Tutorial 2- Detailed Process: Mouse Skin

PROCESS 1- DIGITAL

What you need:

Chosen object (mouse)

Smartphone/ desktop

Wifi

What to do:

Step 1- Find an interdisciplinary object

Step 2- 123D Make

1. Open 123D Make on your desktop.

2. Open the object file of your 3D model

3. Change the Manufacturing Settings of your object on the left panel of your screen.

4. Choose “Stacked Slices” as the construction method.

5. Click on the gear button beside “Manufacturing Settings”. A pop-up panel would appear at the bottom par top the screen.

6. Choose the following settings for the material:

          Units: mm

          Width: 600

          Length: 300

          Thickness: 3mm

(You can check the sheets on the right panel of the screen.)

7. On the left panel of the screen, select “Get Plans”. A pop-up panel would appear at the bottom part of the screen.

8. Choose the following settings for the file:

               File Type: PDF

          Units: mm

PROCESS 2 – LASER CUTTING

What you need:
Adobe Illustrator
3mm plywood sheets
Glue
Laser cutting machines

What to do:
Step 1- Adobe Illustrator

1. Open Adobe Illustrator.

2. On the File Menu, select “Open” and open your PDF files.

3. Drag the mouse to select everything.

4. On the top panel of the screen, change the stroke to .001

5. Select the outline of the template pieces.

6. Double click on the color picker on the left panel of the screen. A pop-up panel for the color settings would appear.

7. Choose and apply the following settings:     

          R: 255
          G:0
          B:0

8. Select the guide objects inside of the template pieces:

9. Double click on the color picker on the left panel of the screen. A pop-up panel for the color settings would appear.

10. Choose and apply the following settings:

          R:0
          G:0
          B:255

11. On the File Menu, select “Save As” and save it as a PDF (.pdf) and as an illustrator (.ai) file

Step 2-Laser Cutter

1. Open the laser cutter and lay your plywood sheet.

2. Turn the power on.

3. Turn the filtration system on.

4. On the Fab Lab computers, open your file on Adobe Illustrator.

5. Check if you have the proper settings:

          Line Stroke: .001mm

          Template Outlines: R:255

          Template Guides: B:255

(Blue lines are engraved as template guides and red lines are cut.)

6. Press “Ctrl+P” and select the VLS printer.

7. On the bottom right side of the taskbar, open the VLS Printer.

8. Make sure that the laser focus sits inside of the plywood sheet by toggling on the focus tool.

(You can use the pins from the lab to make sure your plywood sits straight on the laser cutters.)

9. Change the printer settings of the material. Choose proper settings for the natural wood-medium grade.

10. Click the “green button” to print.

11. Stack the template pieces together to create the formwork.

PROCESS 3 – METAL SHAPING

What you need:
English Wheel
Bossing Mallet (tapered wooden, tapered plastic, radius end)
Shot bag
Table-top sheet metal cutters
Sheet metal cutters
Sharpie
Dome, Tapered, OvalDolly
0.5 to 1 mm thick aluminium sheet
Chosen object (leaf)
Tape
Wooden dolly

Step 1- Cutting the metal sheet

1. Lay the formwork on top of the metal sheet.

2. Estimate how much sheet you need to cover the formwork and mark it using a sharpie.

3. Cut the metal sheet according to desired length. For the mouse template, you can cut a 15cm diameter circular sheet using the table-top cutters.

Step 2- Shaping the metal sheet

1. Locate the centre of the sheet metal.

2. Using a sharpie, mark concentric circles along the metal sheet according to the contours of the 3D template.

3. Using the tapered bossing mallet, start hitting the marked circles on the wooden dolly in an alternating clockwise and anti-clockwise motion (form centre to outward). This will help you create a bowl form.

4. Use the plastic, tapered bossing mallet to shrink the edges of the bowl.

5. Once you get a bowl form close to the 3D template, neaten the concave side by hitting it on a shot bag with the radius end mallet.

6. Lay the sheet on top of the 3D template.

7. Mold the sides of the sheet using your hands, so that it starts to fit the 3D template.

8. Check if the front and back parts of the sheet lay completely on the 3D template. If not, you can mark these areas according to the contours, and start hammering (similar to #3) until it fits the template.

9. Slide it back and forth through the English wheel to polish the surface.

10. Lay it on the 3D template and gently hammer straight on the side curves using the finest radius end mallet.

(You can tape it in place to make sure it does not move.)

11. Once you get the side curves, use the most appropriately-sized dolly to hammer on in small quick motions to create less dents on the more detailed curves. (Since you won’t be able to use the English wheel to polish these areas)

You can switch between the tapered dolly, dome dolly, and oval dolly depending on the level of detail of the curve.

12. Keep doing this until you’re satisfied with the skin’s form and texture.