevin Kleber, has a fantastic Tumblr site called cnckevin. It has many great images of the projects he is working on there.

Digital Fabrication for the Arts

2012-12-18T21:31:53Z

Former University of Minnesota Professor Ali Momeni (currently a Professor at Carnegie Mellon) is teaching a class at CMU titled Digital Fabrication for the Arts. Students are using Rhino/Rhino CAM along with a lasercutter and 2.5 axis router to create a wide array of work.

See examples below, visit their blog for links, references and more work examples.

Post-Digital Printmaking

2012-10-11T15:43:52Z

A new book has just come out that focuses on the use of the CNC Router and lasercutter with print processes. It's called Post-Digital Printmaking: CNC, Traditional and Hybrid Techniques by Paul Cantanese and Angela Geary of Columbia College in Chicago. The book covers the brief history of technology in printmaking and explains exactly what it means by "Post-Digital"- using technology to create a number of matrices that can be manipulated in physical ways. It also features chapters going inside the studios of various artists who use the CNC as an integral part of their practice.

On page 39 you'll notice a page devoted to the Artemio Rodriguez print that was routed here on the Department of Art's router by technician Robin Schwartzman for the 2010 Mid-America Print Council Conference.

This book is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in learning more about integrating digital technologies with printmaking. Not convinced? You can read a thorough review over at Printeresting.

Haffner's Fantastic Creations

2012-09-25T19:48:28Z

Doug Haffner creates signs, murals and themed environments using the CNC as one of his key tools. His journal tracks new projects and steps in the process.

The Big Box Menagerie

2012-09-14T14:32:03Z

The Big Box Menagerie was a project made by Dept. of Art Router Tech Robin Schwartzman as part of Sideshow Soo, hosted by SooVac at the Pat's Tap Block Party in August 2012.

The initial digital drawing was done using Adobe Illustrator. The vector lines of both the box and animals were then imported into EnRoute4 as .eps files, where she created dimensional reliefs in the wheels, detailing and banner. Everything was toolpathed in EnRoute and cut on the Forest Scientific here in the Dept. of Art.

The pieces were painted and assembled together to create the final box. Participants could crawl into it and pose with their favorite animal for a photo.

The Cutting Room

2012-09-07T18:46:45Z

The Cutting Room, a commercial routing shop in the UK, is doing a number of large scale, beautiful projects. They make anything from doors and panels to lettering and signs to desks and benches.

Pricing

2012-09-04T16:59:06Z

Every first half hour of consultation/file work is free. Additional file work beyond 30 minutes is $20/hour.

Machine time:
Department of Art students, faculty and staff: $5/15 minutes
Non-Dept. of Art jobs: $25/15 minutes

We will supply standard 1/8" and 1/4" ball nose bits and 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" end mill bits. Any additional specialty bits must be purchased by you.

Arboretum Mold

2012-08-06T15:40:28Z

Graduate students Daniel Dean and Ryan Wurst worked on a project for the Minneapolis Arboretum called Underground Sound. This field of sonic flowers allows viewers to listen to the sounds of the earth via giant megaphones.

The mold for the megaphone was designed in Rhino and imported into Enroute as an .STL. We created all the toolpathing in EnRoute. The form was cut in pieces on the CNC router using a 1/2" wide by 3.5" tall ball nose bit. Because our router only has a 6" z-clearance, Daniel glued together panel board to be 3.5" deep and divided the megaphone up into various sections. Once cut, the sections were glued together to create the final form, which was then used as a mold for the fiberglass.

Art Department Signs

2012-08-01T15:46:45Z

The router has been busy, as we've been creating some signs for different areas of the Art Department, including the Tool Crib, 3D lab and e-studio.

THINK AND WONDER, WONDER AND THINK

2012-08-01T15:34:45Z

The Department of Art CNC Router Technician Robin Schwartzman completed her giant letter project THINK AND WONDER, WONDER AND THINK for Northern Spark this past June. Each letter was 8' tall by varying widths. They were designed in EnRoute and cut in pieces out of 1/2" MDF using a ShopBot Buddy with a 4' x 8' bed and 1/2" end mill bit. The router belongs to the shops of American Woodworker Magazine, where editor Randy Johnson was very generous in volunteering his time and knowledge to help make this project happen.

Here you can see the daytime view. Each letter was painted red with exterior latex paint.

This is a nighttime view of the word WONDER from the Guthrie Theater. Photo courtesy of Mill City Times.

And here is a panorama shot focusing on THINK taken during the festival.

Custom Beer Bottle

2012-08-01T15:20:04Z

Our laser technician Anthony Kling wanted to create a custom beer bottle made of slip-cast porcelain. The first step was to create a positive for a mold, which we did using the router and stacked sheets of glued-together MDF. Here you can see the final design in EnRoute.

We started with a couple of rough passes using a 1/2" ball nose bit to clear out excess material.

Then we used a 1/4" ball nose at an 85% overlap to create the final smooth finish.

The two halves will be glued together to create the whole positive.