Molding a queen in a month is no easy task. Heck, Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation took place more than a year after she ascended the throne. So seeing as Rachel and I are no expert queen-molders, we were pretty proud when Her Majesty (and her twin sister) rose before us in all her glory.

The path to queendom began with a humble CAD drawing. We found a queen figure from Thingiverse, but importing the file into Fusion 360 revealed many angular ridges that we did not like.  Therefore we opted to redraw the figure from scratch using TinkerCAD (omitting the slightly disturbing bust and butt in the process) before continuing on with Meshmixer then Fusion 360.

But wait. Any queen deserves a fancy pedestal.

Ok, now we can add the rectangular base with four aligning pegs and an air duct, just in case she need to blow off some steam (or air bubbles). Oh, and tip: keep track of whether you’re selecting sketches or meshes or bodies– they’re all a little different! And align everything in the middle so they can be easily mirrored later on.

With the model part complete, we moved on to CAM. Wanting the best for our girl, we decided to pick a 1/32″ bit from the “select tools” window. *invalid tool path alert* *struggles* *asks classmates* *asks lab techs for help* *struggles some more* On second thought, maybe a 1/16″ bit with a 1/32″ smoothing pass would work just as well. *repeat above* Hmm actually, just the 1/8″ ball looks pretty good. *alert disappears* *cheers*

To avoid all that, kids, know that there’s an x-carve tool library with all the bits we have (color-coded!), and definitely run a simulation to ensure the bit doesn’t run into boundaries or clamps (which we may or may not know from experience).

Carvey time! Trial 1 was a baby queen in styrofoam, taking about 40 mins to cut. Adjust size. Adjust bounding height. Trial 2 was an enthroned (enpedestalled?) mid-sized queen in wood, taking about 2 hrs to cut. Where’d she get that gash in her head and the warped edges? Ask Carlos. Consult Dr. W. Conclude the piece must’ve shifted during cut. Adjust size. Add securing clamps. Trial 3: ready for a full-grown queen. An hour passed. Only 15% done. Realize the cut will take more than 6 hrs. Abort mission.

This is when a friendly lab tech came by and told us about the x-carve library of bits. It helped. A lot. In just 2 hrs, our queen emerged perfectly from the sawdust. We then cut the mirrored piece, sanded both down a bit, and moved on to creating the mold.

Equal weights of the blue stuff and the green stuff. Mix (thoroughly but not for too long– think muffin batter). Pour. Resist poking for the next 4 hours.

Now the positives. Equal volumes of the clear stuff and the yellow stuff. Add a dab of dye. Mix quickly and pour. Wait in anticipation for 30 mins.

Not only is watching the curing transformation mesmerizing, I have to say, peeling the piece out of the mold is also a most satisfying feeling. Our air duct fused with the piece (should definitely give it more space next time), but it was easily removable. We sanded her down with 400 grit sandpaper (don’t use 1000 grit– it’ll leave a black residue), and look, there she stands along with her twin sister:

Gorgeous. And at what cost? $10 materials + $10 machining + $20/hr * 25 hrs = $520 for a fairly conservative estimate. But hey, we only need a bit more of the clear and yellow stuff to make as many of these as we’d like.

Rachel and I felt like proud parents. We’ve molded a couple of true queens. No small accomplishment.

Yet the rise of a new queen marks the end of an era.

It’s been a truly amazing semester.

See y’all around.