W3 computer-controlled cutting

W3. design, make and document a press-fit construction kit

design + laser cutting

 

This week we had to design a press fit construction kit to experiment with the assembly of a structure. I used Autocad and Rhino to draw a 2D design of a form that could follow a list of requirements.

  • simple form or geometry
  • allows to have a multiple direction assembly
  • minimal waste of material
  • it could be one piece with little variations

So, what I did was select an octagon and cut pieces in every side,  to have 8 different possible directions to connect with other forms. I am using 4mms cardboard so every piece for the subtraction of material has to have 4 mms of width.

Captura de pantalla 2015-02-16 a las 15.12.58

IMG_4289

I started drawing in Autocad the octagon and the different subtraction forms,  then exported the drawing in to Rhino to use the boolean command to select the final form. After that I duplicated the forms and design an element to connect them.

Also I propose a configuration of rectangles with some subtraction of squares to experiment with chamfer edges. This rectangles will be constructing a box with my name initials.

Rhino file press fit ak.3dm

16545028475_c2de7b77f6_o
16543367701_38cbcc85d8_o

For the laser cutting I export the drawing to a .dxf format and then used the command “overkill” to clean the drawing.  Then I search for the cardboard parameters used with the universal laser cutter  (40% power, 42mm/s).

And then the results!

Aspects to consider for the future:

  • The cardboard was a little bit uneven because of the weather – check first
  • Make a path for the cutting, cutting the big pieces made impossible to cut the little pieces.
  • For some pieces like the box, I should make the joints a little bit tighter (+0.01mms)