My official spanner wasn’t the right size for the router spindle, so before starting my first CNC project I took it to the vice and filed it, until it fit. There I pondered a little on some of the nice foldable tables and storage boxes I’ve seen made for this machine, but quickly realised they were all things I could make using tools I already owned. I wanted to try something which I could only do on a CNC machine.

I decided to attempt to cut several letters into the shell of a monkey nut.

I took a single nut and drizzled hot glued on one side before sticking it down onto the CNC bed. Then I set the bit height and home position before beginning the small cutting job.

I am engraving the name of the artists collective I am a member of, which happens to include the initials of the guys I share this workshop with.

You are probably thinking why a monkey nut?  Scattered around the workshop, we have the remnants of exhibition and education workshops from which it is clear our favourite materials include, hot glue sticks, chopsticks and monkey nuts. We have in the past used monkey nuts to create small photographic cameras, and also display pinhole photographs between the two halves of the shell.

As you can see for yourself, the results are surprisingly impressive.

You can also find surprising videos on our BBKP channel.