Milling About

The next part of this project was to design and mill my own dog tag out of metal. First, I sketched a design for my dog tag. I choose to mill a bone with the word "woof" in it, as well as the windows logo.

Then, I used CorelDRAW to design the dog tag and export it as an SVG file. I opened a template of the tag in CorelDRAW, used the "circle" and "line" tools to create the bone and used the "virtual segment delete" tool to remove unnecessary paths. Then, I used the "text" tool to write "woof," and I imported an image of the windows logo. I used the "bitmap trace" tool to convert the windows logo from a raster image to a bitmap. Lastly, I clicked "Object > Join Curves" and "Object > Convert to Curves" for all objects in the design to ensure that the design would cut successfully. Lastly, I exported the design as an SVG file and uploaded it to Google Drive.

Next, I watched several tutorials and read articles about how to operate the milling machines. Afterwards, I created a workflow for operating the milling machines:

Shortly after, following the workflow above, I milled my design on a metal dog tag. I removed the template outline, downloaded the SVG file in the Bantam software, configured the settings, mounted the 80 degree bit, and clicked "print." Below is a picture of the final design:

The next step was to design a chocolate mold out of wax. First, I used notability to sketch several ideas:

Then, I modeled this design in Fusion 360. First, I created a plane offset from the XY origin plane. On this elevated plane I sketched a circle, and I sketched a smaller circle on the XY origin plane. Then, I used the "loft" tool to connect these sketches and form a solid body. Next, I used the fillet tool to smooth out any sharp edges. Finally, I created a solid block the same size as the wax that will be used to mill the mold and used the "combine" tool to cut out the shape of the chocolate from the box, creating the mold.

The final part of this project was to laser cut a valentine's day chocolate box without using tabs. This challenge taught me how to utilize "scoring" when laser cutting, a technique where a material is only cut partially through, making a crease over which it can bend. To design my box I used CorelDRAW. First, I used the "2-point line" tool to create the basic shape and the "virtual segment delete" tool to delete any unnecessary paths. Then, I colored all lines I wanted to score red and ensured that all lines were hairline. Afterwards, I imported a raster picture of a heart and used the "bitmap trace" tool so that the heart can be engraved on my box. Also, the first time I designed it, the box was too wide to fit on one sheet, so I recreated the entire design with smaller dimensions. This challenge taught me the important of careful planning before designing. Lastly, I uploaded the design to Google Drive.

Then, I laser cut my box out of cardboard to ensure that the design worked successfully. Below are several videos of laser cutting and assembly. I used hot glue to keep the sides of the box upright and used tape to assemble the lid of the box - I laser cut two pieces for the lid. I square with a heart engraved on it and a smaller, outline of a square. When I place these shapes ontop of each other, it keeps the lid from falling off of the box. Also, throughout the entirety of this design, I had to keep the material thickenss in mind to avoid overhangs.

Lastly, I laser cut the design out of cardstock. I originally forgot to account for the change in thickness between the cardboard and the paper, so I needed to recut the design one final time on paper. Below are pictures of laser cutting and my final result.

Overall, in this project, I had two major take aways: I learned how to use score lines on the laser cutter and the importance of accounting for material thickness. I will be sure to keep these ideas in mind throughout future projects.