Task 9

Preliminary Exploration into Geometry for Fabrication

My understanding of geometry in fabrication was really helped by our lecture with Jeremy and our on site Laser Printing Service. It allowed me to see what I could and could not do with such technology and I think it was especially beneficial for the whole course.

Before this course I did not know what this technology was capable of and certainly had never had experienced the use of a Laser Cutter before. The first thing that really helped me was the ability to hatch and no cut fully through materials and as much as I didn't need to use this, I could see through previous examples how it could be extremely useful.

For my design I had a base idea that I could laser cut each level of my model evident in my laser cutting file, whereby I could either stack them or feed string or wire through small holes that would be placed in the six corners of each level. This idea was however a bit simple and lacklustre, and I believe it did not show what I wanted my assignment to be.

Once I reached this point I decided to go ahead with 3D Printing an once again I was perplexed when I heard this technology was being used so consistently today. When I started to watch some videos and develop an understanding of the geometry created I thought it would really suit my concept. So with this I explored the options and tried using Shapeways to do my work, however I was unable to print my design through this company. I then searched locally and compared prices to find somewhere reasonable to get it printed and luckily found a reasonably cheap and very efficient company that was able to print my design for me.