Personalized Wooden Cat Bowl Feeder

by davethewoodworker in Workshop > Woodworking

1703 Views, 30 Favorites, 0 Comments

Personalized Wooden Cat Bowl Feeder

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Personalized Cat Bowl Feeder

I don't know how many people on Instructables are Cat lovers, but I am. I have had cats, since I was a little boy, and my current cat, named Tiny, well she is special. So I decided to make her a personalized Cat Bowl feeder.

In this Instructable I will try and show you how I made it, I have also uploaded the video from my Youtube channel.

What you will need:

CNC Router, I used the X-Carve CNC

Cad/Cam program, I used Vectric Aspire

Wood 24" x 10" x 3/4", I used Maple

90* V-Bit

1/4" Endmill Bit

Table Router with 1/8" Round over bit

Sander and sandpaper

Minwax Gunstock Finish

Minwax Prestain wood conditioner

Clear Gloss Sealer

Kreg Jig

Clamps

Pocket Screws

Screw Driver and drill

Paint brushes

Tack Cloth

Paper Towels or Rags

2 Stainless Cat Bowls from Food City

Black & Pink craft paint

Design and Preview

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Profile Cutout.jpg
V-Carve Paws.jpg
Profile holes.jpg
Profile Tiny.jpg
V-Carve Cat Face.jpg
V-Carve Meow.jpg
Preview Toolpaths.jpg

I designed my project in Vectric Aspire, after I made my vectors, I then added Toolpaths as shown in the pictures.

After all toolpaths was made, I ran the Preview, to see what it comes out like, if it's good, then we save toolpaths and begin to carve.

Carve

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Now is time to carve, after clamping my stock in the CNC, I first used a 90* V-Bit to carve the Paw prints, her name and face. Then installed the 1/4" Endmill and profiled the the holes and cutout the parts, leaving tabs to hold the stock together.

Take Apart

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Now use a small saw to cut the tabs off, to release the parts

Route Edges

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Now I installed a 1/8" Roundover bit into my Table Router, then took all the pieces over it, putting a slight round edge over the pieces, plus it also cleans up the tabs.

Sand

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Then we sand all the edges, plus the face parts that are going to show.

Pocket Holes

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Then I used my Kreg pocket hole jig, clamped the jig to the stock and drill pocket holes.

Pre-Stain

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After blowing off all the dust, wipe it down with a Tack cloth, then apply a coat of Minwax Prestain wood condtioner. Allow it to set for about 15 minutes before going to next step.

Stain

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Now apply a coat of Minwax Gunstock finish, let it set for about 15 minutes, then wipe off the excess.

For a darker color, reapply a second or third coat, to get the desired look for you. Then allow the parts to dry overnight.

Clear Coat

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After the stain has dried overnight, spray a couple coats of clear sealer, then allow it to dry overnight.

Paint

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Now take the Craft paint and a small paint brush, and paint the Cat Paws, Face and lettering as shown in the pictures.

Sand Again

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After the Craft paint dried overnight, take a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and gently go over the entire piece, removing any paint on the top edges. Then wipe down with a Tack cloth to remove any left over dust.

Note don't sand too much or you will need to reapply stain.

Final Finish

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Now spray a couple coats of Clear gloss finish and let dry.

Assembly

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Now clamp your parts and screw together.

Cat Approved

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Now add the bowls, food and water. Then get the Cat to approved your personalized Cat feeder, I thank she likes it.

Thanks for checking out my Instructable