So i wanted to see out of curiosity I wanted to see how hard it would be
out of this low grade aluminum plate I have laying around to cut the
faceplate on the Shopbot we have in the school being it’s a router not a
mill it’s not anywhere as accurate but  surprises me again and again.
While we also have a Tormach PCNC system I chose to give this a try. So
here is a image of a not so sharp flute bit carving out the holes
chipping the aluminum  in very healthy looking chips.

So here you can see the finished plate routed and I cut the tabs holding 
it in that’s the 4 points on each outer side. I need to file them down 
no big deal. I decided not to make a tool path for the drill holes for 
tapping the plate to attach the board to the plate permanently just yet. 
I am actually going to do that by hand quick and easy no big deal. I 
also did not make a tool path for the lip that causes it to rest into 
its case that one would build because instead I am using either a big 
section of a log of either maple, oak, or mahogany that I will mill with 
a half inch or one inch (undecided yet) outer wall that this whole plate 
drops into giving it a old tech new tech feel and finish the wood 
nicely.

I figure I will post those pics when I get around to cutting the wood if 
im not too lazy :)

Here is a pic with a set of silicone buttons in and it fits like a 
glove.

Rear view of all the silicone pads in place

LIKE A GLOVE!

and here is the top side with all four silicone buttons in place... and 
dare i say it? Like a glove mmmmm

and BTW on a side note i mentioned in another thread about making a 
mahogany plate... I may still do it like i said this was just a test to 
see really how well this low grade aluminum cuts, really didn’t take 
long to do the tool path so for now i will cut the wood base but again 
this is only a test housing.

Now keep in mind its no easy job to mill/route wood on a CNC in fact i 
think aluminum is easier because the wood is a living thing and any 
imperfections can cause issues. For example of a knot was on the outer 
wall and i had to carve out a section of it, it could easily cause a bad 
cut and the wood to break.

great photos, thanks for posting!

how long did it take you? Are you taking orders?

It took about 20 to 30 mins for the button holes to mill i believe if i 
recall correctly. Understand that i just came home from a 48 hour 2000 
man paintball game so im a bit tired so forgive me if my numbers are a 
bit off :)

as for routing cutout is only about 10 mins maybe, its surprisingly fast 
on the shopbot.

Nice DIY work Scott. I was wondering if I could purchase a mahogany 
plate from you? If so e-mail me at flightofthebehemoth@gmail.com!

Love the work scott, if you are willing to make and sell let me know as 
the group buy is not going anywhere soon.

Well speaking hypothetically a this moment what would affect the main 
price of what it would cost is material. We order most of our metals 
from a local vendor called Hadco http://www.luminum.com/ and one other 
place that does not have a website. But it comes down to how much the 
plate would cost. A large 4’x8’ ft sheet of course would be far cheaper 
if I was doing a lot of them only because they don’t all ways save small 
pieces and if they don’t all ready have a small section they have to cut 
it from a larger sheet.

So a group order would be a better idea but yea

But I can call them and find out I guess ill do that this week If I can 
get to it, Ill ask price on various size sheets with shipping to get an 
idea of diff Order Quantities IE 1 5 10 ect

P.S. So much for doing that today school all most got blown up :) 
http://gothamist.com/2007/09/04/sanitation_truc.php
woooo

did you ever get a chance to try out the wood? I would really like to 
see how it came out if you did.

I don't have access to a cnc machine, but one of my housemates is pretty 
good at wood working and I was planning on talking to him about using 
more traditional joinery techniques for the faceplate.