Week 3 - Journal

This week’s assignment was to design and fabricate a desk pencil holder, something practical, versatile, and efficient enough to hold pencils, pens, sticky notes, maybe tape, and small gadgets. As soon as I read the prompt, I thought back to a tool holder I once saw on Maker Electronics that really caught my attention.

It wasn’t just any container as it featured multiple compartments:

-a space for tape or solder tin (or any roll-shaped item),

-circular slots for pens, pencils, or screwdrivers,

-and a small drawer for miscellaneous items that wouldn’t fit elsewhere.

That design felt both innovative and useful, and I thought making something similar would be an exciting project—especially since the original product was a bit pricey😅. Crafting my own version would be a satisfying and resourceful alternative—a total win‑win idea.

As for the materials, I used 3mm plywood, which is suitable for laser cutting. The fabrication was done using the Malky ML64 CO₂ Laser Cutter.

After taking a close look at the product photos on the website, I found one image that included the external dimensions of the holder. That was extremely helpful, as it gave me a solid reference for the overall design. However, the original design was quite large and wide, so I decided to redefine the dimensions to make it more suitable for my needs.

Next, I took measurements of the metal rod that would hold tape or solder wire between the two sides. I also measured various pens and tools I had lying around and determined an average hole size that would accommodate most of them.

After taking the measurements of the metal rod I had lying around—using a caliper for accuracy—I jumped into Fusion 360 and drew two circles sharing the same center. The larger circle represented the outer surface of the rod, while the smaller circle represented the screw hole, which in the real-life part runs all the way through the rod.

Once the sketch was complete and fully constrained, I moved to the Extrude feature, selected the profile, and set the extrusion length according to the measurements I had taken earlier. 📏

After finalizing the hole sizes and the overall outline dimensions of the holder, I designed it using five main parts for the body and a sixth external removable part—a small case. After some tinkering and reconsideration, I decided that a drawer wouldn’t be very practical, especially since I had downsized the original design significantly.

I started with the main body, which consists of five parts (excluding the metal rod). I began with the side panel, as it defines the entire shape of the holder and also supports the metal rod. I tried to add some curves to smoothen it a bit, and once I finished the sketch, I made sure it was fully constrained before extruding it. Then, I copied it into a new component since both side panels are identical.

Next, I moved on to the midsection—the part that holds the tools. I started with a rectangular shape that matched the side panel dimensions, added T-slots for mounting, and copied it into a new component that would serve as the bottom mid part where everything would rest. 

Then, I went back to the original mid part and added the circular holes using the rectangular pattern feature, as well as a rectangular cutout for the removable case to slide into.

For the back panel, it was quite similar to the bottom part, with a slight change in width. I extruded all the components accordingly.

Then, I moved to the removable case, which consisted of six parts: four sides, a top, and a bottom. I started with one side panel, adding mounting slots and a downward-facing X-slot. After extruding it, I duplicated it to form the opposite side. I did the same for the other two side panels. For the top and bottom pieces, I first assembled the four sides and used the Project feature in Fusion 360 to design the top and bottom parts to fit perfectly.

Assembly Process

After assembling everything, I added the screws and nuts, double-checked all alignments and fitments, and made sure everything was ready for fabrication. Finally, I exported the DXF files, opened them in LaserCAD, imported and aligned them to the top-right corner of the page, checked the cutting parameters—and just like that, everything was ready.

After my time slot finally arrived, I connected the machine to my laptop, opened the LaserCAD file, and double-checked the cutting parameters. Once everything looked good ✅, I hit the download button and let the machine do its thing.

Since the design didn’t require any 3D-printed parts, the process was straightforward and quick. After the laser cutter finished its job, I opened the machine, took out the freshly cut pieces, and assembled them together along with the metal rod. And just like that — it was ready! 🚀

This week was actually full of feedback and learning experiences—both from the instructors and my peers. It all started during the end-of-week session activity, where we were assigned to build a lantern using laser-cut parts, with the top held in place using a captive nut bracket.

The instructors divided us into two teams, each consisting of three members. My team included me, John, and Rania. John was the navigator, while Rania and I acted as the "drivers." I took responsibility for designing the laser-cut parts, and Rania handled the 3D-printed component.

That’s where the real learning began. John showed me some really useful tricks and features in Fusion 360. The first was using construction lines, which allow you to sketch around certain shapes without those lines interfering in the extrusion process. It was super helpful. Another awesome command he introduced me to was Sketch.ShowUnderConstrained—which highlights all the under-constrained sketches or lines. That command honestly saved me a lot of time and effort. Huge shoutout to John for the tips!

If I were to talk about a challenge I faced, it would definitely be with the DXF for Laser Cutter extension. When I tried to use it to extract the DXF from a shape I had extruded for my assignment, it kept hitting me with an error message. No matter how many times I retried, the same error popped up.

After some searching and asking my peers, I found the solution was actually quite simple. When creating the sketch, it’s better not to add any fillets or curves, as they can cause the software to lag heavily and sometimes even crash.

The fix was to finish the sketch normally and add any extra features—like fillets—after the extrusion process. This makes it much easier for the software to detect the outline and successfully generate the DXF. 🛠️

The skills and knowledge I gained this week will be extremely valuable for my final project. Learning how to properly design for laser cutting using Fusion 360 has helped me better understand how to create precise, interlocking parts with accurate dimensions and tolerances. I now feel more confident in designing components that can be fabricated efficiently and assembled smoothly.

I also picked up useful design techniques like using construction lines, fully constraining sketches, and applying patterns to speed up repetitive features—all of which will make my future designs faster, more reliable, and easier to adjust when needed. 

The coolest thing I learned this week was definitely during the open lab session I attended. I initially joined just to confirm whether my design met the assignment requirements, but Instructor Hazem Ramadan completely blew my mind with some amazing ideas and design insights—even though I thought my design was already complete and didn’t need any changes 😅.

One of the biggest takeaways was about the back panel. In my original design, I hadn’t planned to include one, but after Hazem’s feedback, I added it—and it really elevated the whole structure both visually and structurally.

Another moment I’ll never forget was his advice on the removable case. I was originally planning to use eight screws (four on top and four on the bottom) to assemble it, but he pointed out that I could actually use just two screws per side. Thanks to the X-slot design, it would still be stable and this would make the design more efficient and cost-effective.

Lastly, he suggested a completely different approach: instead of making the box as just a storage case, I could transform it into a phone holder. Although I couldn’t quite figure out a good implementation for that idea yet, it was a powerful reminder of how creative design thinking can add real value to a project.