Heart shaped boxes for Valentine’s day on Tormach CNC machine

Love in Machining: A Valentine’s Day Project with SprutCAM X

February 14 is not just for romantics; it’s a day where even our most rugged users embrace the spirit of love, crafting the most unexpected gifts.

Roguetoolpath, one of our avid users, has taken his passion for machining to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a heart-shaped box project, now larger and more intricate than ever before. Tormach CNC machine has been used. Here’s what our customer shares about his latest endeavor:

New little project for Valentine’s Day. Small heart boxes with acrylic friction fit lids and small finger pulls. I like how they turned out so I will make a pile of these :) Also a nice way to use up more of the odds and ends of wood and plastic that piles up around here. Normal picture of model design, then a clip of all the models broken apart and imported into CAM for G-code generation on router and lathe. Couple clips of the finished prototypes. Also, a clip of the simple way I often use to get desired fit different parts. In this case, it’s the acrylic covers need to be undersized a little to allow for wood finish size added. Dozens of ways to do this. I like to set up what I call ‘model compensation.’ In SprutCAM, there is a setting called radial stock. By entering a very small negative value here, the CAM will generate slightly smaller parts. Kind of like cutter comp only in CAM and with a little more predictable results in this case. CAM will warn you of part gouge so that setting needs to be shut off. Anyway, just a different strategy for creating very close fitting parts that I like to use.

Roguetoolpath’s project showcases the creativity and precision that go hand in hand with machining, proving that even in the workshop, love can be expressed in the most intricate details. Join us at our socials to explore more innovative projects and celebrate the craftsmanship of our community.