Laser Cut Senior Project: Desk Storage

Challenge: For a (senior) student to use the Industrial Laser Cutter to create a significant project following instructional videos.

Background: As we have noted before our senior students once a week complete a DPE Day, which is similar to a Technology program at some schools in New Zealand.    Typically in smaller schools the students sometimes travel to larger schools for external providers for this.   While this was something that was done in the past, our school several years ago made a decision to host this program ourselves.

What it means in practical sense for our senior students is that they complete in various subjects.   On of which focusses on the use of the industrial laser cutter that we have onsite.

This project shown here was completed by a Y8 student during a recent session with the laser cutting.   The student used Sketch-Up to design the different sections of the storage.  They followed a series of flipped instructional videos which provided the steps to create each of the pieces which had been created by one of our teachers (we could potentially make these videos available if there is interest).  

Once these pieces were designed they were then transferred to a USB drive before being laser cut.   The student then inserted the tabs into the correct location, applying wood glue to complete the process.   The storage was created in 5mm MDF with the exception of the handles of the draw at the bottom of the design which was 3mm MDF.  

The process was completed independently by the student and was able to have the final project checked off by the teacher.

Level of Difficulty: Hard.   This was not an independent task but was one that required a students abilities to use Sketch-Up and also follow specific instructions.   While it was very much following step by step instructions and this was very prescriptive it is nothing something that students without a laptop or skill in Sketch-up would be able to complete.

Timeframe: Each of the individual pieces took two minutes or so to complete.   However there are a number of them to make up the storage item, fourteen in total, however they could also be put into a single sheet of MDF and printed at one time.   The total time for the project including the gluing, the laser cutting, the design and the pieces drying was two and a half hours.

Size: The print measures 180mm across at the front and 130mm deep.  The print is 200mm high.   The draw is 40mm high.   

What we would do next/Next steps for our students: This task is a student following a series of instructional videos from a staff member, the next step would be for the student complete designs on their own with their own creativity completing the task as opposed to be following set instructions. 

The student will need to sandpaper the drawer to ensure that it is able to be opened and easily.