Greg Owen, Studio Other Industrial Engineer, has been perfecting his kitchenware design through a combined skill of digital design and CNC manufacturing for the past three years. Using his dual love of design and programming, Greg recently began a company called Circle Solidwood, where he sells his meticulously-crafted walnut kitchenware.
Q: How did your interest in kitchenware begin?
GO: I wanted to push the limits of what was capable with digital design and CNC manufacturing.
Q: Can you describe the design?
GO: A walnut cookware set including spoons, spatula, strainer and scraping tools.
Q: How long does it take you to build the kitchenware?
GO: Each kitchenware set takes about 10 hours to produce on the CNC machine.
Q: What materials do you use?
GO: Walnut, a fine-grained hardwood.
Q: How would you describe the building process?
GO: Each piece is carefully designed and 3D modeled. I then create the CAM programming in Fusion360 and send the project to my CNC. The CNC takes about 4 hours on each side to complete. After the CNC is complete, there is some minor sanding and clean-up. Finally, each piece gets a few coats of mineral oil, and they're good to go!
Q: What was your greatest obstacle in the process and how did you overcome it?
GO: Learning the intricacy of CNC programming and milling was a huge challenge. I had five failed sets before I was able to finally create a product I was happy with. Our own Victor Wilkens is a CNC expert and was a huge help anytime I had questions or concerns.
Q: What's next?
GO: I plan on selling these sets and many more items on my Etsy shop and website very soon! My company is called Circle Solidwood.
Learn more or purchase from Greg's Etsy shop.
