This is the final laser cutting project that I made: the Tobin Memorial Bridge, spanning the Mystic River. The model is roughly 750mm long, and barely fit in the laser cutter.
It took me a while to decide what to make, and at one point I wanted to make a set of puzzle pieces that one could build 3D structures with. This art structure was one of my inspirations.
I imported a photo of the Tobin bridge into SolidWorks, and then used that as a rough guide to create the bridge.
When model was complete, and I was ready to start laser cutting cardboard I first made a few test pieces to figure out the optimal gap size. My model would be joined with friction fit slots, so getting it just right was important.
Due to the number of tabs involved, it was a little finnikey to get the parts to connect. It helped that the tabs had chamfers on the edges, and that all the measurements were correct.
