This month, my partner and I have decided to bring to you, THE CHRISTMAS CAROUSEL! There were lots of ups and downs when working on this, but we are finally finished. We were very inspired by the carnival projects that were demonstrated to us during our class walk-around when looking at previous midterm projects so we decided that we wanted to make one as well.
2D Design:
Whiteboard drawn sketches of original design with groove base
Originally we planned to make a grooved base that has high and low grooves so that as the reindeer (not horses) went in a circular motion they would move up and down depending on how high the groove was. Once we met with the teaching team about this plan there were some comments made to help improve it, such as researching the way an actual carousel is structured. Once we did this we noticed that they utilize bevels and crankshafts, and to use this in our project we figured it would be best to simplify this. To make our carousel move in a circular motion we used movement #24 from the 507 mechanical movements. We also needed to create an up and down motion for the reindeer so we used a movement that is similar to a combination of movements #39 and #268. These can be seen in the figures below:
Gears for movement 24 Original wheel connected to crank (39 and 268)
Now let’s get into the nitty gritty details. We couldn’t just immediately start with our laser cutting process. First we needed to create a prototype and were instructed to do so using cardboard.
Low-fidelity Model:
We spent a lot of time getting every part we needed to have for our projects already designed so cutting would be an easier process. He’s a picture of our organized shared google drive:
EDESI Midterm Shared Google Drive With All .AI Files
I was sadly sick for a couple days so I was not able to help with finishing everything to get ready to cut and by the time I was no longer sick the laser cutters broke :(. So, once I came into class, Karla and I started off by cutting out the bases manually using a box cutter and measuring with a ruler. Luckily, toward the end of class one of the laser cutters was fixed so we used that time to cut out cardboard horses (we forgot to make them reindeer originally). We also reprinted the bases to make them have a cleaner look.
Karla cutting out stand
Carousel with bases and stand Horse in front of cardboard carousel
Then, it was time to move on from cardboard to some plywood! We just had to cut out the designs we had created previously. The “finalized” designs are below.
2D design of project with quantities 2D reindeer and wheel design w/bearings
Piece-by-piece description of parts of updated design
Mid-fidelity Model:
We decided to have four main bases where one would be directly under the gears. Another would be directly above the gears and holding bridges and stands so that the wheels will be able to turn with a pole that goes through the bridges. Also, because our reindeer would be printed out on a flat piece of wood, we felt it would be a good decision to connect two reindeer pieces together (one with a gap so the pole could go “inside it”) so that the reindeer would appear thicker.
Base with bridges (pre-supporting poles/stands)
Once we put together the pieces of our mid-fidelity model that’s when we experienced some issues.
The top two bases were unfortunately too small for there to be easier turns for the wheels so we needed to make them larger. Another issue was that the crank connected to the wheel was too large and not round enough for the turns, thus making the wheel stop and not do full turns. Lastly another problem was that the wheels were not touching the bottom base, and because of this there could not be an up/down motion for the reindeer.
Movement of Pre-fidelity Carousel Video
High-fidelity Model:
For our high-fidelity model Karla had the idea to switch out the base we had completely because there was some weight issues preventing every wheel from touching the base. So, the final model utilizes a rectangular base that the wheels are spinning on which helped prevent the issue of weight keeping the wheels from touching the “floor”. We also sprayed some lubricant on the wheels so that they could spin better.
Dimension guide of project Press fit rectangular base with gears inside and for wheels on-top
Once this was done, everything was added on top similar to the mid-fidelity project and now our carousel has been brought to life. All that was left was adding special features that came from vinyl cutting, plasma cutting and spray painting!
Extra Fabrication Techniques:
For our handle we decided it would be a good idea to use a metal handle and to achieve this we had to use the plasma cutting technique. Reasons being that the metal would offer a firmer grip for precision while turning and it is also more durable and resilient than wood at times. With the laser cutting technique we also chose to use and acrylic pole that was used to hold up the reindeers for a more “invisible” look. We can’t forget the most important parts…OUR CHRISTMAS THEME!!! So, we had the idea to spray paint the press-fit “present” boxes that were placed on top of the carousel. We also, spray painted our reindeer (see if you can find our friend Rudolph). Last but not least, we had also used the vinyl cutting technique and decided to cut out stripes that wrap around the presents and poles for the Christmas look.
Here is our final model! Christmas came early!
Dimensions: Base = 20″x14″ , Wheels = 3″x3″, Base 2 = 9″ x9″, Base 2,3 = 12″ x 12″ x 3/16″ Reindeer = 5″ x 5″ x 3/8″ Middle Stand = 7″ x 3″ x 3″ , Bridges = 2″x2″, Top press-fit = 3″x2″x2″, Acrylic = 15″ x .1285″, Crank = 2″ x 1″ x 3/16″
Final Christmas Carousel High Fidelity Model
Link to presentation: Final Presentation
Link to video: Christmas Carousel Demo
Now we are done!
Cleaned workspace
Cost analysis:
x5 Plywood (3/16″ x 2′ x 4′): $12.89 x 5 at Home Depot = $64.45
x1 Acrylic board= $18.48 at Home Depot
4oz Gorilla wood glue = $3.47 at Walmart
x3 Rust-Oleum spray paint = $5.98 x 3 = 17.94 at Home Depot
x2 3″ x 11″ Vinyl Sticker Paper = ~$6.72 on Amazon
x1 Lubricant Spray = $5.68 at Walmart
Facility Cost:
Laser machine operator: Average hourly wage in Texas is $16.69. I personally spent about 14 hours working with the laser cutter (including time spent updating designs from cutting “errors”). So, for 14 hours of work the total salary would be $233.66.
Machine shop operator: Average hourly wage in Texas is $17.24 according to indeed. So for 20 hours of operating with the machines for cutting and fabrication the salary would be $344.80.
Prototyping engineer: Average hourly wage in Texas is $36 according to ZipRecruiter.
In total, everything costs: $731.20
