Short version:I wanted to make some bit bowls for boardgames... 100€+ and ~40hours later I now know how to create toolpaths for CNC-machine and learned a thing or two about woodworking. I'm really happy with the results!There are a total of 25 of them (10x single cup, 10x dual cup and 5x card holders). Each side has a magnet embedded so they'll click to each other nicely. The cups are made with curved walls so taking chits or tokens out is easy. They also double as coasters, when you flip them over.Here's how they look:https://i.imgur.com/9dkDpTO.jpgLong version:I started with few boards of pine and a friend who knew how to operate CNC-machine. He showed me the basics of a program called "Aspire" and lent me a PC that had it (it's really expensive program, apparently). Using it wasn't too hard as I have some background in using Photoshop. It took something like 6 hours to learn how to use the program, buy the wood and plan the toolpaths.http://bit.ly/2M23eVd are the boards.http://bit.ly/2W8Hmeo CNC-machine and first of the boards.The machining part took way longer than I expected - from ~10minutes/bowl for the card holders to ~45minutes/bowl for the ones with two cups. This friend of mine actually did most of the machine work when I wasn't there. He's just that helpful of a guy! I'd like to give him the credit he deserves here, but he's "Internet shy" and didn't want to be mentioned by name.After the machine was done with the pieces we cut them lose with a bandsaw and did quite a lot of sanding on the edges and corners.http://bit.ly/2LYogDM done.Next step was to mark the places for the magnets. There was still some slight differences between the length of the sides (<1mm I think) due to the sawing and sanding that was done manually so getting the magnets on the right place was a challenge. Ultimately I just made a template and marked the spots with a spike. In the end it worked out just fine.https://i.imgur.com/eX497ip.jpgThat small piece of wood under my thumb is the templateDrilling the holes was quite easy with the proper drill and carefully done markings - just had to drill the 150 holes.https://i.imgur.com/2t8r4sR.jpgDrill, baby, drill!Next step took quite some time - I did plenty of testings with different ways to get the surface done. I ended up with wood wax that lets the wood grain show nicely, protects the surface from scratch and dents and makes the wood luck much cooler than just varnish, oil or lacquer. I apllied 1-2 coats depending on the surface of the wood. I used cotton cloth to apply the wax because I didn't want to risk having visible strokes from brush there.https://i.imgur.com/1XByNIq.jpgWaxing with cotton clothAfter I had done the wax coatings (waiting 24 hours between the sides and layers - not sure if needed, but wanted to be sure it's dry) I protected the surface with 2 coats of top oil, applied the same way as the wax.https://i.imgur.com/zTqu0aF.jpgOiling with cotton clothAfter they were waxed, oiled and dried I glued the magnets in place. It took me way more time and thinking than I'd like to admit to get the polarization correct. For some reason I glued them wrong side up way too many times before getting the simple routine working. I used some super heavy duty glue that propably was an overkill.https://i.imgur.com/aTJpAoB.jpgGlue was way stronger than needed...With the magnets finally done I moved on the next step - the one I'd do differently if I'd start over. I would do the CNC-drilling on the other side of cups so that the coaster would be "inside" the wood and not on top of it. It would make them look that much smoother and removing the excess glue would have been way easier.https://i.imgur.com/0UwE46Q.jpgApplying the weight done the traditional way: by dictionaries from 1909...After the coasters were glued on I found a problem: the glue wasn't gonna turn transparent and the white really didn't look good in the seams. I had to scrape it all off with a knife and reapply the wax and oil to parts I damaged. It was a lot of unneccesary work, but in the end it turned out good.https://i.imgur.com/9QLv4IY.jpgThe ugly white glue I had to scrape away.That was final step for the bowls - but now I had 25 bowlster and no way to store them.https://i.imgur.com/kwpNgBB.jpgAll the bowls.I put together a rack with not too much planning and quite hastily - did quite a few mistakes there but it'll do. It's shaped to the hexagon shape, can be held on table in two positions, has dividers for the different types of bowls and can be wall mounted. I did the same wax-oil-finnish as I did for the bowls.https://i.imgur.com/ux5Zu8r.jpgRack getting the waxing.https://i.imgur.com/67J2Owk.jpgYou can (barely) see the dividers, there's a 10-5-10 split.https://i.imgur.com/9dkDpTO.jpgAnd the finished product with my favourite cider and some Gloomhaven bits. via /r/DIY https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/bpfklz/i_made_some_bit_bowls_and_a_rack_for_them/?utm_source=ifttt
