Games You Can Carve with the X-Carve CNC Machine and Easel Software

We're heading into spring, but with the weather still cool – or downright cold in some places – it’s still not time to hang out outside. Carving games with the X-Carve CNC machine and Easel software is a great way to spend time indoors. If you have some ideas, you can create them Easel. But, if you just want to get carving, here are some projects you can import into your Easel account to get started faster.

3D Connect Four

An old favorite was the Connect Four game. You can make your own 3D version of the game with a CNC machine and CNC software. You’ll need 1/8-inch bamboo plywood that 8 inches by 12 inches, 3/4-inch bamboo plywood that is 8 inches by 12 inches, a piece of 1/2-inch hard maple that is 6 inches by 12 inches, a piece of 1/8-inch walnut that is 6 inches by 12 inches, a piece of 1/2-inch walnut that is 6 inches by 12 inches, and a piece of 3/4-inch walnut plywood that is 8 inches by 12 inches. Cut out the pieces using the CNC software and CNC machine and follow the instructions to put the game together.

Wood Bricks

wood toy bricks carved with the x-carve cnc machine

Instead of spending tons of money on blocks for the little ones, you can make them yourself. Using two pieces of 3/4-inch plywood glued together, you can get bricks that are 1 1/2-inches thick that are perfect for stacking and knocking over. You can take it a step further and make Jenga-sized blocks to make your own Jenga game.

Peg Game and Maze

If you’ve always loved playing those peg games you can find in Cracker Barrel, you can now make your own when you use Inventables’ Easel CNC software. You’ll need a piece of 1/2-inch thick hard maple that is 6 inches by 12 inches, a piece of 1/2-inch walnut that is 6 inches by 12 inches, and a solid carbide 2 flute straight end mill bit for this project. While the person who made this game painted his pegs all black, you could paint your pegs with a variety of colors. When you add a stain to the game board, your project will look perfect and give you hours of fun.

Tic Tac Toe Power Hour

wood tic tac toe game carved with cnc machine

If you have the CNC X-Carve router bundle, you can easily make this tic tac toe game set. Make the Xs and Os as tall as you want by cutting out several and gluing them together. Set the software to cut the board with the Xs and Os overlapping each other. Don’t forget to make them a little bigger than the Xs and Os you carve out – the playing pieces need to fit into the cutouts on the playing board.

Take this game a step further and make your own checkerboard and checkers! Use the Easel software to create a cut-out design for the borders of the checkerboard and to cut out the checkers. If you use light-colored hardwood, such as maple, for the board, you can use black walnut and red oak for the checkers. Adding a little stain will help set the colors of the wood off.

The project plans for these games can be saved directly to your Easel account. From there you can start carving or add your own touches to the designs. If you have some of your own game designs add them to the CNC community by sharing them in the projects section.

If you are looking for materials for the projects, check out the hardwoods we have in stock.

Source: inventables