Laser Cut Chest - Senior Exemplar

 Challenge: To utilise the Laser Cutter for a senior student for a significant long term design.

Background: Our senior students at School have one day a week completing DPE (Design Production Education) also known as Technology at some schools which is typically one day a week.  At Auroa School we have supplied this to our senior students for nearly ten years now.  As part of the rotations our students have a laser cutter option.   This project based learning takes six weeks - although some students can complete the project in a slightly earlier time frame.   The six weeks when the work is being completed the students are able to focus on the project from 9am to 1pm in the afternoon.

The projects takes a number of stages.   At the core of the project is the students use of the laser cutter.   This is responsible for the shaping of the chest, as each of the slats needs to be cut from the template for the design.   There are various templates of similar chests that are available (freely) online via a simple search,

Once this has been located and the parts that form the base of the chest have been cut out the next step is to glue the chest together using a specific wood glue.    The box was left to dry overnight.

The next step is to work and construct the hinges.   The hinges at the rear of the box (see photo), the latch at the front of the chest while they are spray painted silver are also laser cut.

The wood is 5mm Bamboo MDF mix.   It is also possible to complete this process using different thickness of MDF and also different type of MDF.     The design was completed using Sketch Up.    The handles of the chest are also completed in a similar way. 

There are two layers of storage trays inside the chest.  The first layer, shown left in the photo contains three storage sections.  It has been lined on the inside with yellow felt.   The felt was sized up again using Sketch Up, and then cut on the laser cutter.    Yellow was chosen to complement the colour of the wood.

The wood glue used to construct the box was also used to place the lining and hold it in the correct place.    Holes were placed at the end of the draws and the holes had a insert to allow them to be lifted up.

The inside of the lid of the box was also lined with the same fabric felt.

The bottom layer of storage can be seen here.  With the first drawer removed the second storage consists of a draw divided into two long rectangles (for storage or pencils as shown).   The draw has been again lined with the same yellow felt that has been used for the other parts of the box.    The tray has been glued to the bottom of the box to hold it in place.

The internal hinges were purchased from a local hardware store.    

Level of Difficulty: Extreme.  This was a project that took a Y8 student who was twelve years old several weeks to complete.  It had a number of elements that needed to be completed to an extremely high level.   This design was not for the faint hearted and required skill, patience and detailing to make it complete.  This was a long term project for the student.

Size: 220mm long 130mm wide and 190mm high.  The storage inside reflects the dimensions of the inside of the box.

Timeframe: The laser cutting of the individual pieces including of the box, the handles, the sides, the detailing and the felt took approximately an hour to complete.  Given the dimensions of the box this is considered a minimum and does not include the time to construct the box, glue it, have the glue dry etc.  This was a project that took several weeks (working once a day) to complete, test and be happy with.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: Potentially the student could have 3D printed the handles (which are the part of project which are touched the most) or had a different choice with the felt for the lining however these are minor issues with this major project.  There could have been a different selection of wood for the outside 

3D Printing: Utilising the Tinkercad Shapes

Challenge: A Y3 student, coming up with his first print.

Background: This print was the very first individual print that was created by a Y3 student (an seven year old).   He used the main interface from Tinkercad to locate the cartoon dinosaur figure.   The second step was that he looked for accessory to combine with the dinosaur and the student chose the top-hat.  The hat was oversized and created a humorous effect of having the two working in conjunction.  

The final step of the design was the purpose of the print the student was queried about what would be the purpose of the figure.   The student considered this and decided to introduce a block to the design, which would allow for a storage option.    The student then decided to look at spending time having the print spray painted.

The student made the decision to go with a green and orange pattern as shown left once the spray painting was completed (by a senior student at our school).

Level of Difficulty: Low.   This was deceptive as the student used pre-made design and then combined two elements before adding an additional feature.    The combination worked exceptionally well.

Size: The design measured 120mm in length was 70mm wide and was 100mm at the height of the hat.

The student didn't want to change the design from the moment it was completed, although the potential for storage is somewhat limited, a bigger figure would mean more potential.

Timeframe: Eight and a half hours.   There was a significant amount of rafting involved in this print to support the printing.  The was caused by the tail and aspects of the design like the hat overlapping the dinosaurs head.   Technically these could have been reduced (however if this was the case the hat would not have had the effect that the student wanted).

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: This was a Y3 student who was taking their first steps in designs for 3D Printing.  The student was thrilled with the results - they produced something which looked completed, had a purpose and balance.   It should have them excited for the future and inspire them to create their own original projects moving forward.  

3D Printed Accessories for Plants

 

Challenge: To produce an accessory capable of watering a plant.

Background: This is a follow up task from one of the Market Day Tasks from last year.   This business was created by a student who located a plan online for an .stl copy/design of the giraffe shown left.   Last year the student worked on adding additional features that worked in conjunction with the design - this resulted in the creation of the spade matching with the giraffe.

The students idea was to have a small succulent growing inside the base of the giraffe, and the spade was used to work the soil as required.   The second part of the design was the creation of a watering can

that could be potentially used to water a succulent.   The size of the watering can needed to be small as the amount of water delivered is small.

