Hannah's Assignment 1: Laser Cut Press Fit Construction Kit

Design

For this assignment, we had to create a press fit construction kit. After a quick Google search for more inspiration and to confirm my understanding, I thought up of some designs I wanted to create for my kit. I decided to do a press fit kit with mini pieces of three different shapes that you can put together to create whatever abstract piece you want. I chose 3 shapes: squares, polygons, and stars. I chose these shapes cause I thought it'd be fun to create and piece together.
All you have to do is put them together any way you want to create your own little abstract piece. Just have fun with it!

Process

Step 1: After thinking about various shapes I want to use in my kit, I used Illustrator to create my shapes as well as the file source for the laser cutter. I used the rectangle tool, polygon tool, and star tool to create my shapes. For the slits, I used the rectangle tool to create them, placed them where I wanted them on each shape,then used pathfinder to compound and subtract the shapes. I changed the outline of the shape to 0.001 pt so that the laser cutter recognized it for a vector cut.
Step 2: Once my file was ready with the shapes I wanted, I went to the laser cutter to do a test run. Using one of the MacBooks from the MILL, I opened my file on Illustrator and started the cutting process. I turned on the exhaust, air compressor, and the laser cutter itself. I adjusted the focus so that the focusing "key" was just touching the material. After that, I went to Print and adjusted the Setup and Preferences. I made sure to choose the right laser cutter, then in the Preferences I adjusted Place Size and the Vector settings. I used 25% speed, 100% power and 100% frequency. I did have issues with my Illustrator file in that the laser cutter didn't recognize my vectors. I had to create a new Illustrator file using the MILL's MacBook and recreated the test shape, and that file was recognized by the laser cutter.
Step 3: Iterate! After my test laser cut, I realized the slits on my shape didn't fit well together. That's when I realized the purpose of the calipers. I measured the thickness of my cardboard and used that number to determine the size of the slit. I went back to my Illustrator file and adjusted my shapes. I used 0.09in for my slit width to have the shapes fit together, so that when shaken it wouldn't come apart.
Step 4: Once I adjusted my shapes, I did another test cut with the laser cutter. I did the same process as step 2. This time my shapes fit together! So I went ahead and cut out the remaining shapes I had on my document, and my kit was completed.

I did figure out what my initial Illustrator file problem was. When I created my shapes and used pathfinder, the stroke was automatically aligned inside instead of center. When I fixed the stroke alignment, the stroke weight of 0.001pt looked how it was supposed to versus how it looked at 0.000pt when aligned to inside.

Peer Teacher: D'Marcus Butler - Illustrator
He taught me how to use pathfinder to create the shapes I wanted to cut.