Carter's Lasercut Iris Box

Hello ! this is the instruction of the iris hinge assembly for my lasercut iris box.

You can download it on Thingiverse : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2704046

In this instructable, i will make a small model for example.

The supplies required to make one box is :

• All the parts to be cut (4 discs, 5 petals, 20 slats, 5 spacers)
• Wood glue
• 5x 10mm M3 screws
• 5x 12mm M3 screws
• (Optional) Some grease

The lid is the rotating part at the top of the box.

Glue the disc n°1 on top of disc n°2.

This part is right under the lid. It contains the slits that constrain the petals to open when lid rotates.

Glue the 5 spacers beneath the 5 holes of the disc n°3 (note that the disc has been flipped in the second photo).

Then screw the 5 10mm screws through the holes. No need to tighten them too much as we will unscrew them a bit a later steps.

The petals are inserted between the lid and the cam.

Lay them on the cam. Put the lid on the top of it and flip it upside down.

Now, Add the 5 12mm screw into the lid holes through the slits of the disc n°3 and the petals.

Adjust the tightness of the 10mm and 12mm screws as you please :

• Tightened 10mm screws will give space to petals to rotate but they become loose. At the opposite, loosen 10mm screws will allow 12mm to correctly squeeze petals between cam and lid.
• Tightened 12mm screws can block the mechanism.

If needed, add a bit of grease or wax in the cam slits.

Seal the 10mm with a bit of glue and let the whole set dry.

Glue the 20 slats to the mechanism.

Keep the iris open to easily manipulate the slats into their slots.

Once disc n°4 fits into all the slats, let the glue dry out with some weight on the box.

Once glue is dry, the box is finished !

Don't forget to play with it a little to make sure the mechanism goes smooth.