At first blush, industrial designer Sam Thompson's gently-arched 45-Degree Bowl, above, looks like it might be made from veneers that were steam-bent and laminated together in a form. But flip it over and you'll see it was CNC-milled out of a solid block. If the protruding feet aren't a dead giveaway, Thompson's intentionally had the bit leave kerf marks to remove all doubt:
"The smooth sanded top of the tray contrasts with the exaggerated kerf on the bottom," he writes, "showing the process of CNC routing in an intuitive and surprising manner."
The awesome video below shows an earlier wooden bowl, the Big Square, that Thompson designed and produced via CNC—his tagline is "I make things by hand, with digital tools"—and while it lacks any explanatory narrative, you don't need it. It shows him performing every step of the process, going from prepping the rough-cut lumber to drawing the 3D files to running the CNC mill and the laser engraver:
Big Square - Making Of from Sam Thompson on Vimeo.
Table saw, jointer, planer, CNC mill with the vacuum hold-down, laser engraver...sigh. Shop envy complete.
Thompson, by the way, produces tableware under the brand moniker Kivi Did.
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Comments
Hmm, it's a straight diagonal cut, and hidden on the underside. Not really suprising and as others say, a really wasteful way to produce this object. Nice form though.
im sure it had nothing to do with cutting down machining time at all. =p