Laser Cut Press Fit Tree and Jewelry Holder

I designed a press fit tree that can be used as a jewelry holder for bracelets and necklaces so they do not get tangled.

I used Fusion and Adobe Illustrator as the softwares to design my item, its made out of plywood, and was cut with a laser cutter.

First I just sat there and started to draw branches. I kinda just freehanded them in fusion until I was satisfied with a shape, then I duplicated them into 2 and started to work out how to add the slits

I then extruded the design to match the size of the plywood and exported the design to adobe.

I then exported the file to adobe illustrator and edited the dimensions to make sure it would work for the laser cutter.

I then cut it in the laser. I actually ended up having some problems with the way it fit together, because the top piece was too short. So then I measured how long the bottom piece should be to match up with the top piece, and put it back into the laser cutter to make it even. It ended up working out and fitting together perfectly after this small adjustment.

I know that in my design I only used two pieces, but I think that the intricacy of the design makes up for this fact, and I thought of making a platform for the tree, which is something I still might do, but I really like the simplicity of the design. The reading Build from the Bottom Up, reshaped how I approached my tree design and really helped me commit to a design before fabricating. I carefully planned out my design and did a lot of different sketches, and ironically the one that I liked the best was the version that I freehanded and just messed around with. The reading reminded me of the problem solving aspect of fabrication rather than just wanting to fit two pieces together, and I did end up having a problem with the measurements, but I quickly adjusted and fixed my design to work. I really was guided to focus on the assembly aspect and made me reconsider how I design other things. I was also really inspired by this project and have so many different ideas for things I can make using this idea. I think the process was relatively simple, and I really enjoyed it! And as I get more familiar with fusion, I am able to be more creative with the software.