Laser Cut - Presentation Box for Student Exemplars

 

This creation has come from one of our amazing teachers here at school which came out of an idea about ways to display exemplars of students work.  We have looked online at various items for displaying of figures with a combination of LED strip lighting and MDF or wood veneer.

The idea is to have a semi permanent display with some exemplars physically present to show as a example of our students creativity and innovation.

In the example display box shown left the laser cutter has been used to create both the top and bottom for the box which has then been stained to alter the colour.

The walls of the box have been created by using the laser cutter to cut perspex which has then been anchored into position by the slots created by the box.

The design at present measures 200mm by 220mm and has a height of 260mm.   The wooden lid is designed to lock the Perspex into place and is 220mm by 220mm and is 5mm high. 

Although there is no LED strip lighting directly linked to the display box it would be potentially possible via the lid and a battery operate light (inexpensive fairy lights might also work in the same manner).

This would potentially allow the school to easily create a bank of exemplars that could either be stacked on top of each other or combined with another furniture item.

This photograph left shows the storage box placed in a cube shaped storage item - although if it was to be permanently mounted into something such as this we would potentially look at the dimensions to increase the size relative to where it is placed.

There are a significant number of sites online which contains laser cut files for the purpose.

We also have created a bank of examples of laser cut projects which are located via the tab on the main page of this blog.

3D Printed Lettering in Action...

One of the numbers on display in place.

Background: As previously detailed on this blog the student concerned designed a set of numbers, representing the classrooms at Auroa Primary School.   Each number was to show the designated place where a classroom of students needs to line up in the event of an emergency or evacuation (fire drill, earthquake drill).    The purpose of this was to - have a practical design task for 3D Printing that could be used actively in the school, to solve an issue (the original numbers had been previously designed and ordered at a time that didn't reflect change in the school, the school needed to increase one number as that classroom didn't have a number when the set was originally purchased).  It also serves another purpose.   We have speculated in the past about how robust the 3D Printing PLA would be when left out and exposed to the elements.   The prints have been place on an exposed and open area of the school (as this is the assembly point) and they are attached by a cable tie and open to the

The numbers in display in the assembly area.

elements.    Having been in place for two weeks we are noticing a slight discolouring with the lettering (the orange was with hindsight perhaps not the best colour choice although it is a theme colour of our school uniform and signage), however the PLA itself is holding up well in a high wind area.

Next steps: We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the PLA in outside conditions to look for other opportunities to print in such conditions.  The potential for there being individualized signage and prints that is striking and effective in a range of school situations.

The details of the original print project can be located and found here.

3D Printed Basic Sign

Challenge: To produce a sign for display as part of a group display.
Background: Students had a display as part of a cluster of schools and students display for a local evening.   Students were looking for ways to display thier work with something creative and original- that would also be eye catching.
Level of Difficulty:  Low.  Students were able to produce this sort of thing extremely easily - it was created with the basic interface available from Tinkercad, with simply the lettering overlaid over top.  This typical design would expect to be created in a two minute timeframe - which all students in the classroom (Y5/6 - ten year olds) are capable of this.
Timeframe: Six hours - this print could have been radically altered depending on the depth of the lettering and the font.  The students raised the lettering 5mm from the base of the plate, this easily could have been reduced to reduce the print time, to still maintain the affect. 
Size: The base plate was 15cm across and had a height of 6cm.   The depth of the plate was 5mm and the lettering was raised a further 5mm from the base of the plate. 
What we would do differently: The choice of the font with the lettering was basic, and the letting itself was not as clearly defined on the base of the 'y'.  The students also hadn't used the capital 'm' for the lettering, which they should have done.   Potentially the students could have designed holes for screws depending on what it was to be attatched to. 
Next Stepts for students: To use a font that better suited for the display of the sign.  They could have included photograph/images related to the topic as part of the sign.

3D Printed Presentation Props

Glow Worm

Challenge: To choose suitable props to enhance a school presentation.
Background: This is another task to enhance a presentation to take place for the local community and a cluster of schools.  The classroom was developing projects based around two similar themes, gaden worms and glow worms.   As a result of conversation with the teachers of the classrooms an offer was made to enhance the presentations by producing 3D printed models that would then be mounted on the boards.   For the 'glow worm' presentation glow-in-the-dark filament was used.   Due to the timeframe available a decision was made to go with pre-produced material, that was not student created.  (this is the second time this has occurred on this blog, the first being the 'rat' print listed previously which is also linked to this presentation.
Level of Difficulty: Minimum, none.   These prints were sourced from pre-produced locations (in this case a generic search on Tinkercad) and not requiring any student created input.  The only factor that slightly complcated matters was the use of glow-in-the-dark filament for the glow worm.  This filament as a general rule is more difficult to print and requires a adjusted temperature and multiply tries to compete successfully. 

Full display, worms in green

Timeframe: Approximately 40 minutes per worm.  They varied in size and as a consequence the time for each individual piece was different.   The times was a minimum required and as a sourced prints, other than altering the size, minimum changes could be made.
Size: As above the size of the worm/glow-worm varies on a case by case basis.  The longest in the series is shown top left, 12cm.   The worms featured in the display on the right at right angles were this size but split in half due to the angle of the bend.

Collection of 'Tinkercad Worms"

What we would do differently; If time had not been a constraint then it would have been preferable for students to design and create their own individual and unique worms.  Given what students have produced in the past, this would have been more than possible.  On a positive - two furher teachers were provided with practical examples of something produced with 3D Printing, and their displays were enhanced.
Next steps for students: The obvious  is for the students to design the worms or animals from scratch.  This would be well within their capabilities and the animal shapes and design could be inspired to create their own versions that would more than suit the purpose.