Design for CNC

Design, DIY, and computer-controlled fabrication are a powerful combination for making high-quality customized things. Written by the founders of the architecture, design, and research firm Filson and Rohrbacher, this book takes you through the basics of CNC fabrication, the design process, production, and construction of your own furniture designs. Through their AtFAB series of projects, accompanied by an overview of digital techniques and design thinking, this book introduces the knowledge and skills that you'll find widely applicable across all kinds of CNC projects. Not only will you learn how to design, fabricate, and assemble a wide range of projects, you'll have some great furniture to show for it!

While 3D printing has been grabbing headlines, high school, college, library, and other public makerspaces have been making things with CNC machines. With a CNC router, you can cut parts from strong, tactile, durable materials like wood. Once you have your design and material, you can set up your job and let it run. When it's done, you can put the project together for an heirloom of your own. While 3D printing can make exciting things with complex designs, CNCs are the digital workhorses that produce large-scale, long-lasting objects.

Gary Rohrbacher is an architect, professor, and partner in Filson and Rohrbacher, an architecture, design and research practice. He co-founded AtFAB in 2010 to produce designs for digital tools and networked manufacturing. Since then, nearly 10,000 AtFAB furniture pieces have been downloaded worldwide. AtFAB has been featured in The Economist, The Atlantic and Make:, and can be found in the permanent collection at Centre National Des Arts Plastiques in Paris.

Anne Filson is an architect and professor. Prior to co-founding Filson and Rohrbacher and AtFAB, she practiced architecture at renowned international firms and worked as a design strategist for IDEO. When she's not designing and making digitally fabricated furniture and objects, or envisioning future environments, she teaches architecture, design thinking and entrepreneurship.

Anna Kaziunas France is the Digital Fabrication Editor of Maker Media and the Dean of Students for the Fab Academy program. Formerly she taught the "How to Make (Almost) Anything" rapid prototyping course in digital fabrication at the Providence Fab Academy (at AS220). She is also the co-author of Getting Started with MakerBot and she compiled the Make: 3D Printing book. She loves Providence, Rhode Island and is in the process of scanning and printing it.