4. Computer controlled cutting¶

This week I worked on defining my final project idea and started to getting used to the documentation process.

assignment group assignment: characterize your lasercutter’s focus, power, speed, rate, kerf, joint clearance and types individual assignment: cut something on the vinylcutter design, lasercut, and document a parametric construction kit, accounting for the lasercutter kerf, which can be assembled in multiple ways, and for extra credit include elements that aren’t flat

Group assignment: characterize your lasercutter’s focus, power, speed, rate, kerf, joint clearance and types¶

Individual assignment: Cut something on the Vinyl cutter¶

Being the mega creative genius that I am. I chose to cut the logos of all the things involved in this Fab Academy journey. Starting with the Fab Lab logo.

We have an awesome pink Sillohette Cameo here at the BOLD Lab, and the great thing about the Sillouhette is the extremely user friendly software which is free to download and use. I imported the image and used the trace function to create a vector for cutting.

Next we need to fix the material we want to cut to the flexible base. Obviously, the shinier the better.

Next we let the machine do it’s magic.

I found it a bit challenging removing the cut out shape from the adhesive backing without damaging the finer cuts. Once I had removed the design I had three pieces that were loose and there was no way I could stick them on as perfectly as they were cut.

I took some masking take and used it as a medium to transfer the stickers we just cut.

It proved extremely helpful as we were able to both remove the sticker without any damage but also transfer it to the intended surface of my laptop while keeping the design perfectly aligned.

parametric kit¶

I as I’m sure many of my fellows with whom I share in this Fabacademy quest enjoy and have been fascinated and at times captured by the creation and evolution of the artform of Video Games. The ability to create a alternate universe fabulous and strange with technology that we dream of in today’s current era is one of the factors that led me to this attempt to seek the tools that the Fabacademy gives us which we can then go on and create and innovate.

One of the games which has taken up alot of my attention (which I am sorely missing due to having to allocate extra study hours) Is Bungie studios’s Epic; “Destiny”. In the game loot drops are contained in these “engrams” of which you can see an example above. They are pentagonal dodecahedrons and i think this can serve as a great basis for my parametric kit as I think if you have enough of these pentagon shapes and can pressfit them together in different ways they could make a fun toy to tinker with.

And so we begin. I attempted to use Cuttlexyz but found it a bit clunky so I went back to old faithful Fusiom 360. We start by making a simple pentagram and I decided on a radius of 35mm as its a handy size and would allow for me to cut the 12 necessary sides from a single sheet of our 3mm plywood base.

I then used the change arameters function to add the vaious parameters of the shape that I would be using such as thickness, diamete, side length etc which would all assist me in designing the rest of the shape.

I used the parameters to design the cut outs for the sides of the pentagon and then used the pattern function to arragnge the notches in the middle of each side of the pentagon.

In an attempt not to waste material I would cut out the connecting pieces from the center of the shape. I created a smaller pentagon in the center using twice the depth of the notches in the sides as defined in my parameters, and using the dimentions tool projected the side length out created two points and drew a line.

I used this line to freate a mirror of the pentagon far enough away from the central pentagon so as not to compromise the strength of the overall kit.