Semester 1

February 7, 2019 - Blog Post 20

This week we had the house joust and it didn't go amazingly for my house. We got 4th place out of I think 7 ish houses. It kinda sucks but I mean it was hard to come up with something like that really quickly so I'm not that disappointed in any way. It was a fun house joust though, a lot different then the other ones but still fun. We got propaganda for our next station and I'm not going to lie I hate that we got this station just because I like making 3D things and in propaganda you can't do that. I really wanted CNC but it got taken by the house before us and we my house didn't want that as our first choice so yeah. I also really want to learn how to use the electronics before next year so when dances come up I can have like lights and stuff on my clothes and shoes maybe and so can the rest of my house cause that would be super cool. There was a speaker in class today and he was really interesting to hear about the non profit that he works with called gravity water. I wasn't there for most of his talk because I was telling Freshman about D-Tech but what I did hear was really cool. It has been an overall pretty good week for once cause I wasn't stressed this week. (Your welcome for the edit Mr. Miller)

January 31, 2019 - Blog Post 19

This week we got our new house joust assignment. Both dynasty 1 and dynasty 3 are making a device for the company surfrider it make it easier for them to collect water for testing. Its an actual business opportunity and that's a new experience for those of us in dynasty 3. We have another week for this product that we are designing so we have to finish it soon. Most of the DTech class is on a field trip right now and I really wanted to go but I couldn't miss some of the classes I had today so I decided not to go but while we had a class period with little people in the pod working on stuff I had time to laser cut 2 things for my parents. Sadly again it doesn't really feel like that much of a productive week but that might just be me.


January 24, 2019 - Blog Post 18

This week was the exhibition for class. It was cool to see everyone else's creations. Some people honestly didn't do much but I mean if they didn't want to do anything they didn't have to do anything so yeah. I completely finished my door on my belt rack and it looks really good. I had to recut the door and I remeasured everything so the names all lined up with the belts nice and evenly. I'm really proud of what I made. I also used magnet tape for the door so when it shuts it stays together really well. Putting the hinges on the door was one of the hardest and most frustrating things I've ever done cause all the screws I tried were to long for the piece of acrylic I had. I realized I had to cut down the screws to get them in properly. I also learned that when you put screws in acrylic it’s good to heat them up a little before hand with a match so it melts the acrylic a little so it won’t crack. It wasn't the most productive week but you know that happens every now and then mainly during finals.

January 17, 2019 - Blog Post 17

I finished the entire outside of my design I just need to put on the acrylic door. I have been working on the instructions so others can make it later cause honestly its great even though mine is kinda messed up it works really well still! I'm so happy I have a belt rack now and it looks good and I'm so proud of myself!!! I can't wait to show this at my expedition thing at school for finals. I've never actually accomplished something from start to finish like this and I find it so cool! I did it all on my own with some tips along the way from my teacher which was extremely helpful and it got me here!

January 10, 2019 - Blog Post 16

Before I left for break I cut almost all my pieces for my mastery project. The week I got back I cut out the rest of my pieces and now I am assembling my belt rack. I made a lot of mistakes on the design that I didn't know about before cutting but I fixed all the problems or at least all the problems I was aware of on my design so if anyone else uses my design it will end up a lot better then how my is turning out. I finished gluing all the pieces together so I started painting it today to have a nice solid look to it and I'm super excited even if it isn't perfect. Oh yeah also I laser cut the door and it looks really good, it was the first time I successfully cut acrylic! Its clear acrylic but I didn't want it to be scratched before I put everything together so it still has the blue plastic sheet on the back. It's weird cause I never thought I would be able to design or make anything but now I'm doing just that and learning from all my mistakes along the way.

December 20, 2018 - Blog Post 15

This week I was not able to cut anything. I am hopefully cutting my belt rack tomorrow. I bought all the wood and acrylic to cut. I might need glue cause I need to glue a lot of pieces together but I will figure that out later. I also bought paint so I can paint it fully black after. I am really hoping it will work and now I just need to wait to cut. I finished designing it all and putting it into inkscape and converting it into a pdf so I can just pull it up and cut. I really needed a belt rack for all my color belts from taekwondo so this is going to be extremely helpful. Currently all my belts are tucked in my closet somewhere which is a bummer cause they represent over 3 years of hard work at my studio. Anyway after I figure it all out and cut it I am going to write instructions and post my design for others cause honestly it super useful but also I want my mastery in Laser cutting. This took me so long and I have been so stressed but its almost done if it actually works and I'm so excited.

