Clock
Here is the pre research I did for my clock.
Once I had figured out the design for my clock and finished making the design in Inventor, it had to actually be created. Ms. Proctor said using the router (which was my original plan) would have been a waste of time because my design was pretty simple. This changed my plan a little bit because I could not count the saw and sander as a machine. To create the actual shape, Ms. Proctor used the saw to cut it to the right size, and the sander to get the piece of wood to the right thickness. Then, she drilled a hole in the center for the hands of the clock.
Next, I had to create the design I wanted to engrave on my clock. I decided to add a fern to the actual clock face to make it a little more detailed. After creating the design on Illustrator, it was time to get it engraved on the laser.
I think the engraving turned out really good and I am very happy with it. I have now finished using one of my machines.
Now it was time for my second machine, the vinyl cutter. I took the same numbers on Illustrator that I used for the actual clock face to face sure they were the same size when I was getting the decals cut out. I decided to make the numbers black so they would stand out a little bit more than the rest of the engraving. Cutting out and applying the decals was very successful.
Although it didn't make a huge difference, I like the way the numbers pop out more. Now I was finished with my second machine.
The third and final machine I used was the 3-D printer. For this machine, I printed a handle for the back of my clock, so you can hang it on a wall. First, I had to create the design in Inventor and when that was complete, I sent the file to Makerbot to be prepped for printing. Once I was finished in Makerbot, I loaded my design onto my flash drive and brought it down to the 3-D printer.
After a few issues along the way, the print process was a success! All three machines have been used. Now all I had to do was put the pieces together.
Here is the finished clock! It should be functioning once I put a battery in it and I should be able to hang it on the wall.
WHAT I LEARNED
This project taught me so much. The most important thing I learned though was how important it is to be productive and how you need to use your class time wisely. During this project, wasting even 10 minutes of time could be the difference between you finishing the project and not finishing it. I learned a little bit more about how to work with wood, and the different settings for the laser. I also got anther chance and kind of re-taught myself how to use the vinyl cutter because it had been a while since I used it last. I figured it out pretty easily. I also learned how to set up a clock mechanism and apply all of the knowledge I've learned over this semester. At first, I didn't think I was going to like this class because it was a backup, but it actually ended up being one of my favorite classes. I learned so much about all the different machines and it was so rewarding to create all kinds of different things in the innovation center. I might even consider taking Big IDEA or being a TA in the future for Ms. Proctor. I can't even believe how much I learned how to do with software and machines, and this project put it all together. I am going to miss coming to IDEA class.