Look how cute the box is!! I adore the old Sammy design from the 1950s hehe.
Let me take you through my journey of arriving at this incredible, final destination. I began the voyage with a misguided attempt at the prototyping library. I first tried to do the raster prototype, but I didn’t realize that it would be my own image or that I should convert the image into an svg file so I ended up with this “image”
This is kind of funny, but I was short on time because Margo and I only had 2 hours on the laser cutter and we already spent over an hour getting her first prototyping library to work. Therefore, I decided to try another prototyping cut but I accidentally made the “fill” part into a vector cut and the wood was crispy!! The laser was then promptly shut off because there is now a time limit on the laser cutter and it doesn’t work past 10 pm ??? 🙁
here is the crispy lettering. After my attempts, I started to realize that maybe the beginner box was more up my alley. I decided to start off by making mini boxes to test out the different kerf sizes and because I think they’re super cute. Margo and I cut out the rectangle with all the lines in it during our training and measured the space between the lines to be 0.113″ then divided by 10 was 0.0113″. I tested that kerf out and made this tiny box! However, I felt like the connection was too snug so I tried a larger kerf at 0.012″ but then the box was even more snug and I realized a larger kerf made the box tighter instead of the other way around.
first baby box: okay
second baby box: lowkey worse but at least I got the Brown crest engraved, BSWB!
see the broken wood? That’s because I had to force the pieces together with a mallet :(.
By then, my time was up AGAIN and I had to give the laser cutter to the next group of people. I had to make my third and final trip to the OEDK for this box count. I signed up as person 2 from 8-10 this Sunday, it was now or never. Since I was on the spreadsheet as person 2, the first person had priority over the laser cutter so I showed up around 8:10 and I found out there was another person in line to use the laser cutter so I didn’t actually get access until 9:30 PM, remember that the laser shuts off at 10 pm?? Scary times we live in.
I used my hour and a half prior well, creating a meaningful collage of photos to tug at my sentimental parent’s heartstrings. I also asked around to find the ideal kerf value since I knew I wouldn’t have time to test the fit of my finger joints. I learned that many people used 0.005″ as their kerf value, so I took a risk and set my value to 0.005″. In the words of JFK, “be bold”. Here is an image of my ai file:
the top left panel is a photo of my mom and dad on their 30th wedding anniversary trip. I used a background remover and then put their photo into an svg converter (same method I used for all of my photos). The top middle is a golden retriever photo I found online. We just got a golden retriever named Chloe and I’m very excited to meet her when I go home in two weeks. I tried using a photo of her, but she has very light blonde fur so it didn’t show very well on the svg. The top right is an old school photo of Sammy the owl for mainly aesthetic purposes and to accompany the text for my name and the class code. The bottom left is a photo of my brother and I when we were young and cute. The bottom middle panel has the logos of my family’s colleges. Top left is a french cross for Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana — my moms alma mater; middle right is a UCF knight for my brother, a May 2023 graduate in computer science; the bottom logo is a UTSA roadrunner for my dad. The bottom right panel is the Brown College crest partly because I wasn’t sure if it was required to include the crest and partly because I am a proud brownie as the Brown Senator.
Here is a photo of the laser cutter doing it’s job :). I did get a quick chance to make sure I could cut out a square easily.
here’s a 1 x 1 square using 12% speed, 100% power, 10% frequency.
POV: you operate a cool laser cutter and see the ai design IRL.
After everything was cut, I got to assemble the box. I was a little disappointed because the pieces felt a bit too loose and it’s an easy fix to adjust the kerf but I was pretty much out of time at 9:45 PM and I had to let someone else quickly cut their part. Overall, I like the box a lot and I’m excited to give it to my parents. If I were to have another hour on this project, I would pause the cut after the etching was done, add masking tape around the vector cut areas, and continue the cut. This way, I could prevent the laser burn on edges of the box. I would also adjust the kerf value and cut just the finger joints of two pieces to test snugness. Below is the box!
Cost Estimate
- 1 1/4″x 2′ x 2′ plywood (Home Depot, $7.99 each) : $7.99
- 5 hours of labor at $10 per hour: $50
Total: $59.99
