A7: Final Project Proposal

Concept

In looking back on all the things I’ve digitally fabricated this quarter, I found that my favourite project was the mold making and casting assignment. What I liked about that assignment was that digital farbication was used to create a final piece that still resembled an aspect of the hand crafted. The underlying concept guiding all of the following final project ideas is how might I use digital fabrication techniques to aid a process that evokes a handmade quality in the final product.

Record Cabinet Design

For my final project I’d like to design a record cabinet with a sliding door that uses living hinges.

My poor records would really like to get off the cold concrete floor. This project would give my records a home and give me an opportunity to play with living hinges and usign digital fabrication techniques on a larger scale project.

Inspiration

Tambour Doors

Image from this article on Making Tambours.

Living Hinges

I was inspired by all these different designs for living hinges, and how the bend radisu can be changed based on the design, highlighted in this youtube video.

Methods

1. Rhino - for modeling the cabinet parts
2. Grasshopper - for modeling the living hinge design
3. Subtractive Manufacturing - milling the parts out of plywood sheets
4. Interface Fits - in the jounery of the cabinet

The Catch…

I conceptualized this project to utalize a tool I’ve been iitching to buy for a while, a Shaper Origin! The catch is that I dont have one yet…

image courtesy of the shaper origin website

The new version of the Origin was only released at the end of October and retailers won’t be receiving stock until early December. I placed an order for a Shaper Origin at my local woodshop, but no one has been able to give me a concrete estimate on when it will arrive. I was told that drop orders should arrive sooner than store stock, so there is a slight chance I will be able to get it in time for this project. My record cabinet project will definitely happen, it just might not happen as the final for this class.

Timeline

note: I know that I could probably complete the same project using the CNC mill at The8. However, given that many of the machines have had operation issues throughout the quareter, I am hesitant to rely so much on a machine when there is only one available. Instead, I created a proposal for a contingency project (details below)

Bill of Materials

Material	Description	Status
Shaper Origin (v2)	Primary tool used for subtractive manufacturing process. (on order)	⚠️
Veneered Plywood	Primary material used in cabinet design. Will purchase from Woodcrafters woodworking supply if the origin arrives in time.	❌
Edge Banding	Used to hide the layered edge on plywood. (also will purchase from Woodcrafters is the origin arrives in time)	❌
Disc sander & sanding pads	For finishing surfaces	✅
Titebond III wood glue	For gluing surfaces	✅

Contingency Plans

Since there is a pretty good chance that I won’t be able to make the record cabinet, I have a contingency project that I will work on concurrently until I get more info on when my Shaper Origin should arrive. The contingency plan project are two smaller projects that I wanted to do anyway!

Plan B: Parametric Candles

I had a lot of fun making candles for the casting and mold making assignment. Through that, I learned that there is so much to explore in the candle making space, and I’d like to do just that. I also think that they would make fun gifts for friends and family.

Here’s the first parametric candle 3D printed part. I plan to make a collection of 3 designs for this project.

Methods

1. Grasshopper - modeling candle surface patterns and shapes
2. Rhino - modeling mold forms
3. 3D Printing - printing parts to cast silicone molds from
4. Casting - casting silicone molds, and then casting candles from the silicone molds
5. (maybe) Incorporating stock parts - if any of the candles fit into standard stock candle holders

Bill of Materials

Material	Description	Status
3D printing filament	For making molds for molds	✅
Oomoo 25	For casting silicone molds	✅
Candle Wax	For making pillar candles. May need to order more if I make more than 5lbs of candles.	✅ ⚠️
Essential oils	For scenting candles	✅
Wax dye chips	For coloring candles	✅

& maybe some Block Printing

I have a couple block printing sets that I bought from a company called Block Shop Textiles. I really love these kits and I’ve used them for making custom wrapping paper and cards. I noticed that all the blocks are laser cut and laser etched. I want to exapnd on my collection of blocks by making larger laser cut shapes and using milling instead of laser etching for the more detailed pattern blocks. This is also a good way for me to use up some scrap wood that I’ve had lying around for a while!

Methods

1. Grasshopper - modeling and manipulating parts quickly
2. Rhino - modeling
3. Laser cutting - for making simple block prints
4. Subtractive manufacturing with the othermill - for making more complicated patterned blocks

Bill of Materials

Material	Description	Status
Misc. scrap wood	For creating wooden blocks	✅
Printing ink	For printing with wooden blocks. (May purchase more, but that can be done locally from any art supply store)	✅ ⚠️
Paper	For printing on.	✅
Fabric (tbd)	For pringing on, if I decide I want to do some fabric prints, like tote bags or bandanas	❌

Timeline

I designed this as a two-part project because casting candles is a lot of up-front work with the mold making, but is fairly passive when actually casting the wax. I figured that two smaller projects would be a fun way for me to explore more of the methods we learned throughout the quarter!