Machining and Add ons¶
Box for tennis balls¶
I decided to create this box like what I did in week 7.
In Fusion 360, I designed the box according to the dimensions of 12 inches x 9 inches x 6 inches. Here are the entire dimensions in mm.
Then, I created the tabs for my tab box:
I extruded the box up to the thickness of the wood, of which I measured to be 12.0mm:
There is the full box dimensions and the completed design:
I imported by file into Aspire as a .dxf file, and joined the open vectors by selecting all and using the panel below:
Then, I created dog bone joints for the edges of my file:
Then, I went to the profile toolpath tab and selected the outer edges to cut:
This is the 3d rendering of the toolpath:
I also included tabs along the profile toolpath so that the wood will stay in place:
I used what I learned from week 7 and chose the right settings for the quarter inch drill bit.
However, Mr. Dubick told me that my box design is inefficient and that I needed the box sides to be flush with one another. I ran a cardboard test to see what he meant:
Apparently, I cannot have cut holes in the big rectangle at the bottom, or that will leave an overhang around the edges. So, I will redesign the box and CNC it out later.
Changing the Box¶
The box dimensions weren’t correct in my first design, and so I had to change them. The plan was was put 2 tennis balls in the width, 5 along the length, and 4 along the height. The tennis ball diameter was shorter than I expected, and so the box ended up fitting nicely.
Mr. Dubick also pointed out that my current design was problematic because of the overlapping sides, and the bottom of the box would jut out.
Instead, he recommended a tab box where the tabs are
Here is the box layout:
Using Aspire, I created a profile toolpath, and here it is:
I used a wood CNC machine called the ShopBot to cut out my box on 1/4 inch plywood. Then, I glued it together using wood glue and with the aid of clamps:
Laser Cutting¶
I created a simple rastering image of a tennis ball on my box and rastered my name. This process was really simple and all I did was to create a bitmap using the LineArt function in Coreldraw:
Then, the rastering was done:
