This is my initial prototype of my initial design, it is more a proof of concept than an actual working prototype. I just needed to see if the design was actually feasible.

This is the second iteration of my initial design

And here it is as its final.  After finally creating this design I realized that in order to attach any countries or create an actual usable globe many changes would need to be made in order to really make it look nice.  Thus I scrapped the whole thing and chalked it up to an initial concept that while I still do think it is really cool it just wasn’t functional enough for this prompt.

So, while I was studying for my other classes (specifically MSNE 301) I had an epiphany about just how I should make my globe.  Buckminster fullerene, or a truncated icosahedron, is the shape I decided to make for my final design.

As a proof of concept I printed out the base of my final design just to see if it would actually fit together. It did! So I ended up cutting out the 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons with the globe etched into the wood. Which only took 6+ hours in the laser cutting room!Below is the inside of my globe being puzzled together.

Below is the final design and whole globe put together.

When I do finally have the time I will be cleaning all of the charcoal off and outlining the etches so that it is a pretty as it can be!

 

As a side not I did finally put my vinyl cut project on something, my mech folder.  Unfortunately like an idiot I used masking tape instead of scotch tape so I couldn’t get any of the small words off of the masking tape… who knew masking tape is so strong.