The third assignment is to design, make, and document a press-fit construction kit.
For this assignment I designed a parametric lamp. I used "Rhino","Grasshopper" to design the form of the lamp and the finger joints.
//DESIGN PROCESS:
Various parametric shapes were designed and tested for the following qualities:
Size/weight (has to be big enough to fit around a light bulb but not too big)
Shape (has to look like a lamp shade)
Center of gravity (so that the lamp hangs well)
Various abstract/subjective aesthetic qualities
Location of holes/openings to create interesting shadows .
A material that would fit the above qualities, but also be suitable for press-fitting and laser cutting was chosen. The material chosen was polypropylene plastic(1.2mm)
//SOFTWARE
/Rhino 3D
/Grasshopper were used to:
develop the shapes,
decide where to place the holes (the effect of the missing material from the holes was considered in the center of gravity calculated),
decide where to place the positive and negative press-fit connections,
decide where engrave the material for easy folding, and the develop the cut files.
The final product was intended to look like it was a foldable “origami” lamp shade made up of triangular sides, with a single press fit connection along the entire length of the lamp.
//FABRICATION PROCESS :
The lamp consists of a three flat sheets of material (polypropylene 1.2mm) to make 11 sequentially numbered strips that are folded and pressed together with the previous and next strip, to come up with a continuous abstract form. The last strip connects to the first strip to result in a closed shape. A laser cutter was used to cut out the strips and to engrave the fold locations.
ADVICE for the LASER CUTTING and SETTINGS:
I have used three layers, one for cutting and two for engraving. For cutting(red color on cut files) I have used, Power:85 and Speed:20 For engraving I have used two different settings according to the depth of the engraving required to fold the sheet (valley and mountain folds). For valley folds(green color on cut files) I have used Power:40 and Speed:60 and for the mountain folds (blue color on cut files) Power:20 and Speed:80
//ASSEMBLY PROCESS:
The scored locations were successively folded. On each triangular side, the hypotenuse fold was folded “in”, while the other two sides were folded “out.” Initially, this was accidentally done in reverse, resulting in a more rounded final shape, that was essentially the “inside-out” version of what was designed. Every fold then had to be re-folded the correct way. The 11 sequentially numbered strips are folded and pressed together with the previous and next strip to come up with a continuous abstract form. The last strip connects to the first strip to result in a closed shape. I have connected them by placing the finger joints inside but you can also keep the outside for a more organic form. It works in both ways.
Cut Files: