Week 1 - Light
I didn't know what to make at the beginning so I went to a grocery store to look for some materials. I came across a bulb-like salt shaker with interesting patterns on it and I immediately decided to make a light out of it. I'm interested to see what kind of lighting effect it could create. It's also perfect for it has holes on it where I can put the wires through. For the housing, I wanted to practise the woodworking skills I learned in class so I decided to make a wood box.
I picked a piece of plywood on the junk shelf, then I measured, marked, and cut it into six pieces. I also drilled a big hole on one piece with the drill press and a small hole on another with a hand drill (The former one for the bulb and the latter for the switch). I was a bit afraid of the machines at first but after using them for a while I felt quite comfortable.
After that, I connected a simple circuit with a blue led, a potentiameter, and a 3v button cell. I glued the wood boards together and secured the circuit inside the box with tapes.The edges were pretty ugly so I also covered them with tapes.
Below is what it looks like in the dark. I like the aurora-like light it creates :)
Week 2 - Five Objects
In a neaby store, I found these wood clovers with heart knots on them. I decided to cut the hearts out since the wood-burned lines are perfect cut lines and I wanted to practice cutting curves in wood.
I never used the band saw before and it was a bit scary to me because recently I always hurt myself in the kitchen. I forced myself to be highly concentrated while cutting every line. At first attemp, the blade got stuck as I tried to cut out the curve at once. So I changed to cuttting little by little along the tangent lines of the curves and it worked out fine. After finishing the five pieces, I felt quite comfortable using the band saw. And I can cut curves now! Yay!
Week 3 - Laser Cutting
I saw these cute laser-cut cactus online and wanted to make one myself. The template I found was in jpeg format so I recreated a vetor version in Adobe Illustrator.
At first, I used a 0.23'' thick wood sheet and it didn't work well. Probably because it was quite thick, there was a small flame occuring every few seconds as well as some black smoke. The shop staff had a look and said it was ok but suggested me setting the laser to a lower power next time.
For my second try, I changed the material to acrylic and it cut great. I assembled the pieces and glued them together. The finished product turned out to be pretty good but I guess it would be better with colored arcrylic.
Week 4 - Enclosure
I'm working on my game project for the New Arcade class and the hardware part needs an enclosure - so I desided to make an arcade control panel! The game I'm building is a two-player Arcade game which uses two joysticks and four buttons as inputs. So first I measured my components with a caliper and then laid out the holes in my Illustration file. The 6 big holes are for joysticks and buttons and the small holes are for standoffs.
I used a piece of cardboard to test out my design and was surprised that all components fit well on it. After making some small adjustments to the holes around the joystick, I laser cut my design from acrylic. The assembling process was quite relaxing and I found standoffs to be so useful - I didn't even know such a thing existed！I'm really happy with what I made and I hope it will work with my arcade game.
Week 5 - Two Materials
When I was browsing for materials on Amazon I was attracted by the natural wood slice. Its growth ring is a symbol of time so I thought it would be cool to make a clock out of it. However It was hard to think of the other material. Initially I thought of using aluminum wire to form a shape for the clock but the wire I got was too soft. So I went to the dollar store to find something I could use instead. As I found this styrofoam sphere which has the similar diameter as my wood slice, I decided to combine the two. I also bought a clock movement kit.
The making process was quite simple - I drilled a hole on the wood slice for the shaft and cut out a square slot on the styrofoam for the case. Then I placed the clock hands onto the shaft and screwed the nut in place. I also applied acrylic paints to the foam, which took much time than I expected to dry. And finally I used hot glue to attach the two materials together. The final product was simple but cute!
Week 6 - Final
When I was thinking of something that could rotate using a motor, an orrery came to mind. I've always been fascinated by its sophisticated machanism and elegant style, so for my final project, I decided to make a simple orrery! It will not function as a real orrery, which demonstrates the motion of the solar system, but it will be able to rotate slowly when it's turned on and could be a nice home decoration.
First I had to decide what kind of motor to use. Among servo, DC, and stepper motors, I chose stepper motors since I could easily control its speed and also it could produce a higher torque. The next step was programming in Arduino and connecting the circuits - I used the Arduino Nano 33 board as a processer, a ULN2003 driver to control the motor, a toggle switch to turn on and off, and a 9v battery to supply power.
After making the circuit work, I strated working on the enclosure. First I drilled holes on the octagon box I bought - one on the lid for the shaft, one on the side for the switch, and two on bottom for the standoffs. Then I secured the motor inside the box using screws and standoffs. The 4 inch box was a bit small for my hardeware but I managed to cram them all inside.
Now it's time to make planets! I used woodn balls, wood stick, and steel wire to make the model and painted it with acrylic paint. The painting process was a mess but the outcome was pretty nice. Finally I glued the ball to the stick, put everything together, and ta-da! I got a nice little orrery! So tired but happy : )
