More isolation games

[Rob Young]

While waiting for a large compile to finish I whipped up a marble solitaire game in Fusion360 which I then exported as an SVG (standard vector graphics) file for my Shaper Origin CNC.  When I had time the other evening I browsed through the stack of small off-cuts and found a piece of sassafrass that would handle the game. A little milling prep to make it about 1/2" thick and time to chuck up the round-nose router bit. Used that bit to make the marble track and recesses. Sassafrass seems to have a rather high sugar content so it is prone to burning. But by making a roughing pass followed by a skim cut of about 0.002" deep it seems to clean up most of the burning. Seems most prevalent when moving 45* to the grain. 

A little Minwax Antique Oil (diluted oil-varnish -- pretty good stuff, cheaper than I can make up a batch myself) and a touch of wax and 0000 steel wool and done.

Sized for 14mm marbles.

 

   

And if making one, might as well make two.

   

[jteneyck]

Very cool.  How do you support the Shaper Origin on a piece so small?  Is it inset in a piece of plywood with a cutout perhaps?  

John

[Ohio Mike]

  Very nice!

[Rob Young]

Very cool.  How do you support the Shaper Origin on a piece so small?  Is it inset in a piece of plywood with a cutout perhaps?  

John

The board was just over 7" wide and about 15" long, more or less. Instead of putting the "domino" target tape on the work piece, it goes on what is generally called a "tape board". Quick and dirty diagram:

   

All of this is on top of a spoil board since I'll be cutting through. The workpiece and the tape board should be coplanar as possible. I use a deck of playing cards to shim. Easier to shim the tape board than the workpiece if you need to tape it down for through cuts. The alignment blocks were some scraps of 1/4" whatever used as insurance that the workpiece didn't slip around. The SO base just rides along on the workpiece. Plenty big so long as you pay attention as things get near an edge and just shift your weight as needed. At least 1/2 of the SO base is on the workpiece at any time while cutting.