Hey everyone! We’re back at it again with another exciting project for this class, and this time we’re using more technology than ever before. In our past projects, we mostly had to rely on using basic hand tools to build things, however, this project required us to use Adobe Illustrator and the M2 laser cutter at the OEDK!
As part of the first step in the process, I used a piece of software meant to help create storage solutions (namely wooden boxes) to design the 4-inch wooden box digitally! This was something new for me since I’ve never had to account for differences in tolerances when working with wood. Usually, wood is a material that I use hand tools and adhesives with, however, using the laser cutter to create something that is held together with friction meant that some of the measurements and gaps in the design needed proper adjustment! As such, I first designed my box in a way that would leave more room for all of the individual parts to fit together, which quickly proved to be a mistake as you can see below!
Here you can see that the individual tabs were too short for proper fitment between pieces, which was primarily caused by a mistake in measuring both the material’s overall thickness and the adjustments meant to account for the laser cut! However, noticing these details made me realize the importance of proper testing and adjusting settings, which is exactly what I did with my residential college crest, seen below!
After starting the initial test, I noticed that the crest was a little too dark and slightly misaligned relative to the piece, which led me to immediately adjust the laser cutter’s speed and power settings and the positioning of the crest! Following these adjustments, I started another test using pieces of wood that could not be used in the final project, saving both time and materials!
As shown above, the test print this time around was much better, achieving a level of detail and precision that I was finally happy with! While the alignment was still a little off, this would be easier to fix than adjustments to the speed and power settings. With most of the problems already solved or noticed, I started working on some revisions to the design including the length of the tabs, the alignment of the crest, and increasing the power to create more precise edges for the box!
Definitely getting closer to the end result I was looking for, which was exciting to see and quite necessary given that I had limited resources left to use for the boxes I needed to make! The tabs were still just a little too short, so that was one last revision that I needed to create a functional box!
At last, the revisions done to the length of the tabs were finally enough for the individual pieces to fit together properly and I must admit that the end result looked far better than I had initially imagined! As someone who is used to creating things with multiple different iterations, this project made me realize the importance of running smaller-scale tests to conserve materials and to use resources to the greatest extent possible!
Working with constraints was certainly the biggest takeaway of this project and this also included calculations of time and resources shown below:
Labor – 3 hours at an hourly rate of $25 (hourly wage of designers) equals $75
Materials – Approximately $5 to $10 for the wood, plus $70 for Adobe Creative Suite (no discount)
Tools – Varies given that this project could be done using a variety of different laser cutters
In total, it would be safe to estimate that the project cost approximately $150 to $155 if the necessary tools were already provided! Quite expensive overall, but there were a lot of valuable skills to learn!
Below is a picture of my workspace after I was done with the project!
