pete's pieces

While thinking about what I wanted to do for my laser cut project, I kept circling back to the idea of a kinetic piece or automaton. I ended up writing out a whole list of things I might be able to do with moving wood parts. I loved the complexity, challenges, and vast amount of options this provided me, but those same elements turned into obstacles pretty quickly. I found that I had so many ideas, and almost all of them would be too complex and time consuming for me to manage in the time frame given, along with all my other classes and commitments. My friends ended up helping in minor ways and giving indirect inspiration for my current design.  This past week has been really stressful, and I've felt like my school life has sort of been tumbling around me while I just smile and try my best to be fine in the meantime. So I drew that as an idea for a kinetic sculpture. I found it was near impossible to freehand the gears, so I found a website that provided me with gear templates. Af...

This week, I booked a laser cutter appointment to try out engraving and cutting wood. I've used the laser cutter before, for a papercraft assignment in my first object design class.  I decided to cut out and engrave part of the zebra print pattern, as well as some prototype test parts for my project. I arranged the pieces I wanted cut in the corner of a rectangle that represented the sheet of plywood, so I could conserve material. I didn't completely remember how to format the file for the laser cutter, but I only had minor mistakes. I had set the cut lines to black and the engraving areas to red, instead of the other way around. Peter fixed it for me, and told me so I could fix any future files I'd take in to be cut. The cutting went well, and I'm really happy with my prototype pieces: the scale, the allowance between parts to enable smooth movement, the contrast between the cut edges and clean faces, etc. I'm also happy with how my engraving sample turned out. A r...

 Here are some interesting patterns I noticed in this past week: The first photo is of a moon-like plant pot. After that is an image of crinkled aluminum foil, and the final image is of a zebra-patterned towel. I think it's safe to say I'm drawn to more irregular and organic patterns. I really like the variation in size of the "craters" on the moon pot.  As for the aluminum foil, I find the intricate and messy pattern of the highlights and shadows captivating. I've always loved how crumpled tinfoil looks. I think the directional aspect of the organic zebra pattern shapes is interesting. This is the pattern I chose to recreate in Rhino, as it has the most distinct sections and appeared to be the most straightforward in terms of modelling. I only traced out a section of the pattern and shaded it in. Tracing the stripes took much longer than I anticipated, due to the relatively random nature of the shapes.  I also decided to try repeating this short segment to extend...

While looking up laser cut art, I noticed some themes in what caught my interest. One thing I found myself drawn to was sculptural and interlocking designs. One artist I found who plays with dimensional work is George W. Hart. I really like the twisting way the cut wood pieces overlap and connect. Frabjous, 2003 Monsters, 2007 SuperFrabjous, 2010 These are just three pieces from his large collection of work. Much of his portfolio is similar in basic form, with identical interlocking pieces creating a spherical shape. Hot Pop Factory, a collaboration between Matt Compeau and Biying Miao, is a design and fabrication firm that creates interesting colourful sculptures via laser cutting as well.  Blush Whale, 2004 I think the use of colour and gradients in this piece are mesmerizing and inspiring. The waffle-grid, while somewhat basic, creates an interesting juxtaposition with the amorphous and organic shape of the structure as a whole. Kinetic mechanisms are a more complicated addition...

 This week's class and assignment were a review from last year for me. As a result, I didn't end up making a ton of notes. I did end up making some comments towards the end on functions I had never used before. The text in the photo is a bit small, so I can add them in text here too: The fillet command is new to me. I'm frustrated by the lack of batch-processing with the feature and lack of preview, but otherwise, I can see myself using this. I didn't know the array function before today. Initially, I used the "centre" and "near" Osnaps to copy the circle along the curve, lining them up with the template. Then I tried the array function. I couldn't find the typed command for "array along curve", and had to use the side menu. I liked this command, it made the process quicker and more precise. Most of this was easy, a review from last year, hence the lack of notes. I enjoyed this assignment, even though I found it quite simple and easy. -...