Final Project

Pride Flag Vertical Chessboard

The Idea

Sometime last year, Dawson took down the Transgender Pride flag that was hanging in the Learning Commons. Me and the other members of the GSA were heartbroken, and we didn't know what to do, since it seemed no faculty member knew what happened to the flag.

For my project, I decided to make a piece in the same colors as the Trans flag and put it up in the same place it once was. I also realized that Chess Club (which I am also part of) meets in the same area, so I chose to make a piece as a gift to both them and GSA by making it into a chess board.

Board Design

Pieces Design

After designing the bases in Illustrator, I moved to model the board in Fusion360

Base Model

Model w/Toolpaths

After modelling, I cut the piece out on the CNC machine and moved to painting

Painting

After the painting, it was time for the hardest part of the project, and one I was unfamiliar with: Pouring liquid epoxy

Epoxy Pouring Round 1

I started with the blue squares...

Epoxy Pouring Round 2

..then moved to pink once I was finished

Reflection:

What was the best question you were asked during the showcase?
1. The best question I was asked was the significance of the colors. I explained my reasoning behind the pride theme, and the guest was very happy to understand and see my involvement in the community.
What was the hardest thing to explain during the showcase and how could you have done it better?
1. The hardest thing to explain was how I planned to keep the pieces from falling off of the board. I had a few ideas and I bounced between them without clarifying my final plan. I could have chosen one idea and stuck with it.
What went well during this project?
1. I was able to accomplish what I had planned to do and I learned a new skill in the process (Pouring epoxy).
What challenges did you encounter?
1. My first round of Epoxy Pouring came out wrong, and some didn't set fully. Thankfully, Mr. Supiro was able to help me fix it.
If you were to do this project again, what would you change?
1. I would make the pieces cutouts instead of cards, my knuckles scrape against the board when I try to pick them up.

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