These are the complete digital files to make the “Five Petal Flower Bowl” on a CNC machine. The photos are examples of several of them that I have made. This should be a relatively easy project, as long as you are familiar with your CNC machine and basic woodworking skills to dimension wood and glue up pieces to make the base stock size.
Included are complete step-by-step directions on how to make the bowl, the project as I designed it in Autodesk Fusion, all the toolpaths setup in Fusion, completely setup and tested Vectric VCarve 11.5 files, and the STL model files in case you use another program for your toolpaths.
Build Video: (Please watch): Five Petal Flower Bowl Build
Software Requirements:
- Autodesk Fusion
- OR: Vectric VCarve 11.5 or higher (Desktop works fine). Make sure you have v 11.5 or HIGHER!
- OR: Your own CNC software that can handle STL files
Minimum Bit Requirements:
- 1/4″ spiral down cut bit – 3″ overall length
- 1/4″ ballnose bit – 3″ overall length
- Highly recommended: 3/8″ spiral up cut bit at 3″ long, and 1/8″ tapered ball nose.
- The directions list specific bits, along with where to purchase them. I use a lot more bits to optimize tool paths, but you can do this entire project with just a 1/4″ downcut and a 1/4″ ballnose, but both need to be 3″ long.
Starting Stock Size:
- 12″ x 12″ x 2.25″
Included in the Download:
- Autodesk Fusion File: Five Petal Flower Bowl.f3z
- STL Files for the: Bowl, Jig, Drip Stock in 2.25″ and 2.5″ height options
- Adobe Illustrator and DXF files for some limit shapes (I used these in VCarve)
- Four VCarve 11.5 files: Drip Stock, Jig, Top, Bottom
- Directions: Five Petal Bowl Directions.pdf
Total download size: ~81 MB. It is broken up into smaller file groups for easier downloading.
The directions cover using Fusion and Vectric VCarve, along with the general process that I do to make the bowls. I don’t discuss how to import the STL files, as that is already done for you.
I designed the project at two sizes: 2.5″ and 2.25″. I made a few at 2.5″, but the tolerances are really close. I decided to downsize it to 2.25″ to ensure tool collisions won’t happen. You shouldn’t get collisions if you follow my directions and follow the recommended bit lengths below the holder, but as always, be careful! If you want a deeper bowl, and you are using Fusion, you can always try the 2.5″ version. For VCarve users: You would have to setup the project with the taller bowl.
This project is © 2024 Corbin Dunn. Please do not re-upload the files to any other sites. You are welcome to make and sell the physical products you create based on this design.
Update: Fixed the typo, where I spelled it “pedal” instead of “petal”. Some areas will sill have pedal, sorry!
