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CNC Milling, Design for Manufacturing, Mechanical Interfaces
Mount Fuji Incense Burner
A Mount Fuji inspired incense burner that pulls the smoke downwards to mimic the snow-capped peak, designed on Autodesk Fusion 360 and manufactured on a CNC mill.
Objective
Outcome
Create a CNC machined product that captures the theme "transformation." The product must consist of at least two CNC machined components and have a mechanical interface. The design process must employ lateral thinking for thorough design exploration.
A Mount Fuji inspired back flow incense burner, with smoke that flows downwards to replicate the snow-capped mountain peaks. The top of the mountain swivels open to reveal a storage space for the incense holder and incense cones.
Ideation
I started with 80 different design concepts for what "transformation" could look like in a product. I spent two weeks focused on generating and iterating on design ideas, before settling on a Mount Fuji inspired incense burner. For the mechanical interface, I was inspired by rotary jewelry boxes, which I incorporated into my design by having a mountain top that could swivel open and reveal a hidden storage space.
CAD Exploration
My next challenge was creating a CAD model of Mount Fuji that would be CNC-machinable and accurately capture the main topographical features of the mountain. I started by scouring the internet until I found an accurate 3D model of the mountain, and then I reduced the complexity and smoothed the mesh of the model until I produced something that was machinable with standard CNC tooling.
CNC Prototype
To ensure that the tolerances for the press-fit bearing and the slip-fit incense holder worked well, I made a CNC machined prototype. Unlike so many others, this prototype worked on the first try; the tolerance worked well for the design, the surface finish of the mountain was beautiful, and the incense smoke flowed nicely down the ridges of the mountain. Confident that I had incorporated the proper tolerances into my design and that the finishing tool path was successful, I moved into designing my final product.
Final Design
The final design was machined as two components, the top and bottom half of the mountain. I used a wax-held work holding technique for the top of the mountain to capture the organic geometry (left image), and I machined soft jaws for the bottom half of the mountain so the part would be securely held in the vise despite the curved organic edges (middle image). The final assembly includes both of the CNC machined components, as well as a laser cut aluminum incense holder attached to a dowel pin, a double bearing and dowel pin mechanism for the top of the mountain to rotate open, and two magnets for the top of the mountain to click into place when closed (right image).
CNC Machining
CNC machining the final design turned out to be a learning process. It was my first time trying a wax-held work holding technique, which went more smoothly than anticipated. Where I ran into trouble was the soft jaws — I failed to account for the actual diameter of the tooling when I made my CAM tool path, instead using the ideal diameter of the tool. Since the actual diameter was slightly smaller than the ideal diameter, the soft jaws were too narrow to properly secure my piece, leading to a terrible surface chatter on the part, caused by the part moving around in the soft jaws. Luckily, I was able to re-machine the soft jaws to the desired dimensions and re-machine the surface of the mountain, achieving a shiny and smooth surface.
Final Product
The final product is a shiny replica of Mount Fuji, with an organic shape that successfully utilized the 3D manufacturing capabilities of CNC machining. The smoke flow down the ridges is satisfying and relaxing, perfectly fulfilling the product intent as a back flow incense burner. It is a fun and useful memento of my time spent living in Tokyo, and the perfect addition to backyard yoga with my mom.
Engineering Drawings
Skills Learned
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Design for CNC manufacturing
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Lateral thinking in design iteration
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Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing
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