Press-fit Construction Kit
9/22/08

I decided to do the models in Solidworks, given my experience, and because this allows for easy 3D integration into an assembly, to see how your kit would come together.  I sketched each part (as a new Part), and linked values using the pull-down menu in the Smart Dimension dialog.  Note that if you only create a 2D sketch, you cannot link values or set a dimension as a dependent equation (at least I don't think so).  The advantage of this is that it allows you to change for example the thickness of your slots, for each part, by changing only one value.  It also allows you to easily change the scale of your part if you insert a linked scaling factor into the dimension equations.  I then chose to create a drawing from part, with a top view, and no text.  Note that in my version of SW (2007), there was also a document scaling factor that had to be changed manually to 1:1, in the properties dialog by clicking the sketch after it had been created as a drawing.  Somebody else didn't have this problem, so YMMV.  Save it as an AutoCAD .dxf or .dwg.  When you open up Corel, instead of using Open File, choose Import.  Otherwise Corel will interpret a line fill which you will have to get rid of manually. 

The first thing I did was to make a reference cutout with slots ranging from .14" to .165", by increments of .005".  This worked pretty well.  .14" seemed to fit the tightest, but got worn out significantly more by removal.  .16" and above were too loose.  .145" seemed to strike the right balance, though .15" also works. 

What I'm looking to make is a very tight set of structurally assembled pieces complemented by more organic and free-form appendages and surfaces.  The first thing I thought of when thinking about the construction kit is an angular bonzai tree, with silvered glass that could catch and throw the light, especially among the leaves. 

The first set of parts it occurred to me to make as a test are shown in the picture below.  There are segments of this geometry which are a bit difficult to assemble.  Also, it's important to give a sufficiently large chamfer.  Any sharply angled cardboard is going to bend very easily.  These were intended to be structural pieces, but they were a little hard to put together in places, and I didn't like how they were supported by their points at the base.



The next step I took was to build a scaled up version of these pieces.  Instead of being supported by a point, they would be supported by a face and incorporate a number of connectors and aesthetic pieces to fit around them.  The core construction piece can be seen in the bottom right corner of the picture below.  The diamond shaped pieces connect these construction pieces, and the semicircular pieces are meant to smooth the construction into a more organic shape and to provide a place to attach the leaves of my bonzai tree.





What I liked about having so many pieces is that you could build and adapt the pieces kind of whimsically.  I used structural pieces aesthetically and aesthetic pieces structurally, and what I came up with doesn't look periodic. 

To finish the tree I made two slotted branches.  One of these branches has leaves and shoots, and the other has only a lone leaf at the end.  This is either poetic or because I ran out of leaves.  Pictured below is the final result.



I got told it was a dinosaur or a dragon.  Also, this final result doesn't really lend itself to playing with light, unless its in the trunk and roots area.  Originally I had pictured something with much thicker leaves and branches.  However, those parts were the most tedious to make and assemble.