The PLA used for the watering can is a perfect use as it is waterproof.   The student needed to consider a number of factors including the nozzle which caused the design to be redesigned several times.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  The student thought that this would be a simple task however the funnel or nozzle and having it look correct and also making sure that it was functional.

Size: The current dimensions for the print are based on the original ideas as shown and the design needs refinement - in you look at the handle for instance it is chunky and blocky.   The nozzle is likewise needing to be reduced in size.   The design currently sits at 40mm across, 30mm high and 5mm thick.

Timeframe: This currently took just over one hour to print.   This should be reduced slightly when the improvements mentioned have been addressed.

Next steps for students/What we would do differently: As noted above the design needs some refinement to address aesthetics, however the concept is solid.

3D Printed Badges 2024 Exemplars

Challenge: Produce a unique name tag.

Background: Student is a Y4 student who has shown a keenness to get involved in creating projects and processes wanted to create a series of labels that could be used to show ownership of items that belonged to them.

The student was able to work independently to produce the prints shown on the left.   They were created in Tinkercad using the basic main design page - none of the aspects of designs took more than thirty seconds to add towards the final product.   The student was able to present to the teacher the final product which was then just printed without any adaption or adjustment.   

Level of Difficulty: Low - completed by the student independently and perfectly.  

Size: The print was 5mm wide and the font for the lettering was a further 5mm up.   The badge measured 80mm and was 60mm high.   These dimensions are perfect for this print to meet the completion of the task.

Timeframe: This print took two and a half hours to successfully print.  There are no plans to change the size or composition of the text or the print.

Next step for the student/what we would do differently: None.   A student driven project that was completed independently by a student to a high degree and would be considered successful.

3D Printed Chicken with Sword

Challenge: To produce something unique, with a purpose.

Background: This student has worked in the classroom for just over a year and has shown some design skill.  As she was able to produce a variety of regular items she was challenged to come up with something different that would have a purpose.

These designs were originally created and then AR/VR into the classroom so the students could determine if they would succeed as a print.  You can see the original design here.

The unique part of the design was achieved by having her use the chicken feet from the main Tinkercad interface and then create the dimensions for the bird/chicken independently using the main shapes.  As she wanted to have a different shape with her design she decided to include the sword as shown in the photograph.   The sword was intended as something of a joke, however when she was designing the print she started to consider how this part of the print might be used - for storage or potentially as an ear ring holder or for hair ties.   She also decided to consider the colour and how the final print would be presented.

Level of Difficulty: Low  at present - the student has yet to push herself with this design however once she has identified what might be the purpose of the design then it will require refinement and adapting the print.   Those specific alterations should increase the difficulty of the print quite considerably.

Size: The print measures 100mm from wing tip to wing tip, is 80mm high and is generally 50mm wide.  The sword extends 60mm from the base of the wing.  Adaptations of the design to further expand on the purpose are likely to affect these dimensions.

Timeframe: This print has overhang in several places, under the sword, the wings and the beak of the 'chicken' as a result of which the total print time for this print was six hours, on regular default settings.

What we would do differently/Next steps for students: The obvious answer for this is purpose based, while the print is amusing at present it lacks a particular focus that would be desired, however the student has already started having these conversations regarding its use to including either storage or holding of particular items.

Using the Sticker Machine to Produce Hat Transfers

 

We currently have a group of students who are working to use the Roland Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20 to produce a sticker which is then going to be steam pressed on the hat of the students.   This will allow the students to personalise their hats with a label of their own design.

The designs have been created by the students using the Gimp online software and a laptop.   Student were able to design them in one sitting then thinking about the composition the design and how the label might look when applied to the fabric.

Roland - Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20 T-Shirt Project

One of the projects that we wanted to highlight was how we are using some of the additional technology at our school.

Our senior students who are Year 7/8 have one day a week when they take part in our School Wide Technology Program (called DPE).   We have a variety of options/electives on this day including some of the traditional lessons but we also include things like laser cutting and technology design.

One of the pieces of the technology used is the Roland Sign Maker.  This machine was used extensively when we had the Auroa School Market Day where it was used to produce a range of stickers that we used as labels for the marketing of the products that our students were then selling to the community.

Another use for this machine, but on a larger scale is to produce stickers or large adhesives that can be used as t-shirt transfers.   These can be seen in the photographs shown left.   The designs are created by the students using Gimp.

Once this is completed the designs are printed onto the machine and from here they are heat transferred onto a standard t-shirt.   The students of course have the control over the content of the T-Shirt and they can design areas, characters and aspects of interest that are personal or important to them.    We have contemplated also making school or team shirts or sets of shirts the same way as the machine would allow the potential for the shirts to be able to be completed to suit our individual, group or school needs.   The completed shirts tend to be of a comparable quality of those that might be purchased from a printing shop.

Once the transfers have been designed, created and printed they are then put through a hot press which steams the designs into place, the press being shown left.