After 2+ years, I finally finished all 151 Gen 1 Pokemon as solid oak coasters
This was over two years in the making and I finally finished the whole original Pokedex - all 151, Bulbasaur to Mew.
The idea: I grew up on the Gen 1 games and wanted something that hits that nostalgia but actually looks like a nice piece of design - something you'd leave out on a desk or shelf, clean and a little grown-up instead of childish. Part of why it took so long is I wanted it to be a real product I could grow, and 151 different designs is a lot of ground to cover.
Wood side: each one starts as a full oak plank. I rip it down and take it to about 1/4" thick, then run it through the drum sander to get it dead flat, smooth, and to final thickness before I cut the blanks that go on the CNC.
Computer side: every Pokemon's pixel sprite gets turned into vectors, then I set the toolpaths in VCarve Pro - a 90 degree V-bit to carve the pixel art, a pocket pass to flatten the floor, and a small finishing endmill to clean the inside corners a V-bit can't reach on its own. A profile pass cuts the rounded-square outline, and the number and name get engraved on the side like a Pokedex entry.
Color: I started out hand-coloring each one, but across 151 that was taking forever - so I just got a eufyMake E1 UV printer that prints the color straight down into the carve, so it sits below the surface instead of on top. The gold faceting is just the carved oak catching the light.
Two years, but Gen 1 is finally done. Happy to get into any part of it - wood prep, bits and feeds, the VCarve setup, or the finish.