During the Create-a-Crate homework, I observed my lab (and life) partner Grant using wood glue to make a surprisingly strong hold between two butted pieces of fine maple that would become one of the faces of his dovetail-joined box. I wondered if a thin, brushed-on application of the same glue between layers of cereal board could create a DIY multi-ply product with a similar stiffness and integrity to the material we were given for our laser cutting assignment. I actually went through all of our empty Cheerios boxes and other scavenged recycle bin contents doing tests. So, the only thing I had left for the project was a frozen pizza box, which, divided into eight sections (glued and clamped), was a fairly close match (5mm) for the thickness of our plywood, and just wide enough for cutting out one four-inch box face with fingers.

Originally, I had intended to only turn in one box with the experimental material featured as the top. However, the wood top I had run to test the rest of the box’s fit was snugger than a bug in a rug, and I worried that prying it off could break a finger (possibly mine or the box’s). So, I made a second open-faced box to display the results of my side-quest. (The kerf test I made do with was .175 mm…  I could have probably found an even more appropriate one, but I was relieved to find anything that held after the MANY  too-loose versions I’d run previously).

For the undergrad college crest aspect of the assignment, I used a vintage logo from the UCA Schedler’s Honors College (ca 1997-2001). I created a vector image of it in Adobe Illustrator, and had planned to make through-cuts for all the window panes in the image. However, the RD Works software with the laser cutter at the Ion Prototyping Lab, wasn’t recognizing my .ai files, and Adobe Illustrator didn’t seem willing to export anything as .dxf, so I had to bring it in as a jpeg for engraving only. In retrospect, there are several work-arounds I could have tried, so I can tackle this problem again well ahead of the midterm.

There was just a little bit of scorching, despite my having taped, so I did a light sanding with 220 grit. For feel instead of looks, I smoothed the edges and corners.

Previously, I had also produced a couple of versions of laser-cut/laser-etched name plates to tie onto or screw into my crate, but they’re still in my car (oops). Add this to my list of goals for Tuesday!

 

And, of course, leaving a tidy space behind.