The goal for this project was to bring some greenery into my workspace, along with combining my interests in digital fabrication.

This design is based around the use of a CNC machine and 3D printer, but if you don’t have access to this, I have a list of other ways to create something similar.

Step 1: Tools and Machinery

The initial design was to use a CNC and 3D printing, but later in the instructions I suggest other ways of creating a similar outcome.

If you want to create the planter using a CNC and 3D printer, the tools you will require:

18 mm Plywood
Ozmo Wax
Wood Glue
CNC Machine
6 mm End Mill
6 mm Bull Nose
3D Printer
PLA

Other options are at the end.

Step 2: Designing Using Fusion 360

This screen recording goes through the process of creating the planter pen pot.

Step 3: Final Outcome From the CNC

This is the outcome from the CNC once it has been glued together and has 2 coats of Ozmo wax applied

Step 4: 3D Printing the Plant Pot

The 3D Plant pots are optional if you don’t have a plant pot or one that you like.
The most important thing is for the plant pot to have 3 perimeters; this will allow the print to be watertight. When I printed these plant pots I used:

0.3 mm Layer high
3 perimeters (have 3 perimeters makes the walls of the planter solid)
20% infill (to support the base)

Step 5: Other Ways of Creating the Planter

With this example we used a CNC machine to create the planter, but the same design could be archived with the use of:

Router

You could print out the DXF Files or a 1:1 scale drawing of the planter layers and use a router to carve into the wood. Make sure to be safe as this could be dangerous.

Laser Cutter

If you have access to a Laser Cutter you could adjust your design to use more thinner layer, and build you design this way.

3D Printing

If you have access to a 3D printer you could combine all of the bodies that in this example are CNC'ed and then 3D print these to create your planner.