December 13, 2018 - Blog Post 14

Ok so apparently my design was taken off of instructables BUT I republished it. I had to write the instructions on the sight and then someone actually asked about it and helped me improve my instructions a little which helped for others. I laser cut a lot of things this week they are all pretty small and I have more I need to cut for gifts for my family and friends. The acrylic cut isn't good at all (it was supposed to be a wave). I need to redesign and recut it for my brother. DTech has been fun a and productive and I am about to start designing my mastery project for laser cutting. The cut below has failed because of the material I used. It started flaking apart and wore away. You can see the bear recut in normal wood and the definition is a lot better and doesn't fall apart easily. Also here is the link to my instructions if you want to use them.

December 6, 2018 - Blog Post 13

I PUBLISHED MY DESIGN!!! This means I have mastery in 3D printing and CAD. I also laser cut the DTech logo. It is kinda pix elated and I didn't put enough power when cutting through so it kinda tore when I took it out of the rest of the wood but at least I know to lower the speed or turn up the power when cutting through that material again. Last week kinda sucked a lot but this week have been a lot better and I have even come up with an idea for my laser cutting mastery project. I was thinking of making a belt rack for all my color belts I have earned over the last 3 years in tae kwon do. I need to measure things out to make sure I can do it on the laser cutter but other then that I think it will go really well I'm excited!

November 29, 2018 - Blog Post 12

I am extremely mad and frustrated and I hate Adobe Illustrator. I have traced the DTech logo on onshape but I don't know how to get it onto Adobe Illustrator but I will figure it out later I guess. Also I have passed my laser cutter safety test and I'm trying to design on inkscape but I couldn't download inkscape on my laptop at home. So I am SO FRUSTRATED and can't get a design done to laser cut for my novice. I also still need to write my instructions for my mastery in 3D printing and CAD and I don't really have time to do that so its just a mess but hopefully I can get stuff done next week or this weekend.

November 22, 2018 - Blog Post 11

We did the marble run this week and Leviathan got second place. The winning marble run time was 59.49 seconds and our team time was 58.69 seconds. We were disappointed we didn't win but we did get the machines we wanted which is laser cutter so we weren't that made about it. Also due to the fact that our marble run is made of mostly wood and durable materials, Dtech is going to keep it for different classes. Over all it was fun yet very frustrated and now that it is over it is time to get back to normal machine time. Also I still need to create instructions for my CAD and 3D printer mastery.

November 15, 2018 - Blog Post 10

This week we are working on a house joust marble run. It is a lot harder then we have anticipated and it is giving me a pretty bad headache but it is going pretty well. Hopefully we can finish it soon cause the house joust is on Tuesday. I still need to make my instructions to get mastery in CAD and 3D printing but I want to finish the house joust first and start working on the instructions during break. I'm honestly really anxious about how this marble run will go but I have hope. We are at about 28 seconds and we need to get to 60 so we have a long way to go. This week I passed the safety test for the vinyl cutter and the large printer. I can hopefully get my novice in both of them before break.

November 8, 2018 - Blog Post 9

This week I finished my master project but I need to make instructions on how to make it and then post it on a website for different design things and then I will get mastery in 3D printing and onshape. Also my mastery project did not go as well as I hoped it would have because the base was printed to short so I had to cut a hole in the lid so one of the gears could spin. I also had to tape it together to the lid wouldn't slid around because there was no ridge for the lid to sit on (which would have been printed at the very top of the original design). Overall though it works and I am proud of it. Also the bottom picture here is all my bigger more complete designs with one printing fail and two gear fails due to the design. It has been an extremely frustrating yet fun experience with the 3D printers and I have gotten a lot done which I am extremely happy about. Now in class we have a house joust for the order of picking our second machine for the year and hopefully my house will win again, like the first time. It is a marble challenge and we have to build something that will keep a marble rolling for a total time of 60 seconds without stopping which will be very challenging. We have all next week to build this design and then all the houses go head to head.

