Week 3- Journal

Design and Make Multi-part Objects

Ideation

Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)

I have a 3D-printed elephant phone holder, which was a giveaway from Pyramakerz at SchoolHub fair. It was how I got introduced to the meaning of a 3D-printed creation.

It inspired me to look for a pen and pencil holder with the same shape, as I want it to look like the one in the picture on the left to be a holder for my Kindle device instead of a phone.

I found an easy-to-be-designed, yet challenging, elephant because the curves will have a special way to be implemented, so here we go!

idea source

Tool Chain

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

Designing:

The designs are implemented through the AutoCAD software (Fusion 360).

Laser cutting:

The software used is RDWorksV8. Plywood of 3mm "4 layers" (First picture on the right for plywood with the software icon).

The used machine is a proudly made in Egypt laser cutting machine El Malky ML149 Laser Cutter which operates by CO2 fumes that ionize into the laser beam.

3D printing:

The software should've been Cura's latest version, but because my laptop is a bit outdated, so I'm using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1. PLA (Polylactic Acid) filaments are used in Prusa MK3 3D Printer.

Swipe for the used machines, materials and softwares

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?

Laser cutting

I found the closer dimensions online, which was like a reference to me, but some exact dimensions were not found.

I started by designing a two point rectangle with dimensions (6.5cm*8.5cm), and all the sides were fully-defined with respect to the origin and using constraints (horizontal/vertical and midpoint)

Sketching the T-slot is done through two 3-point- rectangles of the shown dimensions, with a mid point through the width of the vertical one and another in the length of the horizontal one.

I adjusted the dimension of the main width to be half the previous one because this is meant to be the sketch of the internal separator of one compartment of the holder.

Sketching a construction line in the middle, helped to sketch the very first two tabs of this side of the holder.

After finishing the sketch, I extruded the sketch (3mm) to suit the thickness of the MDF plywood sheet.

Using the project feature, I selected the right tab of the previously designed part, to design the next right side part.

The side dimension is here set to 7.5 cm, the sides are fully defined through constraints and dimensions and the tabs are sketched.

After extruding that side, the whole parent assembly is activated to join the components through rigid joints.

I created the following side using the project feature, then after extruding I used the rigid joint.

Using the copy and paste new feature, I created the other side to be assembled using rigid joint.

Creating the bottom part using the project feature on the faces of all the previously designed tabs, with an additional circle to be extruded (extrude cut)

Finally, All the internal sides of the compartments are fully assembled using rigid joints.

I created the main elephant using a 3-point-arcs using the project feature on the faces of the two tabs belonging to the two sides facing the side of the holder sketch to create the shape of the elephant for the sides of the holder.

I finalized the elephant sketch using other 3-point-arcs and two normal lines to join them, and all the possible dimensions to fully define the sketch.

Using the fillet feature all the sharp edges between the points are reduced by 0.5 cm, and a circle of a 0.3 cm is sketched on the plane for the bracket to be connected at that part. (The bracket wasn't fully designed or used due to the mentioned reasons in the challenges section).

The elephant finished sketch is extruded and assembled by rigid joints at the projected tabs, then using the copy and paste new feature the other elephant part is set to be joined from the opposite side.

Adding the final touches is done through the appearance feature (from the modify drop-down menu).

Then, every single face is saved separately one by one faces in a dxf format through the shown extension form: create drop-down menu.

f3d file

dxf files

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?

After importing all the dxf files one by one, I adjusted their places next to each other using RDWorks software and made sure that the cut parameters were compatible (Speed: 25mm/s, Power: 65%)

Using the laser cutter, I started by fixing my plywood sheets using the shown blue clips and fixing the origin to the right side.

Converting every dxf file into its ai format made the process quicker using the computer connected to the laser cutter.

The implementation process took about two minutes, and the re-cut parts lasted for 30 seconds each.

For assembling the parts, I used M3 nut and screw along with connecting the parts through their rigid joints (fingers and tabs)

Overcoming Challenges

When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this assignment?

Anyone can avoid the challenges I faced by planning more properly before printing and making sure that every joint in Fusion is rigid enough without any slight movements (believe me the tiniest millimeter matters) because my challenge was discovered after cutting, as I couldn't assemble the real pieces together for how the joints had an issue as shown in the screenshot.

My solution took me more than an hour to execute, through the help of one of Fab Lab's specialists (Her name is Mariam and I can say that she saved my assignment), as she helped me to re-cut the pieces more than once after multitudes of trials and errors using fusion to redefine some (not the some that sound so little) dimensions.

I also faced the issue of adjusting my pre-designed model for the bracket captive nut to fit my dimensions for the penholder, but the most suitable dimensions are (1.5 cm for both bracket sides)

The solution is postponing the addition of the bracket nut, till I readjust the bracket hole to suit the dimensions of the bracket (using a driller or the laser-cutter again)

Slicing parameters through Cura:

0.3mm layer height
brim
10% infill
no support

STL of bracket

Final Project

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

Without everything I'd learned this week, it would be such a challenge to know how to assemble more than part using fusion to design for the final project, as my own project needs rigid joints that makes it more durable.

WOW!

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

The coolest thing was how we worked as a team, sharing only the files and we used the same exact dimensions in a short time without error! It was truly astonishing how Fusion accepts working and adding files completing one another.

Using the brackets was somehow puzzling, because when I watched the videos I didn't get the point of how it works or why we need brackets!

I intended to fix the screw and the nut into the bracket on my own to notice how important they are.

Links and files