How to Make a CNC Alphabet Piggy Bank | ToolsToday

What do you think of how this project turned out? Making a wood and plexi Alphabet Piggy Bank using Amana Tool® CNC router bits on the Stepcraft M.1000 36” x 48” CNC machine.
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The downloadable and customizable CNC plans for this project are available on our website with item no. ALPHA_BANK if you want to make this project yourself!
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I started by using some X-Fasten double sided tape on to stick down the acrylic and started cutting with the Amana Tool no. 45626-K 3 flute 1/4" diameter 90° Spektra™ coated v-bit, all these tools are available on our website!

Feed, Speed & CNC Running Parameters

Amana Tool 45626-K SC Spektra Extreme Tool Life Coated V-Groove 90 Deg x 1/4 D x 1/8 CH x 1/4 Inch SHK 3-Flute Router Bit
toolstoday.com/v-14487-45626-k.html?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shop-cart
RPM: 14,000
Feed Rate: 60ipm
Plunge Rate: 20ipm
Max Depth of Cut: 0.10”

Amana Tool 51411-K Spektra Coated SC Spiral O Single Flute, Plastic Cutting 1/8 D x 1/2 CH x 1/4 SHK x 2 Inch Long Up-Cut CNC Router Bit with Mirror Finish
toolstoday.com/v-13759-51411-k.html?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shop-cart
RPM: 14,000
Feed Rate: 60ipm
Plunge Rate: 30ipm
Peck Drilling: 0.063” per pass retract above start depth

Amana Tool 51404-K CNC Spektra Coated SC Spiral O Single Flute, Plastic Cutting 1/4 D x 3/4 CH x 1/4 SHK x 2 Inch Long Up-Cut Bit
toolstoday.com/v-13351-51404-k.html?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shop-cart
RPM: 18,000
Feed Rate: 100ipm
Plunge Rate: 100ipm with 2” long smooth ramp in
Depth Per Pass: 0.25”

Amana Tool 46415-K SC Spektra Extreme Tool Life Coated Spiral Plunge 1/4 Dia x 1 CH x 1/4 SHK 2-1/2 Inch Long Down-Cut Router Bit
toolstoday.com/v-13781-46415-k.html?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shop-cart
RPM: 18,000
Feed Rate: 100ipm
Plunge Rate: 50ipm
Depth Per Pass: 0.25”

Amana Tool 46233-K SC Spektra Extreme Tool Life Coated Spiral Plunge 1/16 Dia x 3/16 CH x 1/4 SHK 2 Inch Long Down-Cut Router Bit
toolstoday.com/v-14497-46233-k.html?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shop-cart
RPM: 18,000
Feed Rate: 35ipm
Plunge Rate: 17.5ipm
Depth Per Pass: 0.063”

The piece was finished with some spray lacquer and the screws were installed and it was given to my daughter Caity!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

Today I'm going to show you how I made this Piggy Bank for my daughter Caity. She absolutely loved it. It's definitely a great project to make. We do sell the plans for this on our website with all 26 letters, so definitely be sure to check that out. There's a link down in the description. Without further ado, let me show you how I made it.

Sticking down some acrylic to the Stepcraft M1000 CNC Machine to start a new project to make a Piggy Bank for my daughter. We do have the plans available for this on our website. So definitely check those out there. Includes all the letters A to Z. It's definitely an awesome plan and an awesome project. So definitely check that out.

Using the 45626-K 90 degree v-bit to carve my daughter's name into the acrylic. A lot of people don't think that you can v-carve acrylic, but I'm here to tell you that you definitely can. This bit did a great job going through here at over 60" per minute and doing a really great cut without melting the acrylic which is really nice to see.

You can see there a little bit of fuzz is there on the protective paper for the acrylic, but that's just a cosmetic thing of the paper. It cut the acrylic beautifully and couldn't ask for it to do a whole lot better.

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So next, we're gonna go through and chamfer out where we are adding the screws later on. This will countersink the heads below the acrylic and we'll drop that off and pick up the 51411 1/8" diameter Spiral O Flute bit and this will go through and it will pocket out for the holes for where the screws are going to go through.

After that's done, we'll go drop it off and pick up the 51404-K ¼" Spiral O Flute up-cut bit to go through and cut the profile on the acrylic. We went through here at a ¼" depth for a pass. So, cutting through the acrylic in a single pass and this thing did an absolutely amazing job cutting through this acrylic.

