This is my approach at the illusionist heart locket, as a gift for my girlfriend. Many have already made attempts at this, and you can find some here on instructables, and even more on Google, but this one is made completely by me, i have designed and made every single piece of it myself. Because i used whatever tools i had at hand, some features might not be the optimal choice, so feel free to alter the specifications and features as you please.
I have seen some designs, that required very very tiny parts, that had to be extremely precisely made, but since i do not have access to neither laser cutters nor CNC machinery, i decided to make a simple design, that i would be able to make, without having to invest in additional tools or materials. I am pretty tight on my economy, so basically anything expensive was ruled out. I also set the criteria that the picture had to be centered, not on either half of the heart, which actually later lead to accidentally figuring out how to put 2 images in the locket.
Again because of my limited selection of tools, i decided to not make this a necklace pendant, but a 5*10 cm box instead. This was the only way so far that i could get the dimension relations as a wanted, and still have a decent size picture in the middle. It is still small, and has a nice size, fits nicely in the hand, and after several steps in finishing it up, it ended up having a bold and soft surface that i am very satisfied with.
I have uploaded this in the Valentine's Day contest, so if you like the project please vote for me :)
I have seen some designs, that required very very tiny parts, that had to be extremely precisely made, but since i do not have access to neither laser cutters nor CNC machinery, i decided to make a simple design, that i would be able to make, without having to invest in additional tools or materials. I am pretty tight on my economy, so basically anything expensive was ruled out. I also set the criteria that the picture had to be centered, not on either half of the heart, which actually later lead to accidentally figuring out how to put 2 images in the locket.
Again because of my limited selection of tools, i decided to not make this a necklace pendant, but a 5*10 cm box instead. This was the only way so far that i could get the dimension relations as a wanted, and still have a decent size picture in the middle. It is still small, and has a nice size, fits nicely in the hand, and after several steps in finishing it up, it ended up having a bold and soft surface that i am very satisfied with.
I have uploaded this in the Valentine's Day contest, so if you like the project please vote for me :)
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Signing UpStep 1: 3D designing
I spent many many hours designing this locket in solidworks, a program that i legally use as part of my school.
The locket consists of 4 primary layers, each with 2 slices, an axle, with 2 "sleeves" a custom made pin, and 18 tiny magnets, as seen in the picture (the magnets are not in the picture). Each of the 8 slices are different, and individually made. I have included some screenshots of my working drawings, but more on those later. The complete set of drawings that i used, is attached in a zip as .pdf, and they are all 1:1 if printed on A4 paper.
To be able to keep track of the slides, i decided a way of numbering them, which also can be seen in one of the pictures. It is made so that when you view the locket from the front, the 4 upper layers are labeled 1.x, where x is 1-4, starting at 1 for the front layer. The lower 4 parts is the same, only 2.x instead of 1.x. This is very useful, when making the parts, to keep track of them, and make sure everything gets done right, and none two are mixed up.
I will try to explain how it works, but please take a close look at the pictures, they might help understand it.
The pin, that has a orb at one end, and a corner at the other end, is the axle that the entire lower part turns about. The round end can turn freely inside the two middle layers 1.2 and 1.3, which are glued together, whereas the corner end cannot turn inside the layer, forcing the pin to turn around, together with the lower middle layers, 2.2 and 2.3. On the large circle in the middle of the pin, an image can be glued on either side, and thus in one position the first picture will show, and in the second position, the second picture. The magnets are there to secure the parts in the positions that we want.
If the pictures i have attached is not enough to fully understand how it works, please let me know, and i will provide some more.
The locket consists of 4 primary layers, each with 2 slices, an axle, with 2 "sleeves" a custom made pin, and 18 tiny magnets, as seen in the picture (the magnets are not in the picture). Each of the 8 slices are different, and individually made. I have included some screenshots of my working drawings, but more on those later. The complete set of drawings that i used, is attached in a zip as .pdf, and they are all 1:1 if printed on A4 paper.
To be able to keep track of the slides, i decided a way of numbering them, which also can be seen in one of the pictures. It is made so that when you view the locket from the front, the 4 upper layers are labeled 1.x, where x is 1-4, starting at 1 for the front layer. The lower 4 parts is the same, only 2.x instead of 1.x. This is very useful, when making the parts, to keep track of them, and make sure everything gets done right, and none two are mixed up.
I will try to explain how it works, but please take a close look at the pictures, they might help understand it.
The pin, that has a orb at one end, and a corner at the other end, is the axle that the entire lower part turns about. The round end can turn freely inside the two middle layers 1.2 and 1.3, which are glued together, whereas the corner end cannot turn inside the layer, forcing the pin to turn around, together with the lower middle layers, 2.2 and 2.3. On the large circle in the middle of the pin, an image can be glued on either side, and thus in one position the first picture will show, and in the second position, the second picture. The magnets are there to secure the parts in the positions that we want.
If the pictures i have attached is not enough to fully understand how it works, please let me know, and i will provide some more.
Drawings.rar267 KB
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I 3D printed mine and cast it in pewter.
I always wanted to get it lasercut from wood and layer it up.
This has inspired me to try that again, but to fit my design I need to find some 0.8mm wood.
Did you 3D print in plastic or wax? Because i have considered printing mine, but i am not sure which material to print it in..
Wax is the standard material to use for investment casting. But that only gives one shot and destroys the wax piece in the process. I've never cast metal before so wanted it in plastic, that way I could clean it up and try multiple things with it. the model is on thingiverse if you want to take a look.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:28755
And are there any function that prevents the picture from tearing?