For the 2D Drawing assignment, we were instructed to make a 2D drawing in Adobe Illustrator of a wooden machine that was as geometrically and dimensionally accurate as possible so that it would be efficient to use as a template for manufacturing with a laser cutter or plasma cutter. I chose to draw the Wonderful Wilmshurst Machine:

It is used as an electrostatic generator of electricity which I found to be very interesting and I thought the design was aesthetically pleasing. The machine will be complex to make but I believe the end result will be worth it.

All the parts that will be required for the project

First, the book stated that the scale is two grid squares to 1” so I adjusted my Illustrator document accordingly.

I added a grid with 0.5 inch divisions

I decided to start with Part B, the stanchion:

Designing this part was difficult for me at first because I had no prior experience with Illustrator. I first tried using Live Trace and I tried then altering rectangles and circles with the anchor point tool but I was unsuccessful with both methods. I was finally able to successfully draw the part when I broke it down into parts.

I broke the shape down into two ovals and two rectangles which made it easier to design.

The guide lines were very helpful for keeping the drawing symmetrical. I then added white circles for the areas where holes should be on the design. I then added dotted lines by going into the Stroke options of the Line Segment Tool in the areas that were indicated in the book.

The edges were made by placing a circle on the areas in which the middle rectangle and circles intersected and then altering it with the direct selection tool.

Examples of the altered circles used for rounded edges

I tried using rectangles at first for the rounded edges but it did not turn out as smoothly as the circles did.

Final design for the stanchion

Next I made parts E, F, N, and D, the small pulley wheel, half balls, balls, and large pulley wheel respectively:

These parts were much easier to make than Part B. I used overlapping circles to make parts E, F, and D and a dotted line on top of a circle to make part N. I used the grid lines and guide lines to make sure that the parts remained perfect circles.

Final designs for the large and small pulley wheels, half balls, and balls

Part C, the disk plate proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be.

The base of the design, a large circle with a small circle in the middle to represent the middle hole, was easy to design but the large series of holes on the disk plate were much more difficult. It took several attempts before I was able to make a design for the holes that matched the design in the book. Once I finally made a design that fit using a rounded rectangle and the anchor tool, I added guide lines to help evenly space them around the disk plate and added two white circles to make sure they all stayed in relatively the same space and were not larger than one another.

The guide lines and circles used as a drawing guide are shown in this picture.

After removing the guides, the disk plate looked similar to the design described in the book:

Final design for the disk plate.

Next, I drew parts G and H which are the crank handle and post finial.

I was able to easily draw the post finial by using two overlapping circles with the top, white one slightly off center and using two dotted lines. The crank handle used two circles, a larger one to the left and a smaller one on the right, a rectangle for the middle,with circles altered with the anchor point tool to create the rounded edges.

Examples of altered circles used for the rounded edges

After doing so, I completed the designs:

Final designs for the crank handle and post finial

Parts I and J, the post pin and drive knob pin, were easy to design because they did not have any complex shapes within them.

Part I was designed using a rectangle with an oval on the top of it to make the head of the pin and a slanted rectangle was used to make the body of the pint. For part J, a rounded rectangle was used for the head of the pin and a slanted rectangle was used for the body.

Final designs for the post pin and drive knob pin

Part K, the knob, was difficult for me to draw on first try but I was able to draw it on the second try.

I decided to use smaller rectangle on top, a larger rectangle on bottom, a rounded rectangle on the bottom, and two circles altered with the direct selection tool to make the part.

Final design of the knob

Parts L and M, the drive shaft and post, were made of simple shapes and so they were easier to make.

For part L, I used a rounded rectangle as the base and put a rectangle on top of it. Similarly, for part M, I used a rounded rectangle for the base but I put an oval the on rounded rectangle instead of a rectangle to complete the design.

Final design for the drive shaft and post

Last was Part A, the base, which appeared to be complex at first but I broke it into smaller parts based on its geometry.

I began with a rectangle and then added circles to the ends of the rectangle to make it look rounded. I then added white circles to make the holes. Black rectangles were added to make the black lines that cross the circles and then the dotted lines were added. I used white rectangles to make the dents on the sides of the base. Guide lines were very helpful when designing this.

Final design of the base

Download links for all parts of the Wonderful Wilmhurst Machine (split into 3 pages):

 

The Wonderful Wilmhurst Machine – Part 1

The Wonderful Wilmhurst Machine – Part 2

The Wonderful Wilmhurst Machine – Part 3

Though it was difficult at times, and much more time consuming than I initial thought it would be, I really enjoyed this assignment. Now I feel more comfortable using a program like Illustrator when previously I had no experience.

Thank you for reading,

Danielle