CNC Marble Maze

I am a sophomore taking Computer Integrated Manufacturing at Illiana Christian High School in Dyer Indiana and I created this maze because I wanted to make a simple game that anyone could play.

• 11 x 11 x 0.75 inch piece of wood (I used poplar)
• Fusion 360 (Design and Manufacture tabs)
• Something to sketch your design
• CNC machine
• Screws or clamps to hold your wood to the CNC machine
• 3/16 inch bearings to use as your marbles

Find a piece of wood that is the correct size that you want to make your maze and leave stock on the outside to clamp or drill into the CNC machine. I used a 11 x 11 piece of wood because I designed my maze to have a 10 x 10 inch footprint.

Sketch your rough design and your final design. Make sure they are proportionate to the actual size of your wood or as close as you can get. I made my sketch a 1:2 scale so each side of my sketch is 5.5 inches.

Design your maze in Fusion 360. I started with a circle and added handles to the side. After that I connected the two handles to the circle. Then, sketch the pattern you want your maze to be and make sure to include a start and a finish. You can add the words start and finish if you would like.

Set your origin on the corner and set no stock to leave. Use the trace feature in the manufacture tab to cut out your maze design. You may have to use two features at different depths to get your total depth. You can do this by duplicating the first one and just changing the depth for the second one. You also have to use negative stock to leave on your axis depth to get the machine to go down far enough. For example, my first trace feature was set at -0.125 for the axis depth and my second one was set at -0.25 to get to my total depth. The tool that I used was a 1/4 inch ball mill.

Create a new setup and set your origin on the corner. Use the contour feature in the manufacture tab to cut around the outside of the maze and the handles. I used a 1/4 inch flat end mill and a 0.125 inch step down. Make sure to include tabs to keep your maze from moving. I used six tabs total. Four for the maze and two for the extra inside the handles. I also used the same origin as when I carved the maze. Save this as a separate program and setup from the maze because the tools are different for each operation.

I engraved the words start and finish into the wood using a 1/2 inch engraving bit. My depth was 0.05 inches. I also used the same origin as when I carved the maze. Make sure to save as a separate setup and program because you will need to have a tool change before this.

Mark your origin and clamp your wood onto the CNC base. Set your Z height on the wood and select your program. Hit run.

Use the same origin as the last program and set your Z height. Select the same program you used in the simulation step.

Run your top and bottom edges as well as the inside of your handles through a router.

Sand out burn marks and make sure all of your surfaces are smooth.

You don't have to add a magnet. I decided to add one though for ease of use and a place to store your marble. I drilled a hole slightly smaller than the size of the magnet and applied pressure with a clamp to get it set in place. Then I put another piece of wood on top and hammered the magnet the rest of the way in.