It went through without melting it all at over 100" per minute and did a great job with a beautiful finish on the edge. Couldn't ask for a whole lot better there. And you can see what that looks like right here. So anyways, that is done.

So now we can turn our attention to the wood. I clamped in a block of solid oak here up against the Stepcraft work holding wasteboard. We do sell the plans for that on our website as well. And then using the 46415-K 1/4" down-cut bit, we're gonna go through and cut the coin slot here. I applied Oramask to this project, just so that you can get a visual on film of all the different cuts that we're making so it makes it easier to tell what we're doing.

So now we're going through here. We're going to cut the slot for where the acrylic will sit on this project. So, we're gonna go through and get all of that done. The down-cut action in this bit leaves a beautifully clean top surface, which is exactly what we want to see throughout this project. So now we're gonna go through and pocket out the insides of the letter. And this is really cool to see it acting kind of like a Pac-Man, going through here just munching off bits of wood at a time. It's definitely really, really cool to see. So, we're gonna go down a full inch on this piece here. So that way we have plenty of room for the coins. And you can see that bottom surface finish is spectacular. Definitely really nice to see that and all of the big chips that we have from cutting that.

So now we're gonna go through and do the outside profile of this letter. We're gonna go through in four passes to reach a full 1" depth of cut. And you can see again, that down-cut action of the bit forces those chips down, which leaves a really nice clean top surface. Using the 46233-K 1/16" down-cut bit, we're going to cut in all of the screw locations for where that acrylic is going to mount that we drilled out in the acrylic earlier. It went through in three passes drilling just as much as the bit can handle. And now that that is done, you can see the acrylic piece fit in there really nice, definitely nice to see that. So, this material is thicker than we're able to cut on the CNC with the bit that I was using.

So, we're moving over to the bandsaw to cut the remainder of the material here. I find it easier to do this than trying to flip it over on the CNC and get everything lined up. Moving over to the router table, I'll use the 47090 1/4" diameter Flush Trim Bit to just take all of the rest of the material off and flush everything up nice and smooth. After that, I'll use the MR0110 mini round over bit. This bit has a 3/16" diameter ball bearing. You can get it into all of the tight locations cut out by the bit. It also leaves a small 3/32" Radius Round Over and it does a great job just kind of easing that edge over for a nice, smooth finish.

So now that that is done, I'll just extend those holes down using a drill bit that fits the size of screws that I'm using and then I'll just sand over the edges to make sure that nothing is sharp.

So now that that is done, we can go ahead and sign the back just like I do on all projects that I make for Caity and add a little note for her. I finished this piece using some Minwax Spray Lacquer in satin and it did a really nice job bringing out the color of the oak. Now that we're at the end of the project, we can take off the protective paper on the acrylic and get that fully installed on the piece.

The sounds here of it popping are so satisfying. And it's definitely really nice to have a nice tight fit there. So, we'll get everything nicely screwed down and this piece is coming to a close. We will get everything wiped off and we are now ready to go give it to Caity. This is definitely a project that I love how it turned out and hopefully you guys enjoyed watching it but I will let Caity do the sign off here. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Have a great day everybody.

Hey Caity?

Caity: Yeah.

Matt: I got something for you.

Caity: What?

Matt: I got you a new Piggy Bank. So, what do you think these are? You know what letters those are?

Caity: C-A-I-T-Y.

Matt: Yeah. What does that spell?

Caity: Caity.

Matt: Do you like it? Yeah? You want to put some coins in there? All right, let's do it. And I definitely think your Piggy Bank needs a few more coins. What do you think?

Caity: Ahh…

Matt: There you go. Let’s put all those in there too.

Caity: I got coins.

Matt: Do you?

Caity: Yeay!

Matt: What do you do with coins?

Caity: Getting stuff with it.

Matt: What do you buy? What things you like to buy?

Caity: Toys.

Matt: Toys?

Caity: Yeah.

Matt: Yeah. You do like toys.

Caity: Lots of toys!

Matt: You like how the coins move in there?

Caity: Thanks for watching. Have a good day! See ya! I love my PIGGY BANK.

Matt: Thank you guys so much for watching. If you love this type of content, be sure to subscribe right over here. And for more great videos, click right over here.