Sheet Metal Vessel: Fabrication

I'm back from my half-month hiatus here on my blog, and with me I've brought something very special: photographs of my completed sheet metal vessel! Please, take a look below:

This has by far been the most challenging project in this course for me, and I had to overcome many obstacles to see it through to the end.  However, I am proud that I persevered and thankful that I had plenty of help along the way.

So, what's next for my work in this course?  First, our skull vehicle is partially printed; we don't have all the components finalized and printed quite yet, but I think it's looking great so far, and it's very cool to see the 3D printer work its magic!  Also on the horizon is our semester-end project - it looks as though it's very open-ended, so I'm excited to start thinking of what I might create for that.  I already have a few ideas in mind, but we'll have to wait and see if they work out... crossing my fingers!

Paige Ruka

Sheet Metal Vessel: Cardboard Design Check

This project was a wonderful little reminder that I seriously do NOT like using X-Acto knives... at all. Granted, I didn't cut myself, which is always a plus, but I never know how much pressure to apply and my cuts never go all the way through the cardboard on try one. Regardless, here's my cardboard design check for the sheet metal vessel:

I temporarily put paper clips on the vessel so it didn't fall flat.

I wasn't sure how to go about putting holes in the darn thing, and the paper fell off after I did my scoring because I didn't use enough glue, but I think this looks good enough to continue in sheet metal without any alterations!

Paige Ruka

P.S.: Here's a bonus photo of my cat and my project.

Virtual Vehicle: Finished Product

The skull vehicle has finally reached completion - what a joyous day! I've included plenty of screenshots from differing angles, so please, take a look:

These photos are all in perspective view and use Inventor's built-in "Warm Light" filter. My favorite screenshot would have to be the last one - it looks like the vehicle is taking flight.

The axle spikes that Amber created really give our vehicle an extra layer of depth in its design, and I feel that they are the perfect length in relation to the base. I'm really proud of the things we were able to do with this project, and soon, we'll get to see it printed in 3D. How cool is that?

Paige Ruka

Virtual Vehicle: Progress Report #6

I'm back at the Virtual Vehicle, and some new features have been added. Take a look below:

Little teeth at the front of the skull.

"Wing" at the back of the skull.

The six teeth and the "wing" are each their own, separate Autodesk parts, which connect to holes I've cut into the skull base. I feel that these additions are pretty straightforward, so I'll simply finish things up with a statement of what's to come.

My teammate Amber is working on finishing details for the tires and the ends of the axels. We'll combine our solo elements on Tuesday, meaning that Progress Report #7 will be the finished product. This project has been running for a long while and I'll be relieved to finally have it done after a lot of hard work and many hours put into it.

Paige Ruka

Sheet Metal Tabs and Fasteners

To prepare the final components needed to convert this piece from digital data to actual aluminum, I added tabs and holes to the star vessel at its seams.

The model, unfolded.

The model, folded and in perspective view.

There are five two-hole tabs connected to the base, and an additional five one-hole tabs connected to some of the outer edges. You can see that as I was working, I colored every other side of the star, so I didn't get confused as to which piece I was working on at any given time.

The only difficulty I had with this assignment is the slow, repetitive processes I went through.  Each of the two-hole tabs were created separately, so it took quite a while to draw, create a face, bend, and cut holes for each one. Luckily, I was smarter with the one-hole tabs: I only drew one myself, then made use of the circular pattern feature to copy the tab four additional times.  After that, creating bends and cutting holes through the blue faces was a breeze.

With this project complete, I can focus the rest of my week's CAD work on the Virtual Vehicle assignment. The critique went exceedingly well and the class seemed to enjoy our design, so we're excited to put the finishing touches on our skull. We plan to discuss how we'll divide up the remaining workload on Thursday, then work independently and merge our independent elements together before class next Tuesday.

Paige Ruka

Sheet Metal CAD Model

From paper to surface sketches to virtual sheet metal, this star vessel has come a long way!

Using the sheet metal options in Autodesk Inventor was a bit challenging at first, but as always, once I learned the "quirks" of the program, things seemed to get much easier.

Some more insight about my process: When I first attempted the bends and corner seams, I wanted to make it as similar to my paper model as I could, so I bent it in a way where the main star "base" would have two 5-segment walls coming off of it. The following is a visual to put more meaning to my words.

Something is amiss here...

Although I thought this would work in thinking through things in my head, there's a problem with this method: one of the five-segment sides is cutting right through the star when I unfold it! This simply wouldn't do.  I decided to try a new method - having five different 2-segment sides - and it worked out much better for me. Here's an unfolded version of the final result:

The final, working, unfolded sheet metal vessel.

Much better! If I draw a rectangle around the whole unfolded object, it's about 10.5 by 10.5 inches.

Finally I can say with utmost sincerity that I'm actually excited to continue on with this project. The pieces are falling into place, and I couldn't be more pleased!

Paige Ruka

P.S.: Progress on the Virtual Vehicle has been put on hold for the time being, as the due date of said project has been pushed back quite a bit. I believe my group and I are at a point with things where we'll be ready for working critique next Tuesday, and we will add finishing details to our piece after that critique takes place.

Virtual Vehicle: Progress Report #5

Autodesk Parts, assemble!

The assembly's looking really great, I think! Amber and I hope to work on some of the features I mentioned in my last post (teeth, wings) during class today to make the body look especially unique. We gave Henry the task of creating the tires, but since we've not gotten those from him yet, the current tires are simply placeholders. Again, I think we're on the right track to having things done on Thursday, which is a good feeling indeed.

One problem we seem to have, however, is making different parts of the skull have different "appearances" (example: we want the windows (the parts resembling eyes) to be black, but the program doesn't seem to want to comply with our wishes). Some assistance in-person to resolve this issue would be much appreciated.

Paige Ruka