November 1, 2018 - Blog Post 8

I have abandoned the idea of having stitch spinning on my mastery project and instead I am doing the FTHS logo. Also I can make other figures such as the DTech logo to put on it later if I size it all properly. I printed out these gears (shown below in black filament and I am reprinting them with a box in the middle (shown below). I also chamfered the edges of the gears so it will move together a little better then the gears I already printed. This is the first thing I need to make sure works properly before printing other parts of the design. I also need to write direction on how to make it and publish the design online when I finish and i might put the link on this blog if I do publish it for anyone who wants to make it. I need to finish everything by November 8th so for the next week I will be printing so much and working so hard to get this all done.

October 18, 2018 - Blog Post 7

I am trying to make a figure but i think it might be to complicated and frustrating for me so i might have to change what figure I am making. The only part that may ruin this figure is the ears because I don't know how to revolve or extrude them. I am annoyed and feel kinda done but hopefully I can figure out how to finish this stitch figure or I will choose a different figure over fall break if I have some time. I may have to use fusion 360 but I don't know how to work with that studio yet so i will have to figure that out if worse comes to worse bot hopefully it will work out I am trying. I also have to make sure that the base pieces fit together in assembly so when I put it all together it will fit nicely and operator properly.

October 11, 2018 - Blog Post 6

I am working on my master project for 3D printing. I have made the gears for the inner workings of the project. It has been frustrating and annoying but it is complete and I just need to copy the gear for the other one I need instead of making a whole other gear. I am constructing the outside container that will hold the gears and pieces so my final piece will look nice and clean and you wont be able to see the gears (which I finished today in class). I am trying to put it together in assembly and see how it fits before I print anything. I need to construct the figure for the project next but i have to learn how to use fusion 360 first.

October 4, 2018 - Blog Post 5

I have made my book end for Mr. Frazier. I am trying to design a spinning figure fr my masters and I am currently working on making the gears for it but I am a little stuck with that process. It has been pretty frustrating as always but I will look up videos and different ways to make a gear so I can get my masters. I am really tired of all of this week and just want it to be over at least for today. I do however feel super accomplished with the book end that I made. I will be working on a bunch of different designs to 3D print over the next little while and try to get my masters within the next 2 weeks. Also I will need to use Fusion 360 for the figure that is going ot be able to spin for my master project because Fusion 360 is best for figures and more rounded things that people need to print. That is it for right now, until next week.

September 27, 2018 - Blog Post 4

I have successfully printed a key chain (earning my novice in 3D printing) and I am now I am trying to construct and print a book end for Mr. Frazier. I have been testing different teeth sizes that will be able to fit together to give the book end enough structure to be able to hold yearbooks. I have printed two teeth for a test but both have failed due to my own errors. I will print another test which will hopefully be successful so next week I can start to print the final book end to give to Mr. Frazier. This has been a stressful, annoying, and painful week for D-Tech and I am extremely frustrated but hopefully I can get a test done correctly and have it a lot easier in the following week.

September 20, 2018 - Blog Post 3

I earned my certificate on onshape Friday night. My house won the house joust on Tuesday and got to choose which machine we wanted and we chose the 3D printers (by the way leviathan is the best). I took my safety test for the 3D printer today and passed with a 19/20. I successfully made my last name on onshape and a tower made of straws that could hold a tennis ball with my house for the house joust. I am on my way to learning how to 3D print different designs. It has been a tiny stressful, especially when trying to earn my onshape certificate, but it worked out. I am super excited to learn how to 3D print and I am having fun so far in this class. This weekend I am going to design a key chain that I could print next week in class to test my knowledge and skill and I will go from there after hopefully following the challenges and expanding my skills.

September 13, 2018 - Blog Post 2

This week I am 59% done with the Assembly section. I have completed the 4 sections before and need one more section to earn my certificate on onshape. I was successful on most of my designs but I did mess up on 3 or 4 of all of my designs I have made including the wheel rim at under this blog. I designed my name in my free time on onshape and it did not turn out perfect but it was a start. I have learned to be more patient with the program if something is not working instead of panicking or becoming frustrated. We have just finished making our houses and getting stuff done in them and will have a house joust soon. It has been a somewhat frustrating week but it had been productive.

September 6th, 2018 - Blog Post 1

It's about the second full week that we have learned new stuff in D-Tech. I have gotten to "Part Design" on Onshape's CAD learning design program and I am 50% done with the section. I have successfully designed new things such as a paper clip, bracket, wheel, and more. I have learned how to navigate onshape and learned how to sketch cool things. It has been a little stressful and very scary but it has been going well. My house has created a website and logo. We are fixing some things to make all our resources great.