Space Force Coaster

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#1

I’m new here and new to me is my Shapeoko Pro. I’m still learning the machine and Fusion 360, so far it’s been an interesting few months. I did some test cuts and I wanted to share my first project while learning from my mistakes.

My first project is a set of Space Force emblems inlayed with acrylic colored epoxy resin. Below is my Fusion360 setup.

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I attempted to level my waste-board and put some pocket PVC for a right angle. I have not trammed my machine yet, still waiting for the 123 blocks to come in. In the upcoming pictures just try not to get triggered :triumph:. It hurts me every time I look at it

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#2

My first cut went great, I used the bitzero v2, cut my diameter, learned how to mix epoxy, and poured my layer

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#3

My second cut didn’t go so good :joy:. My logic said I’m good not zeroing again after I put my stock back in to flatten and cut the second layer. My second cut was off by .124” on the x-axis.

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#4

The fix was to fill in the mistake cut with the same blue epoxy and hope for the best. I saved my acrylic mix so it made it easy to get the same color. The mix ended up curing very good and wasn’t noticeable after I cut the hole back in.

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#5

The 2nd layer cut went a lot better. I probed and rezeroed the machine and cut exactly where it should.

Right now the light blue is curing. My epoxy takes 72hours to full cure. 18 hours is my earliest time to cut into it so far. Not gummy or soft.

I’m going to keep a log of everything and share the completed project. I’ve learned a ton, made a bunch of mistakes, and learned how to fix those mistakes. Super pleased with my investment and hobby.

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#6

Glad to see the new Space Force get some love. I had downloaded some SVG images of the SF logo. I just have not had time to play around with the images.

So I guess the Space Force is similar to the Marines. The SF is part of the Air Force like the Marines are part of the Navy.

#7

Looking forward to seeing the end result Maurice!

#8

Ran into a little issue with stuck shavings in the points on my cut tonight.

I used a 15 degree engraving vbit. Cut like butter but the cleanup was really difficult. This was the best I could get it.

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Any suggestions? :man_shrugging:.

#9

Run the job a second time, it should clean things up for you. And since there is virtually nothing to cut for that second clean-up run, you can increase the feedrate a lot.

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#10

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I cut the globe yesterday and decided to cut #3 grey1 again as my tolerances of my lines where not big enough to match/go over the previous layer. I adjusted my line cut by .01 which probably wasn’t enough. I’ve learned so much about layered cuts and adjusting my thresholds for each cut.

I did notice my Shapeoko missed a step during the globe cut on the Z axis. Going to do some maintenance and double check my motors/pulleys, and belts to make sure everything is in order for the final white cut. Tomorrow can’t come any sooner!

Also, I did notice the global epoxy pour cured with some craters, i think I poured to fast.

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#11

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#12

Finished up today with a top coat. Being the first project, I’m super happy with the results. There are a ton of errors that I semi fixed, but overall, first project in the books.

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#13

Wow, I did not see these turning out this awesome (mostly because I did not pay attention to the original design). The detail and finish looks great!! How long do you think it will take start to finish to do it another time?

#14

:joy: I didn’t expect them turning out this good too.

It takes 18hrs for each color to cure before the next one can get cut. 6 colors = 6 days.

Total machine time per cut was like 20-30 mins then another 15-20 mins for cleanup.

Material cost was small, the black walnut I got was around $7.50, epoxy and acrylic was around $8 total.

My mixture of paint didn’t come out great and I know why, also my tolerances and depth of engraving wasn’t perfect. If I dial everything in, I’d suspect a good penny for a set of five.

I work in the military and the abundance of custom patches and unit logos is astronomical. I would price everything by the amount of colors in the logo, that dictates everything right now for layers/curing time

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#15

That is some awesome work, @Merick01!

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#16

Those look great. The detail is fantastic. The multiple pours were very well thought out.

Are you a member of Space Force or have a relative or just showing some love?

#17

I’m Army, but work directly with a Space Force unit. Super cool to watch them stand up and branch away from the Air Force

#18

Would you be willing to share the why part? Always interested in improving in this area.

And they look great, thanks for sharing!

#19

Thanks!

Some of the color didn’t pop for a couple of reasons. The dark blue did though. There were a couple of key things that happened.

  1. I didn’t fully mix my acrylic and in the epoxy I noticed running streaks of paint. This happened in the white. When it cured, it pushed the hard paint that didn’t mix up to the top and cratered. Super small craters, but enough to almost ruin the project.

  2. I didn’t get my ratio of acrylic to epoxy down to fully “die” the epoxy. The base color underneath the pour gave it an additional shade of what was underneath. That’s why my lettering had a bluish tint and not fully white.

  3. I didn’t let the dark grey and light blue fully cure enough before I cut into it. That’s why it’s not vibrant and didn’t pop like the dark blue.

All of this was simple mistakes in the prep and impatiently rushing to watch it cure.

I believe my dark blue came out so great is that I took my time and fully mixed my ratios to a T. The acrylic ratio is 1/10 of the volume of the mixture.

Also a great tool for mixing colors was the RGB to Acrylic generator. I linked it below. Super spot on matching my colors to mix.

https://sensuallogic.com/paintmaker

Hope this helps.

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I took this into work and I’ve already received various orders. Super pumped

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#20

Thanks for the tips! The coasters look fantastic - a job well done. Post #11 to post #12 felt like it went 0 to 100 real quick; I didn’t see that coming.

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