During my time with GMA design I experienced a large-scale workplace redundancy due to GM's closure of the Holden brand. Though this time was challenging I saw an opportunity to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and resources available at Holden Design. This project was an opportunity to develop skills in design for CNC manufacture, CAM programming and operating CNC milling machines.

This was not an exercise in efficient machining and refining processes for multiple production runs. This project was for me to understand the capabilities of the machine, a one off part celebrating and exemplifying the machining process. I wasn't going to do any finishing to this part, the machining marks tell the story of this design. 

The case is made from a single 6000 series aluminium billet. It was designed to suit any 150mm caliper, from a cheap $20 Craftright to a $300 Mitutoyo Digital set. 

The interior is suede with a foam backing, cut using a waterjet cutter. The hardware used is 10mm concealed brass hinges and 10x5mm neodymium magnets attaching to some countersunk set screws. By adjusting the depth of the set screw I can tune the clasping force of the magnets.

The top surface of the case incorporates a vintage Holden badge, retrieved from 3D scanning data used in the 2011 Holden Hurricane showcar rebuild. As we wanted a perfect surface finish straight off the machine, and we were not restricted by time or resources, there were no concessions taken with the CAM programming. The finish pass on the top surface took 9 and a half hours to complete with a 1mm ball nose cutter; definitely not the most efficient process but the surface finish results speak for themselves.

The bottom of the case has a embossed GMA Design logo. The bottom surface was actually re-machined as I was not satisfied with the original finish (see above). A large face mill was used skim the surface in 5 passes centered around the logo, leaving a clean mirror finish.