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Step 4Double Layered Slot Design
The double layered slot design is a fancy name for fitting pegs into slots for rigidity, and adding external pieces for flush cube faces.
The internal parts of the cube don't need to be completely solid, and we can cut other parts from them (in this case to make up the flush faces). Picture 1 shows the cube assembled in 6mm Eurolite ply wood - notice the hexagonal and triangle pieces - they have been cut from the internal pieces that you don't see. The same design is shown in 3mm green acrylic in pictures 2 and 3 (pieces and partial construction).
Instruction 4a: Plan your 2D layout to reuse a maximum amount of material. Be green people... be green...
In addition to the slot joins, compression is also used to hold pieces in place - namely the hexagonal and triangular pieces; the frame around them hold the pieces in place. As picture 4 shows, the hexagonal pieces has been altered in Inkscape to bow the ends which come into contact with the triangular pieces; hence the compression.
When using compression, I found that the approach works much better with wooden materials rather than acrylic. See what happens in the video below when I squeeze the acrylic cube. Also see picture 5 for a close up of the same 6mm black acrylic cube.
FAIL!
Instruction 4b: Compression fitting techniques should only be used with compressible materials - such as ply wood - duh!
Unaltered slots in this design produced the following result in 3mm green acrylic. (See picture 6 for an altered/fitted slot in Inkscape)
FAIL!
As you can see above, the slots for the frame are passable, but not allowing for the fitting of the hexagonal pieces was a mistake, and the smaller pieces simply fell out of the cube. As you can see, the cube is also too easy to pull apart.
Instruction 4c: Fit your slot joins and pieces relying on compression in 2D (or buy some more glue).
The final video shows a combination that actually works. Ply wood + fitted slots + fitted compression pieces = pretty cube. I love the sound as everything clicks into place.
SUCCESS!
Again, aesthetics are an individual issue, but my preference is for ply wood once again. The slotted joins form great patterns, but I'm not thrilled with the gaps that the bowed hexagon creates. The black acrylic really highlights gaps between pieces and pieces that are not flush.
From a cost point of view, the difference between the unaltered ($6.70 USD*) and fitted design ($8.07 USD*) is $1.37*; on the whole more expensive than the the previous interlocking teeth design, because there are double the cuts (*pricing on 1st August 2008 for "making" costs using 6mm Eurolite ply wood). The reason that there is a difference between the fitted and unaltered design is that there are eight curved cuts in the design (the hexagon). Both the fitted and unaltered designs have the same common edges that can be shared.
To illustrate how SketchUp visualisation compares to the final laser cut product, compare the following video (taken from the previous Instructable) to the video above.
SUCCESS!
The design pipeline works again...
The internal parts of the cube don't need to be completely solid, and we can cut other parts from them (in this case to make up the flush faces). Picture 1 shows the cube assembled in 6mm Eurolite ply wood - notice the hexagonal and triangle pieces - they have been cut from the internal pieces that you don't see. The same design is shown in 3mm green acrylic in pictures 2 and 3 (pieces and partial construction).
Instruction 4a: Plan your 2D layout to reuse a maximum amount of material. Be green people... be green...
In addition to the slot joins, compression is also used to hold pieces in place - namely the hexagonal and triangular pieces; the frame around them hold the pieces in place. As picture 4 shows, the hexagonal pieces has been altered in Inkscape to bow the ends which come into contact with the triangular pieces; hence the compression.
When using compression, I found that the approach works much better with wooden materials rather than acrylic. See what happens in the video below when I squeeze the acrylic cube. Also see picture 5 for a close up of the same 6mm black acrylic cube.
FAIL!
Instruction 4b: Compression fitting techniques should only be used with compressible materials - such as ply wood - duh!
Unaltered slots in this design produced the following result in 3mm green acrylic. (See picture 6 for an altered/fitted slot in Inkscape)
FAIL!
As you can see above, the slots for the frame are passable, but not allowing for the fitting of the hexagonal pieces was a mistake, and the smaller pieces simply fell out of the cube. As you can see, the cube is also too easy to pull apart.
Instruction 4c: Fit your slot joins and pieces relying on compression in 2D (or buy some more glue).
The final video shows a combination that actually works. Ply wood + fitted slots + fitted compression pieces = pretty cube. I love the sound as everything clicks into place.
SUCCESS!
Again, aesthetics are an individual issue, but my preference is for ply wood once again. The slotted joins form great patterns, but I'm not thrilled with the gaps that the bowed hexagon creates. The black acrylic really highlights gaps between pieces and pieces that are not flush.
From a cost point of view, the difference between the unaltered ($6.70 USD*) and fitted design ($8.07 USD*) is $1.37*; on the whole more expensive than the the previous interlocking teeth design, because there are double the cuts (*pricing on 1st August 2008 for "making" costs using 6mm Eurolite ply wood). The reason that there is a difference between the fitted and unaltered design is that there are eight curved cuts in the design (the hexagon). Both the fitted and unaltered designs have the same common edges that can be shared.
To illustrate how SketchUp visualisation compares to the final laser cut product, compare the following video (taken from the previous Instructable) to the video above.
SUCCESS!
The design pipeline works again...
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