CNC Milling and Design for Manufacturing
Mighty Man
A CNC machined bottle opener designed to hyperbolize the strength needed to pop open a bottle cap.
Objective
Outcome
To create a CNC-milled bottle opener that embodies the theme "hyperbole," as an introduction to CNC machining. The process must include one part flip, and at least one side must include 3D geometry.
I created the "Mighty Man," a small scale figure that appears to be using all his might to open the bottle cap. With his arms raised and diagonal stance, he hyperbolizes the strength needed to open a bottle.
Ideation and Prototyping
I went through several rounds of ideation and prototyping - both function and form - before settling on my final form.
Final Form & Machining
The parallel geometry of his arms/leg and back allow the part to be held securely in the vise after the part flip.
Skills & Takeaways
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Designing for available tooling and to optimize tool paths
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Design to avoid offsets during part flip
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Learning (the hard way) what type of geometries are and are not ideal for CNC machining