Week 2: The Second Dimension
Topics Covered:
Press-Fit Wolf Howling at Moon
  1. How To
    • Fusion 360
    • Vinyl Cutting
    • Laser Cutting
  2. Explorations
    • Press-Fit Constructions
    • My Vinyl Stickers!
    • Fusion 360 Tutorials
    • Household Objects

The assignment:
  1. Create a press-fit construction kit that can be assembled in multiple ways, and accounts for lasercutter kerf. Expect to make multiple trips to the laser cutter, as pieces often won't fit together perfectly the first time.
  2. Work through a Fusion 360 tutorial, and document what you produce.
  3. Select at least 2 household objects or components from the lab (could be items you think you might include in your final project). Measure them using calipers, and model them in Fusion 360 (or other program). Create an assembly using these components, and document your work on your webpage. You may also incorporate items from other 3D model repositories like GrabCad.
1. Create a Press-Fit Construction Kit: Shurikens

Ball of Whacks When I was little, my dad gave my brother and me this fun magnetic ball of polyhedrons to make shapes with. (With some modern Googling, I can now say that it was Roger von Oech's Ball of Whacks, a 30-sided rhombic triacontahedro made up of 30 “golden ratio” rhombic pyramids.)

I did NOT make that, but it did inspire me to make a triangle-shaped press-fit kit that would be "airtight," so to speak and somewhat resemble what I played with. The result are these fun little "shurikens," as I call them.

Behold the process:
First, a triangle.
Triangle in Fusion360
Next, I set a parameter I called "thickness" for the width of the cut-ins + kerf.
Parameter Setting
I made the cut-ins extend to the midpoint of the line segment from the start of one side of the cut-in to where it intersected with the adjacent cut-in side. This way, when the triangles were press-fit, they would be "airtight" or flush, so to speak.
Triangle with Cut-in
I fiddled around a lot, and eventually got this! Tada! Shurikens
  • Download my Shurikens DXF file!
    • I adjusted the kerfing a little bit and eventually set my "thickness" to 4.05 for the perfect press fit:
    IRL
    Shurikens Shurikens Shurikens Shurikens
    Wolfy!
    Shurikens as Wolf Shurikens as Wolf Shurikens as Wolf Shurikens as Wolf Shurikens as Wolf
    2. Work through a Fusion360 Tutorial: Birdy
    I worked through this YouTube tutorial from KiraKira3D to make a little 3D birdo! Easy as:
    1. Draw guidelines with "Fit-point spline" that generally resemble a bird (perhaps with the help of a picture)
      • Clip art bird I used to make guidelines:
        Clip-Art Bird
    2. Creating circles on many "offset planes."
      • Bird: Offset Planes with Circles
    3. Lofting those circles together to make a volumetric shape.
    4. Extruding and taperinga beak.
      5. Bird but with Volume
    5. Extruding a rectangle to cut away from the base so it's flat and stand-uppable.
    And voila!
    Bird but with Volume
  • Download my Birdo STL file!
    • 3. Make an Assembly of Household Objects
    Honestly, I'm not sure what this part of the assignment really meant (what is an assembly?), but I tried my best! I made 3 household items, 2 of which might be useful in my final project!:
    1. Hinge
    2. Door Handle
    3. Shelf