The Falcon Automata project files. This is an advanced project without any directions. While it does work, there is a lot of room for improvement, particularly in the the moving parts and the main drive gear. I’ll discuss things that it needs in the build video.
My finished piece was made from cherry wood, and 1/4″ baltic birch plywood.
Linked joints are setup in the Fusion file; you can drag and rotate one part, and it will move everything in sync.
All the toolpaths and CAM are setup in the Fusion 360 file for machining on an Avid CNC, or similar CNC router that can do 18,000 RPM and typical feed rates. The exception is the Body, which I setup in VCarve. I don’t recommend using VCarve for complex toolpaths, as I ultimately had a collision on the backside of the body which could have been prevented by using Fusion 360’s toolpaths and simulations.
Some of the grouped toolpaths in Fusion have become “stale”. I use the Fusion plugin called MapBoards Pro to layout groups of components for machining (such as all the gears), and each time I run it it would remove the old version. Sorry about that! The component named “map” is the map for machining.
In Fusion, all the alignment jigs were made in one component, for better or for worse. These include the 3d “tabs” to hold it together when machining both sides.
The model for the bird/falcon was done in Blender. The Blender file is included as a download for you to check out and modify. I initially started drawing my own low poly falcon, but eventually I heavily borrowed from a free 3D STL to make the final shape I settled on.
Included is one of the initial models exported for 3d printing, and the setup in PrusaSlicer for 3d printing out of PLA. After printing, the wings will need to be super glued onto the body.
Build Video: CNC Falcon Automaton
Related Video: CNC Woodworking Tabs in Fusion 360
Included Files (all are zipped files or folders):
- Falcon v444.f3d — The Fusion 360 file
- Flying Falcon 6.blend – The Blender file
- Falcon Body.crv – The Vectric VCarve File for carving the body
- Falcon Automata v1 STL Files.zip – All the models exported as mm STL files
- 3D Printed Version v1.zip – The 3d printed STL version for testing, STL files and 3MF files (PrusaSlicer)
All files are provided free of charge, licensed via CC by attribution (to Corbin Dunn) for non-commercial use. Re-posting the files anywhere else is not allowed!
