This week was about laser and vinyl cutting machines. We were introduced with both machines and sent towards our mission to build our first laser / vinyl cut prototype.
I need a clothes stand, lets try and make it :)
Tipalways measure your material before you start working! build a small version of the same joints you plan to use - test them, make adjustments, test again and only then continue working. otherwise, you'll spend time redoing something you already have done - that sucks!
Problems
- how the hell do I connect two parts
- how to create extruded curves in SolidWorks
- using the easiest solution - press-fit. Next project i'll try a more advance technique..
- 3d-drawings - draw a spline - make sure it's well connected - extrude boss/base it (make sure it's intersecting only two axises)
I first set the cardboard height for something wrong - 1cm -> why? well because the ruler I used from my office apparently doesn't show centimeters! there goes an hour work..
[day later]
It looks good, everything is in place and seems to connect right. I created a simple video animation and an exploded view to learn another feature in SolidWorks - fun :). One caveat, it seems that I can't create a radial exploded view and had to select each item separately (that wasn't fun).
I exported from SolidWorks to .AI and in a min i'll try to open it in inkscape to convert it to .SVG.
Tomorrow i'll try to cut it - crossing fingers it will go well.
[day later]
4.4mm is too wide for press-fit. I tested 4mm and then 3.8mm which seems to be perfect for the job. It took me about 3 hours to construct the thing and here are my thoughts:
- laser printing takes time - be prepared to stay there for a while
- if you do want to save time, test for perfect settings
- when designing, always think about the material you're going to use. I made some parts too thin and therefore they might tare unfortunately
- be sure to schedule time on the machine in advance
next week is electronics!!!
