CNC Sample: Concept & Design

Steph and I roughed out some sketch ideas:

The main theme ended up centring around topography and jewellery. Here is an idea for a topographical pendant piece, one being a mountain range, the other being the bathymetry of a lake - a potential idea to capture favourite places in a personal keepsake:

Then we thought it would be interesting to juxtapose organic shapes found in the natural landscape contrasted with the grid-like pattern of city streets. The anatomical heart-shaped sketch near the top reminded me of the shape of Nose Hill Park in Calgary, so we decided to create a design for a pair of asymmetrical earrings that paired the topography of the park with the grid patterns of the adjacent neighbourhood.

We picture the final piece in a light material - maybe wood/layers of coloured transparent plastic(for the topography piece) that could be cut as individual layers and then cold-connected. Some final prep is in order for the CNC machine, but here is the Rhino drawing in its current state:

Comments

Reverse Eng. Object - Progress 1

I decided to begin with the back plate of my BOSS pedal. It was slow-going at first, getting used to creating shapes from a real-world example, and to figuring out how to best translate calliper measurements to the drawing. It looks straightforward, but turned out to be tricky in places. Simple offsets don't always work here, likely due to imperfections in the way this enclosure was manufactured. For example, the width of the casing wall is different on all four sides. Also, the fillets on the rubber backing are different at the top than at the bottom. Here are a few images illustrating my process. Casing wall, bottom view. Note differences in wall thickness: Metal back-plate with screw holes, sunken level with the casing wall: Addition of the rubber backing: Using Boolean Difference to create the negative space within the rubber backing. Here you can see the difference between the fillet shapes at the top compared with the...

Reverse Engineered Object: Selection

An object that is dissectible, whose parts can be measured within 0.001 of an inch, and then can be re-assembled to it's original condition? My choice is a Boss LS-2 Line Selector effect pedal: The LS-2 is a rugged, portable electro-mechanical device (aka. guitar pedal, effect pedal, aka. 'stomp box') that allows the user to engage one or more other devices with a press of their foot, hands-free. This is one of about 100 devices made by the same company(BOSS) with the same form factor. Photos taken at different angles: Since I work with pedals all the time and build them at home, I may be able to put this exercise into practical use, which is why I chose this object. This style of pedal interests me specifically because I have ideas for modifications to it, and this assignment will provide a base model for me to work with so that I can begin conceptualizing future modifications in a precise way.

Reverse Engineered Object: HD Render and Exploded View

Presenting the BOSS Line Selector LS-2 effect pedal (or a very close approximation thereof). At first this seemed like a straightforward object to re-create. But once the digital callipers came out and I began to dismantle the pedal, it became clear that this was going to be a challenge. For starters, there isn't a single side of this enclosure that is at a 90 degree angle. Interesting details in the knobs provided the unique challenge of capturing multiple textures and colours: Re-creating the text was also a fun challenge. Some elements I traced from an image, while others I was able to re-create with the 'TextObject' tool. I learned that for the text to be legible, it can't simply be a planar surface snapped to its intended surface. It also has to have a thickness to it, so that it sits 'on top' of the surface, otherwise the colour of the surface and the colour of the text meld together in a weird way. Here's how I re-...

Angie's 3D Design Blog

Search This Blog