16. Wildcard week¶
Hero shot
Assignment Overview:¶
Design and produce something with a digital process (incorporating computer - aided design and manufacturing) not covered in in another assignment, documenting the requirements that your assignments meets, and icluding everything necessary to reproduce it. possibilities include (but are not limited to): Wildcard week examples.
This weeks’ assignment was for an individual to choose what you can make out of numeraous options.
I decided to do Molding and casting. To achieve this we are going to use Zorro the Foam cutter CNC machine designed by EnergyLab students of 2022 class during their Machine design week.
Work flow:¶
1. Designing the shape to be cut.¶
So, for the modeling I was interested with an Hourglass time. This reminds me the importance of time during this course.
Below you can see I made a 2D sketch in Fusion 360 but only half of it since that is what we want in inscape.
Below is just a preview of how its gonna look like but we just need to export a 2D Dxf file.
So, after making the sketch in fusion 360 we export the file to any directory folder in Dxf file format to be imported in inkscape.
So, go ahead open inkscape and File > import the DXF file from the stored folder.
After importing the file to inkscpe, then go to file > document properties to resize according to your shape size.
As you can see I have turned my shape to face opposite for the machine will do the opposite. And I have also removed the bar at the end we dont need it since our moldel is a round shape.
2. Generating G-code tool path for Zorro.¶
While there in inkscape click on the object to select all nodes. Then go to Path > object to path.
Now we go to Extension > G-code tools > Oriention point.
After setting the parameters you can observe the orientation points have been generated below.
Then go to Extension > G- code tools > tool library and select Cylinder.
Then go to Extension > G-code tools > path to G-code > preferences to set last parameters where we choose name of file and the diretory folder to find your G-code. But before validating it, make sure you are in path to g-code tab otherwise the G-code will not be generated no matter how many times you try.
And finally, we have gennerated our G-code tool path. The black arrows from below shows tool path.
Now if we can open our output folder that seleted indicated on the preference we can find our G-code there.
3. Foam cutting with Zorro¶
Below is Zorro the machine we are going to use for cutting the foam.
Zorro operates using Universal G-code Sender (UGS) Software. So, go ahead open Universal G-code Sender and import the G-code file you generated in inkscape.
Now place your foam approprietely on the machine ready to be cut.
Below you can Watch a short video of the machine cutting process
4. Molding and Casting¶
We need to put in place the necessary tools and equipments for the job without forgetting the safety attire.
Materials needed:¶
For this exercise we will need the following materials;
Safety attire, bow, Masking tape, Top Bond glue, water, paper, a pair of scissors, spoon, brush, styrofoam, and Cellulose Thinners.
The activity will involve paper mâché which will be achieved by the mixing of glue and water. below are the steps to follow.
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tep 1: Lap your mold with masking tape.¶
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Step 2: Smear with a little glue after lapping the tape.¶
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Step 3: Cut the strips of paper into smaller diameters.¶
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Step 4: Create the mixture of glue and water.¶
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Step 5: Soak the strips of paper in the mixture and lap the Object.¶
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Step 6: Dissolve the styrofoam.¶
Now let’s begin with step 1.
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Step 1: Lap your mold with clear masking tape.¶
Here we need to lap our object with a masking tape to prevent water contamination with the foam.
- Step 2: Smear with a little glue after lapping the tape.¶
Smearing with glue will help to stick the paper when we start lapping around.
Step 3: Cut the paper into smaller diameter.¶
The essence here is to have these papers in small sizes that will help us to lap easily and efficiently.
Step 4: Create the mixture of glue and water.¶
Step 5: Soak paper in the mixture and lap around the Object.¶
The next step is to lap the soaked papers around our object and brush continously with the glue water.
So, you can see how they look after lapping exercise. Here we need to wait for it to dry for us to do the last exercise. This might probably take you the whole day.
Step 6: Dissolve the styrofoam.¶
The last step is to dissolve the Styrofoam. Here we are trying to remove the original shape that was cut on the machine by dissolving it with Cellulose Thinners.
I used the drill to create a hall at the bottom where I pored the solvent to dissolve the Styrofoam.
below I am poring the chemical using a small tumbler glass.
After dissolving the styrofoam I put everything together as you can see below we have a complete product resembling an Hourglass time.
Files¶
What went well/what went wrong¶
Generally everything went well. The cutting machine was amazing it did a great job and we have learnt alot. Everything was new to me I did not knew I could make something like this out of paper as Paper Mache they call it. I had no Idea but now we got the new skill which is very interesting.
What went wrong
The Plan was to do this exercise using Fiberglass but unfortunately we don’t have in our Lab instead we have used paper.