Lizzie Edwards Final Project: Mixed Techniques

Process

For this project I knew that I needed to make something that I would actually use. I think I had the idea to build a shelf from the beginning of this project, because it is something I need. I will be using the shelf for all my little trinkets that don't have homes around my apartment. I started in Fusion360 creating the basic shelf design that I would build out of wood. This was pretty quick and easy for me since I am familiar with Fusion now. I also used Fusion to create the decorative parts of the shelf so I could laser cut them. I did two different designs, one is my own and one I traced over from a website. I knew I probably couldn't make an intricate design, so I figured out how to bring in a screenshot into Fusion and trace over it with the spline tool. I was surprised with how easy this was. Then I needed to make my own design, so I took inspiration from several shelves I saw online. I ended up creating a simple top piece with a little heart design in it. Little did I know that this tiny heart would try killing me. With lots and lots of trial and error and many Fusion crashes, I was able to create the small holes in the design. 

Once I had the basic shelf structure, I decided that I did want to have a back piece. I found a scrap piece of thin plywood that I could use, but it was just barely the right size. I probably could have found a better piece, but I liked the idea of using scrap wood. I am an Environmental Studies Major after all. I used the staple gun to attach it to the back. Then for the laser cut pieces, I mostly figured out the machine on my own. I forgot how simple it actually is to upload and cut my designs. I used wood glue to attach the decorative pieces to the shelf, and I was quite scared it would not work, but so far, so good. I had a hard time figuring out the placement because I didn't consider how I would glue them together. It doesn't look perfect, but I will likely paint this in the future, so the weird placement won't be as noticable. I decided to wait on any paint or stain until I move into my new apartment so I can choose what color I like best. I am thinking a light purple at the moment because I already have a can of it. We will see...

My first drawings and ideas.

I find that I usually can only wrap my brain around the math like this if I write it out.

The decorative shelf bracket.

My Fusion360 shelf design with all the dimensions.

Creating the top piece was probably the most difficult part due to Fusion errors.

The finished top piece after all the drama.

Laser cutting the decorative pieces.

The basic structure of the shelf.

Immediately after gluing the pieces. I left the tape on for about 24 hours just to be safe.

Result

I am pretty happy with how this came out, especially because it is big! I honestly feel kind of funny walking around the Makerspace with my giant shelf in hand, but I think it is awesome. I already sent pictures to my friends and got the response: "you made that?" Yes, yes I did. I cannot wait to see how it looks with all my little trinkets on it. The first one to be placed on the shelf will be my 3D printed whale shark. I think I could have found a better way to attach the laser cut pieces. When I was gluing I realized that maybe I should have morphed the dragonfly pieces with the top piece in Fusion. But I also thought that if I hated the way it looks then I could just rip the pieces off, as long as the glue allows me to. Overall I think my design is really cute and I can't wait to take it to my new apartment. 

The final shelf.

Reflection

For the most part, I stuck to the design I orginally thought of. It might have been useful to figure out the laser cut pieces placement on the shelf way earlier, but I didn't know where I would be placing them until the pieces were cut. I think maybe it is bad that I didn't have too many different iterations of my shelf, but I really liked my initial design. My biggest obstacle was probably the top decorative piece because Fusion kept crashing when I would try to constrain it. But I figured out the reason it kept crashing, so I was able to avoid this. From this project I learned that I am pretty stubborn when it comes to what I think I should do and that sometimes I do need to slow down and think before shooting a nail into my shelf. But one thing I do love about all my crafts and projects is that they are close to perfect, but still show my silly human errors. These errors will give me silly stories to tell about when I was in a class where we "made things." I love telling people about this class because they are always confused about what "making" even means. Making, especially in the context of my final project, means putting my head and my hands together to create something, even if its purpose is simple.