Low/Medium Fidelity
Natalie and I started designing our mechanical model of a carousel by picking out mechanisms 24 and 34 to incorporate into our model. And then I used gear generator to create a file that can be laser cut into cardboard to make sure the dimensions and the design were functional.
We decided on a cloth top early and Natalie started by creating a pattern and testing it on scrap fabric.
After assembly, we realized that the outer gear gets off track very easily so we decided to incorporate small dowels on the bottom so it would stay on track.
High Fidelity
We laser cut our parts twice to make the final model more sturdy and then sanded them to prepare them for staining. For the gears, we used a barn red stain; for the base we used walnut; for the handle gear and dowels, we used gold spray paint. We sanded before and after the staining. We used a wax oil treatment on all the pieces to make them smooth/shiny.
For the owl that are spinning on the gears, we laser cut them and stained them with walnut. We used the vinyl cutter to cut wings and eyes out of vinyl that matched the top part.
Speaking of the top part, Natalie sewed together the top with a beautiful iridescent fabric and gold ribbon trim. She used wire to keep the draped shape.
CarOusel Conclusion
I’m really proud of the post processing done on the wood/fabric! I think it’s the strongest part of our design. The shortcomings of this project were predicted earlier with our problem of the outer gear going off track. I only put 2 short dowels on the bottom which is not enough to keep the gear moving smoothly. Also, the assembly of our handle wasn’t sturdy enough to move our outer gear so it was not functional. If I could redo the handle, I’d used wood glue to glue each piece individually instead of having some dowels/gears with non-adhesives.
