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• Valchromat colored MDF
• Plyboo edge grain bamboo plywood
• Gill Corporation Gillfab 5030 Aluminum/
Balsa Panels
Coatings & Finishes
• Woodriver natural tung oil
• Skidmore’s liquid beeswax Woodfinish and
Sealer
• The Real Milk Paint Company for milk paint
• Benjamin Moore Regal Select Waterborne
Interior Paint low VOC, hardwearing paint
• Benjamin Moore Benwood Stays Clear
acrylic polyurethane
Hardware resources
• Stafast decorative screws (we prefer the
small, flush-mounted SCS0540HD)
• Dowels from craft or home improvement
stores
• McMaster-Carr has precut dowels as well as
an array of hardware
GRAIN PATTERN
Chapter 3 explains the importance of grain direction
and composing parts on a cut sheet to take advan-
tage of its linear characteristics. Wood grain also
comes in a variety of patterns and characteristics
that can be featured in your project. Tight, linear
veneer grain might emphasize long, linear qualities
of a storage piece. A pronounced, organic figure that
is less directional might complement a tabletop.
Similar to grain direction, handling grain pattern has
no particular rules, but rather offers an opportunity.
SHEET MATERIALS BEYOND PLYWOOD
You can make the furniture projects throughout
this book using almost any sheet material.
You’re really only limited by what your CNC
machine can cut, and a few other factors.
Materials with dimensional consistency and a
high strength-to-weight ratio are particularly
well suited for fabricating large-scale furniture
projects with a CNC.
You can find greater consistency in dimension-
ally stable materials like plastics, composite, or
metal as well as engineered wood products like
OSB or MDF. However, measuring and inspect-
ing any of these materials prior to purchasing
ensures that you know exactly what you’re
using for a project. The following is a short list
of sheet materials that work for fabricating
CNC furniture:
Engineered Wood Sheeting (MDF & OSB)
Materials like medium-density fiberboard
(MDF) and oriented strand board (OSB) are
monolithic, manufactured sheet goods, which
offer excellent dimensional consistency. They
are sustainably manufactured from industrial
wood waste, very easily sourced, and usually
quite inexpensive. OSB has plywood’s great
strength to weight ratio and machining quali-
ties. MDF, on the other hand, is incredibly heavy
for its strength and can prove quite messy
when machining.
High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a plastic
sheet material with integral color and a solid
core. It is waterproof, UV stable, and quite dura-
ble, making it suitable for outdoor furniture. It is
impact resistant, strong, and easily machined.
It is also quite heavy, making it more suitable
for smaller projects that don’t require long
spans. HDPE is also quite expensive and usu-
ally must be special ordered.
Composites
There are a vast array of composite panel prod-
ucts developed for aerospace, transportation,
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DESIGN FOR CNC
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