08 : CNC Milling, Toolpaths 2D and 3D, Molding, & Casting.

This week, I had very grand ambitions that were ultimately wrecked by a series of failures.

My goal was to create butter mints, which are about equal parts powdered sugar and butter, plus some peppermint extract. The result is a chewy, minty treat that doesn't require baking and holds a shape:

My first soldering job.

My plan was to create a 2.5D object in fusion, get an inverted mold made in the small CNC machine, and then pour food-grade wax in that reverse mold to get the butter mint mold.

Designing the Butter Mint

I decided early on that I wanted the subject of my mint to be a cow, because cows are where butter comes from. I started out just drawing a simple diagram to get an idea of what I wanted:

My first soldering job.

I sort of liked how this looked, but I was afraid that the sharp edges would make it harder to make a clean mint later in the process. This lead me to version two, which looked sufficiently safe that I made it into a 3D negative:

My first soldering job.

I felt relatively good about this print, and on Monday I began my print. However, I ran into a problem---I had forgotten to make the walls low enough for the top of the mill to stay above, and so it smashed into the wall and stopped the cut. The result was a failed block of waxL

My first soldering job.

This took me back to the drawing board, and I spent most of Tuesday trying to workshop a better model. I eventually came up with this, which features lower walls and a simpler drawing so I don't need as much depth:

My first soldering job.
No Wo-Mint, No Cry

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see this mold printed to figure out whether it would've worked. The mill was in use every time I checked on Tuesday, so I decided to come in early Wednesday morning to try to get it finished.

However, a series of things went wrong. First, there were a number of logistical issues---we were out of tape, I couldn't find a big-enough chunk of wax, and so on. Then, more importantly, I learned that the previous mold, which I had assumed had finished printing overnight and had thus removed, was actually still awaiting its precision pass. It seemed like a sign that I wasn't meant to do another print, and I didn't have another time that day to start one, I had no wax or tape to begin with, and so on. I eventually just cut my losses and decided to call it a week.

I think this was a good lesson in managing externalities. I honestly found it pretty disheartening at the time---it felt like a fight to make anything, and I didn't like the feeling of having to plan so intensely to make sure things would work out. In that sense, the later weeks were a great palate cleanser, with a lot more room to take our time.