CNC Tool Tag
2016 || polypropylene
The CNC Tool Tag is an injected molded project that began after conducting a manufacturing assessment of Skybox Imaging’s machine shop. I discovered their machinist was using paper tags bound to CNC tool holders with rubber bands as a way of presenting each different tool’s information in an accessible yet removable manner. While clever, this became a problem once the rubber bands became brittle and broke after continuous exposure to CNC cutting fluid and oils, leaving a useless assortment of paper lying at the base of tool racks. I wanted to create a more robust yet still easily removable solution, so I designed a plastic tag that could snap onto/off of the tool holders. After considering fit and function, I modeled and 3D printed my first prototypes, and I eventually created tooling and molded parts once I finalized the features. My hope was for students at the Stanford Product Realization Lab to use these tags as a way to improve CNC setup workflow and better optimize their time working on projects.
