Diamond Laser Cut

For this project, I attempted to make a 3D hexagonal diamond laser cut form. As they say, I was "surprised to find that the process of trial error, did in fact, include error". However, through the course of this assignment, I learned how to design a 3D form in Fusion and export it to a laser cutting machine, before putting it together in its final form.

Supplies for this project:

1. Fusion Autodesk Software
2. MAT 111PF tool library
3. Laser Cutter
4. Cardstock
5. Pencil
6. Paper
7. Scissors
8. Tape
9. Ruler
10. Scoring Tool (clothes pin)

Reflection: After searching through 3D forms in Paul Jackson's book, I decided on creating a 3D hexagonal diamond. I chose this shape because I thought it could become a cool mobile to hang from the ceiling -- if I could successfully create the form and make copies in different sizes. Following the steps listed in Jackson's book, I drew a sketch of the diamond I wanted to create. Then, broke it down into basic shapes: 6 triangles, 6 trapezoids, and 1 hexagon. I marked the edges of the shapes that joined together with symbols like small x's, o's and dots. Then I numbered each pair of joining edges and began to piece together potential configurations for the 2D template. The book was especially helpful in breaking down the complex shape I had chosen. I found the steps easy to follow and helped me to understand what I was working with. After determining the most space-effective 2D form. I moved to the Fusion Autodesk Workspace.

In my first iteration for the digital design, I approximately created the 2D form I had envisioned with paper and pencil. To do this, I put together the necessary shapes using the create tab. For the 6 trapezoids and triangles, I used the mirror feature to create copies of equal size then grouped them together. As the image shows, when inserting tabs into my design mock-up, the default parameters deformed my design. Taking a step back, I decided it would be best to first understand whether I had set reasonable dimensions for my shapes. So, I created a physical mock-up of digital design to better understand how the shapes should relate to each other in order to fit together properly.

For my physical mock-up, I had to be creative with creating the 2D template. I did not have a ruler on hand so I utilized the flat edge of a box and fashion measuring strip to create a graph on sketching paper. After creating a graph, I played with a few different dimensions for each shape to understand how that shapes should relate to each other. In other words, what size template could I reasonable fit on this paper? How much larger were my triangles in relation to the hexagon according to my digital design? What angles did the trapezoid need to be? After drawing a satisfying approximation of my digital design, I cut out the shape and scored the template. Finally, I folded the template into a 3D form and taped it together. As seen in the images, my 3D form was not folding well. Through this process, I realized that the joints between the triangles may be too weak; the joints were flimsy with my rudimentary mock-up, leading me to believe that the laser cut would only cut the joints smaller and less stable. As such, I needed to rethink my template design for the laser cutting process.

Utilized the sketch dimension feature, and parameters like the parallel function and coincident, I experimented with many different configurations of the template. I struggled with finding dimensions for the shapes that fit the parameters I needed for this sketch. So I utilized ChatGPT to determine what length, width, and heights I would need so that I could have even angles that would fit within the parameters I was setting, specifically for the trapezoids. It suggested that I use internal angles of 45 and 135 degrees with a top length "x+20" and bottom length "x". This was especially helpful in finally getting the parameters to agree with each other across the shapes. From there, I was able to try a couple more iterations and arrive upon my final template design. The attached video shows me moving back and forth between my original digital design and a failed attempted iteration.

Again, there was some trial and error in the process of Manufacturing the set-up of the design then exporting it to Adobe Illustrator and finally the laser cutter. However, I was able to laser cut my final 2D template. I then hand-scored it with a ruler from the Makerspace and clothes pin for precise lines.

Unfortunately, my final product, like my mock-up, also did not fit together quite right. As such, I will be going through more iterations to figure out a configuration that folds into the desired 3D hexagonal diamond form. Overall, it was an enjoyable and rewarding learning process!