#thetitleofthispostwouldvebeenmorecleverifwehadmadealock
Ah mid-terms. Such fun.
We went through quite a few ideas for different projects. I really wanted to make a crossbow, but alas, it was not allowed. My dreams of being Daryl Dixon were shattered. There was also the idea of doing a mechanical iris box, but that was “too simple.” In the end, we finished an existing project of Helen’s and decided to attack the beautifully mesmerizing water drop contraption. Our eye for things that make you say, “Oooo pretty,” said, “Daaaaaaamn son. I gotta get me a piece of some of that.”
First, let’s start with the water pump. This project was actually Helen’s 2D drawing assignment, so there was not as much prep involved. Helen had already drawn it up on Adobe Illustrator and had even cut out a majority of the pieces with the laser cutter prior to the assignment of this project. Some of these first cut pieces were slightly warped however, so they needed to be re-cut. Additionally, some of the pieces need duplicates so that they would be elevated. All of the pieces were cut from 3/16″ wood with the exception of the acrylic covering. Dowels were used to put together the entire pump, so it’s press-fit.
After some tweaking and consideration, we decided to give the pump a sturdier backing and a base to sit on. We did this by cutting rectangular bases with a slot in them for the pump, and a couple backings that were slightly longer than the original pump. In terms of finishing, Helen and I agreed for both projects that they looked best in their “natural” form. We really liked how the wood looked with the charred edges and how it contrasted with the clear acrylic and the slightly lighter colored dowels.
In the end the water pump came out nicely. We even cut our initials in the braces for dramatic effect.
Here is a PDF of the schematics:
Helen and I, though mostly Helen, were very excited to tackle the “water drop” contraption. It is based on the contraption in this video:
Since this was really our first incarnation of the contraption, we opted to decrease the number of rings. We reduced the number of rings, but hoped to still retain the water drop effect. The most difficult part of this project was creating the plans to cut out. Unlike the water pump, we were starting from scratch. All of our knowledge of the contraption had to be derived from the video.
Helen spent a great deal of time designing the components on Illustrator. Creating the shapes of the different parts were not that challenging, however, deciding the spacing and measurements of the components and how they relate to one another was difficult. Also, the cams (the circles that would push the pins up and move the rings) needed to be sized so that they created the water effect we wanted. We also had to consider the material we were cutting, and had to adjust accordingly. Since the wood was a certain thickness, we opted to make duplicates of the cams and glue them together later on. Laser cutting went well with only things that needed to be re-done. These included the rings since the power/speed settings weren’t right and they didn’t go all the way through.
Assembly went smoother than we initially thought (we got lucky/Helen was a beast at creating the Illustrator files). After cutting and gluing pieces that needed to be glued together, we did a rough test with the cams and the pins. However, the pieces weren’t smooth enough and the drag created problems with the movement. After some sanding, it was a little better, but not where we wanted it to be. With the addition of some masking tape on the bottom of the pins, the movement was greatly improved. e To finish the the assembly, we glued everything together. There was a little bit of trouble trying to figure out a good way to glue the rings to the pins up top, but in the end, winging it and simply giving the glue a good amount of time to dry worked out fine. Once again, Helen and I agreed that the piece looked best in it’s natural state without any paint or staining. However, we did opt to add a few more circles to the base to elevate it a bit. Dr. Wettergreen suggested us adding a concrete base to it in the future to elevate it further and to give it a more trophy-like feel. This would also give the user a bit more room to more comfortably spin the crank on the side.
Here are the PDF schematics:
Inspired by the success of the water drop, we decided to start another project with a similar premise. The same mechanism, but something different moving on top. Enter Haku, our Chinese dragon. The design needed to be altered, and there would be a greater focus on the aesthetics of the dragon itself. Also, the pins and cams would need to be altered to create a different type of movement. It’s all still in the works, but here’s a sneak peak of the dragon pieces we’ve cut.
As you can see, the dragon is actually 3 parts. Scales on the outer parts of each side, and a center part that have the dragon’s badass spines. The head is another issue and will take a bit of creative drawing on Illustrator.
We’ll post more on Haku as it nears completion!
