If nothing else, this project taught me a valuable lesson about cutting metal: it’s a nightmare. Don’t do it if you don’t have time for it.
I’m in big screens this semester, and my group is starting to think that it would be fun to have some physical interaction to go along with our big video game. We’re thinking that, as groups play our game, they will add pieces to a circular cutout that will eventually form a flower. I wanted to make a small-scale prototype for this version. I started by designing the wood outline.
And then I cut it out on the Bantam mill.
Ok, that worked out pretty well. I then reversed the design and contracted it inwards by .1” for the copper pieces that would fill in the pockets in the wood.
I had two 6”x 6” sheets of copper to cut for the petals. Unfortunately, I don’t have good documentation of the process of cutting them down to fit into the Bantam mill, but it was a bit of an ordeal. I nearly cut it all the way through, but I deformed the sheet as I tried to cut the last bit. In retrospect, I should have used the tool of the week. And while the process of cutting the copper pieces felt like it started off ok…
My first pass didn’t cut all the way through. And my second pass didn’t go so well.
And honestly, this is where I’ve chosen to call it for this week. I’ll be sticking with this project through the final, so updates will be coming.
Update 12-4
Copper may be difficult to cut, but you know what’s easy to cut? Paper. This project now has a paper inlay.
