Week 1 - Journal

This week's assignment is to get something to print using the 3D Printer and something to cut using the lasercutter.

My idea was to print and cut a keychain because i needed one and i always wanted to make my own keychain.

My inspiration was the winter, I love winter and snowflakes i decided to choose it for the laser cutter assignment.

For the 3D Task i had alot of options but i eventually went with a mandalla keychain because we had to print just 1 object that does not consist of more than 1 parts assembeled together.

For the 3D part I searched Thingiverse for a proper model that meets the specifications for the task, i found alot of thing and choose the mandala keychain.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3559975 (stl file in the design files section)

After Choosing the model I opened it in the program and set the parameters for slicing.

After setting the parameters i sliced the model to see how much time and material will it consume.

After setting the parameters and slicing i opened the preview tab to see a preview for the printing and if something needs to be changed, or if it needs supports.

then I exported the stl file that will be sent to the printer and named it with a unique name that contains all the parameters from the slicing process like the time it will consume, the weight, the infill and the layer thickniss.

As for the Laser cutting model:

• I choose and downloaded the file from 3axis.co. (dxf file in the design files section)

https://3axis.co/laser-cut-snowflake-pendants-svg-file/078yjdqo/

• Scaled the drawing to a proper scale.

• Choose the cutting and scanning outlines

• Then set the power and speed settings for the cutting and scanning.

• After these steps i saved the file to be sent to the machine.

then i waited for the machine to heat up to the melting tempreture and for the bed to heat up to begin printing the first layers.

After choosing the part I wanted to cut, I edited the files on Laser work and groped the items and alligned them so that I wouldn't waste alot of wood.

At first I wanted to engrave the shape on the wood and then cut, but the lab specialist advised me to try in the first one so that I see if something goes wrong, I did that and realised that the engraving doesn't show or affect the shape so I removed it for the other two snowflakes.

Final result

I originally found the snowflake design as a 3D printed model but anas who's with me in the group advised me to make it on the laser cutting machine because it's 2D and doesn't need much work.

I found the snowflake design on 3axis.co but it wasn't .dxf extention so i looked for an online converter to convert it from svg to dxf

For the snow flakes; i let the lab specialist inspect the file before cutting and he advised me that the part where the medal is supposed to be is very thin and i have to modify the sketch, i tried to fix it but the design was small and i decided to hang it in my room instead of making it a medal

This week i learnt how to operate and work on a laser cutting machine and 3D printer, and it will help me in the fabrication part of the project.

i also learnt where to get designs that i can be inspired by or use them in the engraving and drawing on thw wooden sheets.

Learning how to work on the machines was pretty cool actuallu and the task at the end of week session when we made the dinausaur and super mario taught me alot and was super fun.