Jay Salter Project 2: Laser Cutter

 Process: 

    I began this project in Fusion following the pencil holder tutorial. Once I finished learning how to design a laser cutting project through sketches, I started on my own design. I decided that I wanted my project to serve as a deck box for various types of cards, so when I was drafting my sketches I made sure to set the dimensions using parameters for the box thickness as well as a standard playing card's height and width. The box was designed to include two sections, which required me to add a central dividing section that would lock into the base. I really enjoyed the process of using sketches in Fusion as it allowed the overall project to come together much quicker than drafting each of the pieces individually. After extruding my sketches and designing the base of my box, I moved on to deciding how to incorporate a lid. I originally wanted to include a hinged lid similar to my tool tote, but after experimenting with a separating lid design I chose to use that instead. I finalized my design by cutting out the hole where the coin would sit, and found that the divider piece would serve perfectly as a backing board to ensure the coin stayed in place. 

    Once I had finalized my design, I moved to using the RayJet and 1/4" inch material to give my box more sturdiness. I really enjoyed moving my design into illustrator as I felt the process was very intuitive given my prior experience with the software doing digital design. I also absolutely loved watching the pieces be slowly cut out by the laser and wound up standing to watch as each of my pieces came together. 

    My pieces came out really nicely, but wound up being a little bit loose. To ensure the box stayed together, I used wood glue to lock the pieces into place. However, before I solidified my box I moved to using the Epilog laser cutter to do a variety of engraving on the lid and front of my box. 

   

    

    While I was working on the wood engravings, I worked with Josh to start the engraving process for my coin. The coin design I had picked from Thingiverse posed some challenges as it came in a 3MF file rather than an STL file, so I had to figure out how to convert the file and then select only the coin design I intended to use. Using the XTool software was also extremely interesting, and once I lined up the design I started the engraving process. The coin came out extremely well and after running Josh's cleaning process a few times, I was happy with the final result.

Result:

 

    After assembling all of the pieces, gluing it all together, and inserting the coin, I tested my box to ensure that it could hold playing cards as intended. The box passed this test, so I was satisfied with the box's functionality. I think the engravings I choose to incorporate with my box really added to its overall character, and I hope to create additional versions in the future. This assignment went a lot more smoothly than my tool tote, which I really appreciated, but I still had to go through multiple iterations of my Fusion design before settling on my finished product. 

Reflection: 

    I really enjoyed the learning process from this assignment overall. It taught me how to use a variety of machines to create a cohesive final project, and I plan to use these skills in the future to create a variety of other laser cut creations. If given the chance to do this project again, I think I would work on incorporating a sliding lid rather than a completely separate piece as I think this could add some visual interest to the top of the box. Additionally, I would love the chance to experiment with potentially using other materials to potentially create a clear lid for my box to make the contents visible inside. Overall, I think this project taught me how to use the tools at my disposal in ways I had not originally expected (such as using Fusion to create a design entirely through sketches) as well as teaching me how to incorporate multiple tools based on their strengths.