Week # 1 - Journal

Ideation

Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What were you inspired by?

For this week we got to know how to use a model from the internet for the laser cutter and 3d printer "without designing them".

I cared about the idea of this assignment cause it was a nice introduction for the machines and a good startup to deal with the different available designs online before being able to do our own designs in fusion 360.

I was mainly inspired by my cat and low poly shapes so I chose a geometric shape for a cat cause it reminded me of my own cat Leo and a low poly shape for the thinker "cause I kept thinking about what miniature can represent me and couldn't think of anything ! "

My cat Leo

The thinker "3d printing model"

The real statue

Tool Chain

Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?

Software :

Laserworks and laser cad for the laser cutting machine.
Ultimaker Cura for the 3d printer.

Machines :

Laser cutting machine "Malky ML64"
3d printing machine "PRUSA i3 MK2"

Materials:

plywood 3mm thickness
Generic PLA "plastic filament" red color for the offline session black color for the assignment.

-To get more used to the digital fabrication process we were able to learn these tools.

The task in the offline session

The 3d printing task

PRUSA machine

Black filament

IMG_9763.MOV

IMG_9765.MOV

The Laser cutting task

IMG_9742.MOV

Design/Preparation Process

Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?

1- Downloading the models from website

Cat model : https://3axis.co/laser-cut-polygonal-cat-wall-decal-dxf-file/m1d65zd7/

Thinker model : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2164071

2- Using the software Laser works and Ultimaker Cura to prepare the models for the machines.

Before the adjustments :

After the adjustments "right before sending the files to the machines" :

For the Laser cutting the following parameters were chosen:

Making the model as close as possible to the origin point "far top right" to not consume too much of the wood material by moving the design in the software.
Using only cutting mode "no engraving or speed cutting to create the geometric shape of the cat".
Power :70
Speed :30

For the 3d printing the following parameters were chosen:

No supports "suggested by the fab lab specialist".
Infill 15%
Adhesion skirting.
Layer height 0.2.

3- Preparing the machines for the designs

The laser cutting machine : remove any leftovers from a previous slot, prepare the plywood sheet 3mm thickness, start the machine, connect it to the laptop using the cable then sending the file from laser works to the machine and naming it. Set the origin point and the box "place required for the cutting" then click start.

The 3d printer : wait for the bed to get the right temperature, select the required filament, make sure no previous filament is mixing up with the new model and ruining its color, send the file using the SD card, then wait for the design to get printed.

Black filament

Development/Implementation Process

Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?

The fab lab specialist helped me adjust the laser cutting model to be close to the origin point to help in nesting and rescale the cat model then we started cutting.
The 3d printed model turned out that it doesn't need supports so it decreased the printing time.

IMG_9742.MOV

IMG_9763.MOV

For the laser cutting machine remove any leftovers from a previous slot, prepare the plywood sheet 3mm thickness, start the machine, connect it to the laptop using the cable then sending the file from laser works to the machine and naming it. Set the origin point and the box "place required for the cutting" then click start.

For the 3d printing machine wait for the bed to get the right temperature, select the required filament, make sure no previous filament is mixing up with the new model and ruining its color, send the file using the SD card, then wait for the design to get printed.

Overcoming Challenges

What kinds of challenges or problems did you face while doing the assignment, tutorials, or exercises? How did you solve them? Did you ask for help from an instructor or peer? Please provide a link to the tutorial or article that you used to solve your problem (if any)

1- First I couldn't print the model in less time due to the support but it turned out that it doesn't need any support.

2-The cat model should've been cut on a wood sheet with bigger thickness like MDF for example, because with the plywood it was very fragile that a piece of it got broken by the time I got home. so the solution to that problem could be using a wooden sheet with bigger thickness.

The used sheet was very thin for this specific model

Final Project

How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?

Getting used to the laser cutting machine would help me design the house model and the vertical components in the shading devices in the facades.

While the 3d printing process could help in making any curvature required in the façade design.

WOW!

What is the coolest thing that you've learned this week? What is something that you will never forget from this week?

Being able to design the models before downloading them to the machines and understanding the design process before the final fabrication.

working on the software "offline session"

Trex on the bed

engraving and cutting "offline session"

Dinosaur "3d print"

Mario "pixel art"

Assignment Design Files

Mario laser cutting "offline session"

Cat laser cutting

Thinker 3d printing

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