Anna Phengsakmueang: Week 9 Laser Cutting

Concept

As a representation of nature, I based the general structure of the project off of a deer. To reflect the organic shapes that are found within nature, I made the parts of the structure to be more curved rather than sharp. To also balance out the structure, I ensured that the antlers were not to big but were still easily distinguishable to be that of a deer's.

Techniques

FlatFab Deer Creation

Using FlatFab, I began with the general face shape of the deer from the side using the X-axis perspective. Then I started to add more shapes along using the Z-axis perspective to add more dimension to the head of the deer. The added shapes were of the shape of a deer head if one were facing its eyes. The shapes were smaller in the front than the back, to add the realistic dimensions of an actual deer. After the head was created, I began with the neck and body using the same process. However, I did not position the head high enough, so the legs were made smaller in proportion to the rest of the body. Throughout the process of creating the deer, I used the guide tool to help make both sides of each part symmetrical. This tool made it effective when creating the antlers for the head. To finish up, I made sure that each part was connected to another, at least halfway, so that they could attach in a physical format. Once the deer figure was created, I imported the file into Rhino to adjust the cuts and add each aspect of the deer into layers for laser cutting. To adjust the cuts of where the pieces would connect with one another, I duplicated the cut and dragged it past the original while keeping it straight along the edges. This way, the pieces would be properly cut so that they would fit with one another more easily.

Rhino File for Laser Cutting

Materials

KeyShot

The material used to make the deer was a twenty-four inch by forty-eight inch piece of E-Flute cardboard that was 0.06 inch thick, which I sent to the Machine Shop on campus for laser cutting. While rendering it in KeyShot, I chose to use wood materials for the structure of the deer. For the different sections of the parts, I chose a different shade for each piece to add contrast to the subject.