The CNC Software Educational Division would like to thank all of the entrants and their instructors for their participation in this competition. Each year we look forward to receiving the entries and seeing what Mastercam students have been up to. We enjoy the parts and also getting to know the students through the information they send along with their entries.

We would also like to thank all of the judges that participated in this year’s competition. Without their help, the task of choosing a winner would be nearly impossible.

Secondary Division
1st Place
Paintball Gun Body
Skyler Reeves, Capital High School, Helena, Montana
In order to create his model, Skyler reverse engineered several different models, combining ideas and adding his own The judges were impressed by the complexity of the project. In order to create the model, Skyler used a number of different operations and put a lot of time and thought into the internal webbing. Furthermore, the project required that a number of different parts fit together to create the finished project, allowing little room for errors. Skyler’s write up did his part justice and showed that machining the model was more complicated than was initially apparent just from looking at it.

2nd Place
Model Ovation Guitar
Daniel LaCroix, Hamilton High School, Hamilton, Montana
While Daniel initially intended to make a full-size acoustic guitar, he found that the school’s mill was too small. Undaunted, he settled on creating a 10 inch scale model. To make the project more challenging, he decided to make the guitar using nine pieces separated by metal bands. Daniel also created a case that fits his guitar perfectly.

3rd Place
Knife
Michael Stringer, Capital High School, Helena, Montana
Although we prefer more ‘school friendly’ projects, the judges were thoroughly impressed with Michael’s knife. Created as a tool that would fit all of Michael’s needs, including camping and hunting, this multi-use knife features a custom fit handle, brass inlays on both sides, and a fair amount of creativity. He also showed off his precision machining skills by cutting the sharpest knife possible without doing any actual sharpening.

Postsecondary Division
1st Place
Buell Air Filter
Daniel McDonough, Erie Community College, Williamsville, New York
Created for an advanced CNC class, Daniel’s motorcycle air filter is a very high quality piece. Although this air filter does fit onto a Buell motorcycle, Daniel created a stand for it for the competition. This highly polished piece features both 2D and 3D toolpaths. With the growing popularity of motorcycle customization, this air filter fits right in.

2nd Place
Chess Set
Erich Schaefer, Southwestern Illinois College, Granite City, Illinois
This travel chess set, designed to fold and hold the pieces inside during transit, stood out from the many chess sets entered over the years. The judges were impressed with the streamlined appearance of the pieces, using brass and stainless steel, along with the amount of detail that was put into the board. To create the board, Erich used aluminum and inlaid brass to create the different colored squares.

View Photos of Past Entries Here