Embedded Files
First Steps
Dealing with my final project for this class, my own goals needed some more ambition than the previous project. This meant my planning for the project could be a lot more "aggressive" than previous projects. My own brainstorming took a fairly long time, but I ended up deciding to pursue a photo collage putting a photo of myself onto an album cover. On the left were the were the photos I ended up mixing. On the right is one of the scrapped ones used for inspiration
Roadmapping
Undertaking a project like this meant that it was much more important for me to have a full plan going into this, as the project leant itself much less to on the fly work. My own steps were as follows.
TO DO
Illustrator
Paste images
Image trace
Combine images
Add any flair that I want
Seperate Backround from foreground
Bring background into V-carve
Stock
Extrude what needs to be extruded by an appropriate distance
Create toolpaths for the things that are going to protrude into the stock
Make sure v-bit does not go through stock
Check over all of that and make sure its good.
Artwork
Create toolpaths to cut out
Check over
Physical
Spray Paint stock red
Sand all wood thoroughly.
CNC
Do the usual checks on the CNC
Make sure the job im running first is the one that I want to be
Run Job
Post
Fill text on stock with White and Yellow Epoxy depending on what is needed
Print sticker for part
Attach Sticker
Add standoffs to stock
Clear coat stock
Attach part
Illustrator
Having prepped a plan, It was time to work in illustrator. The very first prep step was to image trace the image that would go into the foreground to give it the look it has. From here I took the two images and sizing them and overlapping them correctly to make sure they lined up effectively at a size I wanted them to be. From here I focused on making sure I had copies set up for each steps of the project such as putting it onto the CNC, or laser cutting, or sticker printing, as they all took small tweaks. This meant taking simply just the "background" for the CNC machine, getting an outline for the laser cutter of the foreground, and simply just overlapping the outline of the photo for the Roland Printer.
Creating the file through V-carve
Because of the nature of the text on the stock, a regular down-cut drill bit was not going to be able to cut the stock. This meant that the best course of action would be a V-shaped bit, where each section of the stock would be "Sloped inward" as it was a cut with a V. Learning V-carve was a slight learning curve, but the fundamentals were the same. I put my file into the software and picked through the tool paths, cutting out the majority of the large text with a .5 inch regular bit, while leaving the details to the V-bit. The regular bit allowed for everything to be cut out without going through the stock. Once I simulated the toolpaths and verified that everything was working how it should, I exported the NC file.
Cutting the stock
Now that my file was ready, I took my 20"x22" red spray painted wooden stock and taped it to the machine. With My three axis's set, my part taped, my job loaded, and the compressor running I hit go.
The Barebones stock
Fresh off the CNC machine, I had my stock in it's simplest form. The stock itself had a long way to go, but I began to direct some focus in creating my separate part with the sticker machine and my laser cutter.
Lasers and Stickers
As mentioned before, I was sitting on the illustrator files for both my Part and Sticker. My plan for the part was to laser cut it out of colored acrylic, and then apply the sticker. This meant testing my first original illustrator file where I had the silhouette of the part as a .001 thickness line, meaning the machine cut out said line. I then pasted the silhouette over a full photo of what was going to make the sticker, I changed the stroke to "Perfcutcountour" and printed it on sticker on the Roland.
Fixing up the stock
Left with my rough stock, it was time to put the touches on the stock that it needed. This meant primarily pouring epoxy. I started with a first layer of yellow epoxy for the title, filling it up "halfway" before moving on to the main portion. The main section was very difficult because of the small serifed letters, but I was able to wipe up all the little spills that happened. I used a syringe to pour said epoxy, which made the project from impossible to difficult. Once I had layed down all the white epoxy I needed, I gave a final layer to the yellow epoxy. My last step was to clear coat the stock, after this it was ready to attach the part.
Putting it all together
With my stock cut, epoxy'd, and dried, and my part cut and stickered, it was time to put the two together. I screwed four medium sized standoffs into the stock to provide depth between the part and the stock. From here I applied weld-on adhesive and laid down the part so it could stick ot the stock, and the project was all completed.
Reflection Questions
The best question that I was asked during the showcase was "How did you do all this" because it came from someone who wasn't necessarily perfectly acquainted with this, but it also was easy for me to answer really well. To explain almost any part of the project to most people, I often had to start from the beginning as so much of what we did here built on itself. Giving me the opportunity to start at the beginning and really talk about everything with my project was awesome and let me really answer the question, and so many others they may have had, fully.
The hardest thing to explain during the showcase was the way I created toolpaths, this was primarily because people weren't acquainted with toolpaths, and I hadn't done it in a while. My own strategy to approach answering the question was often to dumb down the process of toolpaths, and it could've been better to consider how I could explain some of the intricacies such as things like drill bit sizes before the showcase so I was slightly better prepared.
One of the largest parts of this project that went well was the planning phase. Despite some minor adjustments, I was able to effectively lay out a groundwork for the project that considered almost all of its nuance and stuck to it.
One of the major challenges I encountered was having to use V-Carve instead of Fusion. The one shortcoming of my own planning was my failure to consider the limitations of circular bits, meaning I would need to use a V-bit. This once again led to me needing to completely adapt to a new software.
The biggest change I would make if I were to redo this project would 100% remove the serifed font. Although it looked cool, the font I chose provided so many issues such as drilling, and software, and made pouring the epoxy a complete nightmare. In the future, I would definitely better consider the implications of my font and act accordingly.
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