FAB LAB Khairpur Sukkur IBA Sukkur IBA University
Merit, Quality, Excellence

WEEK-17

Wildcard Week

Lecture & Recitaton of a Week:

Lecture on 16th of May, 2018: Wildcard week by Neil Gershenfeld

Recitation on 21st of May, 2018: FABx

Tasks for a Week

For making a test design we made a simple curvy shape in solidworks.The Curve was saved as .stl file and the tool path was generated in Vcarve. All the steps for making the composite are given below and also illustrated through pics.

Initially, a new Vcare file was opened and the dimensions were set according to the size of the model (370 by 370mm).Then by importing the Component/ 3D model , the model is imported. Here we make some settings as described in the video attachd for individual assignment section.

The 3D model is being set in the proper plane

In the next step we place the model at center so that the model comes inside the dimesnions we set.

The 3D model is placed at the center

From the toolpath tab, we generate the toolpath for roughing and finsihing.

The roughing is being done with the tool foam roughing 0.5 inch tool which is already added in the tool list

The preview of model after roughing

The preview of model while finishing

The next step was to cut the model on the 50mm foam, the toolpaths were generated and then used in cutting on shopbot.

shopbot at work of roughing the model

We are using Jute as the fiber, we already cut the two pices on Laser cutter. The arrangement of the composite is shown below:

The arrangement of different layers for making composite

The arrangement of vacum for the model

The model is being put in the vaccum for curing for at least one day

The model ws put for curing for the whole day and then the next day, we removed the mold and removed all the extra layers.

The mold is removed and the hardened composite is ready

Individual Assignment

Reading Datasheet

I extract some important points from both Safety and Technical datasheets of Epoxy Solution we are using to complete oure this week task:

Part A

here are some safety measures and warnings before using this material:

Part B

here are some safety measures and warnings before using this material:

Important Points from Technical Datasheets

Designing 3D Model

I design a plate in this week for safely place my Wallet, keys and other stuff. I used SolidWorks to design my model and below I mentioned steps:

Milling

For this week assignments we are using High Density Foam which has thickness of 50mm. For milling high density foam we are using Shopbot (to understand how to work with Shopbot please visit Computer-Controlled Machining). VCarve Pro is used to generate G-Code for Shopbot

The steps to generate G-Code mentioned below:

Fabric and Composites

I am using double layer of fabric in my assignment, it makes the surface more hard. The fabric are in arrangement that one layer is set to another with 45 degree of angle.

milled foam hero shot
milled foam hero shot

Cutting Fabric of mold size

A fabric weighted for finding the quantity of ratio of Resin and Hardner

weighting fabric

The ratio of Resin and Hardner is mixed in 2:1 and the total quantity is 3xweight of a material which is 150gm approx

mixing material

The plastic layer is covered on mold so it safe from Resin and can be use again

plastic on mold

Paste the resin dipped fabric on Mold then again make a layer of plastic on it and squeeze it over surface so it can attain a shape

setting fabric on mold

Place a breather and put the whole experiment into air bag which is ued to suck the air and build pressure on composite to attain the shape.

breather and put it in bag

We wait a day to dry the material and the result was hard like rock

end result

"Click here"to download all files of this week

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