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Final Write-up:
For my final project, I create a tic tac toe board. My initial ideas for this project included making a board game of some sort, but I knew that I did not have an abundance of time to create a complex game so I decided to create something simple yet fun: a tic-tac-toe board! I decided to make my tic-tac-toe board large enough to have the same qualities of a board game, but also small enough that it travels easily. I also included a removable top so the pieces could be stored inside. Along the way, I learned that I am really good at using the laser cutter, as I was always able to get my design on the computer quickly and print without having to look at the white-board. Something I could improve on for next time is my precision when putting the vinyl cut stickers on the laser cut pieces. However, while completing this project, I became very comfortable with the vinyl cutter which is awesome considering I had very little knowledge on the vinyl cutter before this project. I used Makercase to make the storage box, and I really liked how easy it makes laser-cutting boxes. I would definitely recommend Makercase to anyone attempting to make a box of any size. If I were to remake this project, I would make the storage box shorter because I did not realize how much extra space I had. My peers contributed to my project by recommending that I vinyl cut stickers to put onto my pieces rather than paint the pieces because they though it would look sharper, and I agreed. I am most proud of the outcome of the entirety of the project, because with the time that I had I did not think I would be able to finish, especially with how well I feel my project turned out.
Steps to Making the Final Tic-Tac-Toe board:
The first step to making my final project was to create thumbnail sketches, but since I already knew what I wanted to do, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use makercase to get an idea of what I want my box to look like, as well as actually get a model for my box. I knew I wanted a 6x6 top of box, and by using the features of Makercase I determined what I thought looked best for the height of my box. Beside this text, I included a picture of my Makercase screen, which I used as the sketch part of my design, as well as the actual sizing part. In the model, you can see the tabs that I used to connect the pieces of my box together. After I created this model, I then created a cardboard prototype of it to make sure that is what I wanted for my final project. After that, I had to laser cut my final box onto 1/8 inch wood, which will be shown in my next step!
Picture on the right, I have 2 out of the 6 laser cut pieces of my box. I could not fit all 6 into a photo, but there are two of the square pieces pictured on the left, and 4 of the rectangular pieces pictured on the right. The tabs seen are used to connect all of these pieces together to make the box that is the base of my tic-tac-toe board. I will glue the tabs to the slots to make sure the connections are sturdy, but the top square will not be glued so that it can be a removable piece that provides access to the inside. This is really convenient because not only does it keep a space for the pieces, but it ensures that they do not get lost. My next step will be to create a model of the top of this box, first out of card-board then wood. I will have to create measurements for the top before doing anything.
These are the measurements in which I will be using for the top of my box. My outline must be 6 by 6 inches because that is the size of the top of my actual box, and the squares within are each 1.5 inches wide with 3/8 of an inch between each. The X's and O's are measured in such a way that they fit inside the squares.
This is my cardboard model of the top of my tic-tac-toe box. Everything looks as planned which is perfect because I have a time factor playing into this project but I do not want to rush it. My next step will be to laser cut this exact model on to wood, then paint it and connect it to the base box. As for the X's and O's, I will vinyl cut stickers the same size as the X's and O's and stick them on.
These are all the pieces and parts that I have to complete my project. On the bottom is all of the pieces to construct the box. On the top right is my wood model of the top of the box, or the actual tic-tac-toe board, and it is painted. The red piece of paper with circles is actually the vinyl cut X's and O's. My final step is to put all these parts together.
This is the final outcome of my tic-tac-toe board! I am really proud of the outcome and I worked very hard to get here so I am glad that it worked out so well. The box opens and stores the pieces, which I will show in the next post.
This is how the box opens and stores the pieces!
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