Digitally Crafted Cutlery

In early 2019 I was given three days access to Origin, a handheld precision router by Shaper Tools. In order to make the most of the rare opportunity, I decided to challenge man and machine with an experimental project. I began a design sprint to see if I could produce an elegant cutlery set using multisided machining to produce three-dimensional contours.

I designed and made a three piece cutlery set including a knife, fork, and spoon. Each item of cutlery was made from a different material to create colour gradient from knife to spoon. The knife was made with Sapele, a common African wood species. The fork was made from Beech, it’s high strength and toughness making it an excellent choice for the fork tines. The spoon was made from tulipwood one of the most prolific hardwood species from the U.S. hardwood forests.

I wanted to create a minimal cutlery set with subtle contouring and geometric details. I used a combination of fineliner sketching and model making to gradually refine the form of each piece. I wanted the cutlery to appear delicate but feel substantial in hand. The handles were long and straight allowing users to get a strong, confident grip.

I used a combination of Fusion 360 and Adobe Illustrator to convert my design intent into a digital format which could interpreted by Origin. The 3D model was used to generate two dimensional projections of the cutlery on each face (the top, both sides, and the bottom). These projections were used to create cutting files which could be machined into four sides of a square piece of stock to produce a three-dimensional cutting effect.