Thor Yeary Project 2: Laser Cutter

Process

I began by creating a digital sketch in Fusion 360 to design one side of a plant pot. I then mirrored this design to generate the opposite side. Next, I constructed a second distinct side of the pot, mirrored it as well, and confirmed that all four sides would align properly when assembled. After finalizing the walls, I designed the base, cutting a large central drainage hole along with four smaller holes to facilitate water flow. Each unique side of the pot was then saved as a DXF file and imported into Adobe Illustrator, where I applied a red color to the cut lines to ensure they would be recognized by the laser cutter. Additionally, I engraved an image of Cacnea, the cactus Pokémon, onto one of the faces of the pot because this pot would probably only be for a dryer plant so I thought it would be funny. Following the cutting process, I assembled the structure by using a mallet to attach two of the sides to the base, then secured the remaining sides with wood glue

Result

I challenged myself to design the pot as a perfect square, which might seem simpler than a rectangular design but ultimately required greater attention to detail to ensure complete symmetry. While I was able to create the large central drainage hole on my own, I encountered difficulties when attempting to place the four smaller holes. Since they were not snapping to any reference points, I would have had to position them manually, which I was unwilling to do. To resolve this, I consulted Dawson, who demonstrated how to duplicate a hole and arrange multiple copies along a circular path. This technique ensured that the holes were evenly spaced and precisely aligned. Additionally, I encountered a concern regarding material thickness—after finalizing my design in Fusion 360, I realized that the thickness I had set was slightly larger than my actual material. Initially, I worried that this discrepancy would require redoing the laser cuts, but it ultimately worked to my advantage. The tighter fit allowed me to use a mallet to secure half of the pieces with minimal force, ensuring a snug and stable assembly.

Reflection

I encountered an unexpected issue where I was able to test print my Cacnea picture perfectly fine on some scrap pieces, but was unable to replicate my process when I came into the shop outside of class to finish up my plant pot. This made me realize the importance of writing down and documenting complicated processes as I'm doing them so that I can do them again when/if necessary. I'm also pleased with my happy accident of cutting with thicker material size than intended because using the mallet to fit my pieces together felt efficient and satisfying and I wish I could've done for all of my pieces.