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Reid F
Reid F
Day 1:
I was inspired by an online designer, to create acrylic glasses. I'm fascinated by the material and interested to see what I could do. Deciding to recreate a previously designed pair of glasses, I am attempting to learn how to create someone else's design, thus to further be able to create my own design. Without an easy copy and paste I decided I would trace one lens of a pair I had in person. I lined it up on a gridded piece of paper and noted the measurements.
Day 2:
Now having a tracing I needed to transfer it to Adobe Illustrator to make a laser printable file. I took a picture of my gridded paper and sent it to Illustrator. Rasterizing the image then image tracing it, it was still messy with random points allover the path. So I decided to trace over the new vectorized outline, to have a single object , as the image I was tracing over was a combination of two paths.
Day 3:
Having the outline nearly identical to the lens, I needed to add the holes in which I will be connecting the nose bridge and the arms to the lens.
Thus, I began the process through trial and error. Attempting to get the measurements down by eye, comparing the physical gridded tracing I had to the digital tracing I had. First try, I was close but the holes were far too big for the nose. Second try, the holes were still ever so slightly too big, but now needed to be moved right by one click/unit. Onto the last trial, the nose bridge holes needed one more placement adjustment, down one unit. As for the holes for the arms of the glasses, they were right on the dot size wise, only needed to be moved once and then they fit perfectly.
Day 4:
Having the lens cut out, now with the holes for the connecting pieces in the precise spots, I began putting the glasses together. I pressed the sockets for the tiny screws into the outside holes on the lens. The holes seemed to fit perfectly, though it proved to be quite the challenge as the pieces were so small. I managed to get them in and all there was left was the nose bridge. I pressed the bolts of the nose bridge in and my product was complete.
Day 5:
Now that I have made a near identical pair to the meteor glasses that inspired me, I wanted to attempt to create my own design, using only the spacing of the holes for the pieces, in my design from the vector I made to create the fire glasses. The element I had in mind for my own pair, was lightning. I wanted to take the flames away and see if I could incorporate lightning bolts instead. Simply using illustrator I created an outline nearly identical in measure to my flame glasses, as I set it up on a grid.
Day 6:
With my vector designed and ready to print, I got straight to it. Going right to the laser printer, I cut out the pieces to my lightning lens design. The holes were already in precise position and needed no adjustment. So all I had to do was connect the pieces. Pressing the sockets into the holes, screwing in the tiny screws, and popping in the nose bridge. Voila.
Day 7:
Having finished my lightning design and created a fully functional product, I decided to design another pair of sunglasses, this time more different from the original template. I wanted to illustrate a drip/melting effect on sunglasses. It took a few trials cutting out cardboard then redesigning it for the desired look. The final drip lens had bigger and fewer drips than the first trial design.
Day 8:
First today I finished the drip lens for the sunglasses, though unable to insert the screws, temples, and bridge, as I do not have access to the necessary resources, I cut out the lens.
Moving on I decided to create a ring, first attempting to cut out a ring by simply cutting out a circle. I followed ring size charts online to create a measured outline of my ring. Though it broke before I was able to take a picture, I moved onto creating a ring with a design on it.
Day 9:
Starting to create a ring with a design on it, it didn't take long to convert the measurements to a flat design instead of simply cutting out a circle. My new problem? I had to bend it. Having learned that heat can bend acrylic I began to use the acrylic bender machine. This proved difficult as my pieces were tiny and the machine had limited size compatibility. I had began to theorize using the oven to heat it, though knowing I'd most likely need a mold to wrap it around . Then I found that a simple heat gun would do the trick, and make it easier to bend freely. The rings I made by wrapping around my finger on top of the heat-resistant gloves were a bit choppy. But the rings a wrapped around a pipe, were more perfect. Nonetheless they all looked much better after I sanded them down, smoothing them out.
Final Post Summary:
Altogether I have designed and created
-Acrylic sunglasses in a flame, lightning, and drip design
-Lightning Bolt earrings
-Acrylic wrist band bracelet
-Acrylic ring
-Bracelet mold template
-Ring mold template
Throughout this semester I have learned a lot in the fablab. Furthering my knowledge of adobe illustrator I was able to articulate my vision into a graphic. And on that same note, I was able to apply the designs to material and make them a reality. Learning the basics of using a laser cutter as well as learning how to bend and shape acrylic. There were many obstacles in the making of my pieces, and each taught me more about design and prototyping. I now know the different pieces of a glasses, how to make measurements perfect, how to size rings and bracelets, where sanding is necessary, and how to use a heat gun. I ran into problems such as, making the rings and bracelets symmetrical and making the etching on the rings not become distorted in the bending process.
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