Week #1 - Journal
Ideation 💡
Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)
"Luke, I am Your Father" — Darth Vader
The first week assignment of the maker diploma was to design and fabricate a single piece 2D model to laser cut it and a 3D model to 3D print it in the lab. We also had to pick the designs from an open-source CAD library. I picked the design for the 3D printing from Thingiverse in an .STL format. And for the laser cutting, I browsed 3axis.co and picked a 2D model in a .DXF format.
Although there were some requirements for the assignment, picking the designs to be fabricated was our choice. I really liked that because it gave me the space to be creative and get excited about the final products.
I wanted to create something that reflects my personality and proudly put/hang it in my office/room. I went through pages and pages of designs until I picked the below:
Mini Vader from Thingiverse
Wolf Wall Art Polygon from 3axis.co
Laser Cut Coaster from 3axis.co
Tool Chain 🛠️
Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?
3D Printing
Software: Ultimaker-Cura Software
Machine: PRUSA i3 Mk3/Mk3s
Material: Black PLA 3D Printer Filament
Laser Cutting
Software: LaserWork V6
Machine: El Malky ML149 CO2 Laser Cutter
Material: Plywood 3mm Sheet (50cm x 30cm)
Design/Preparation Process 👩💻
Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?
3D Printing
I used Ultimaker-Cura to prepare the Darth Vader design to 3D print the model.
I started by dragging and dropping the .STL file into Cura, then I clicked slice. The design was too big (the time was almost 7 hours), so I scaled it down to 30%. Also, I changed the print settings to the following:
Resolution: Draft - 0.2 mm
Infill: 10%
Support: ticked the box ✓
Adhesion: ticked the box ✓
After that, I sliced the model and the result was 35 minutes and 5g. Finally, I exported the file in .gcode format, named it as the estimated time and weight of the print, and put it on an SD card.
Laser Cutting
I used LaserWork V6 to prepare the Wolf Wall Art Polygon and Coaster to laser cut the designs.
I started by importing the .DXF designs into LaserWork, then I scaled them down a little and moved them to be right next to the origin (the green square). Also, I set the settings to the following:
Black for cut mode with speed 30 and power 60
Red for scan mode (the wolf's eyes) with speed 250 and power 12
After that, I checked the preview and everything looked good. Finally, I saved the file in .rld format and I put it on a flash memory.
Development/Implementation Process ⚙️
Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?
To fabricate/print the 3D design, I did the following steps:
I inserted the SD card that has my sliced model into the 3D printer
I clicked the control knob to access the printer's settings and selected my file name (35mins_5g_Vader.gcode)
The Fab Lab specialist guided me through setting the printer's speed and changing the filament
I chose a black filament and I cut its end to have a sharp angle
I waited for a couple of minutes to preheat the bed and print out what was left from the old filament
I started printing.
To fabricate/laser cut the 2D designs, I did the following steps:
I inserted the flash memory that has my designs into the Fab Lab specialist's laptop
Turned the laser cutting machine on and connected it to the laptop
The specialist checked that there are no construction lines in the design and moved the 2 designs to the edge and left 2mm gap between them
I downloaded the file to the machine and I used the arrow keys to select my file
I placed a plywood sheet in the laser cutter and made sure it was straight
I adjusted the focus and fixed the laser nozzle
I made sure that the origin is in the right place (where the machine will start cutting from) and pressed the pulse button to place a small dot on the sheet
I tracked the frame of the laser cut to make sure it will fit the plywood sheet
I closed the machine's cover and pressed on start
It took 8 minutes and 14 seconds to finish laser cutting.
Overcoming Challenges 🥷
What kinds of challenges or problems did you face while doing the assignment, tutorials, or exercises? How did you solve them? Did you ask for help from an instructor or peer? Please provide a link to the tutorial or article that you used to solve your problem (if any)
The first challenge that I faced was that LaserWork V6 only runs on Windows and not Mac. I had to look online for a similar software, but it was too complicated and I was already familiar with LaserWork from the videos, and I liked its simple interface. Then I downloaded a virtual machine (Parallels) to run Windows on Mac, but it took a lot of my disk space and made my laptop freeze and run slowly, so I couldn't do anything on it. The last resort that I had is to fix an old Windows laptop I have. So I did fix it, I downloaded LaserWork, and now it works perfectly.
The second challenge was with the laser cut coaster. It was very hard to remove the small pieces that were cut from the coaster — they were stuck. I struggled to get them out and not to break the fragile coaster. The Fab Lab specialist helped me and gave me tools that made it a lot easier. I used a wood chisel, screwdriver, cutter, and pen to push the small pieces out and smooth out the splinters. Luckily, I was able to remove everything with the coaster intact.
Final Project 🙌🏽
How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?
Smartphone Camera Rig
Laser cutting and 3D printing are essential tools that I will be using for my final project, and they will help me construct my ideas and make adjustments.
My final project idea is to make a smartphone camera rig with a stabilizer, slider (pan and tilt), tripod, LED lights, and mic for vlogging & live streaming.