Fablogo

Week 14 - Composites


On The Sunny Beaches of "Barcelona"!!

Assignment:

Software Used:

Material:

This is a exciting week I had the opportunity to make some of the things I always wanted to do when I was a Kid. For this week I started by Designing a SkimBoard for skimming a sport I love to do!

Tips and Tricks:

Coupon Test:

You should first make a coupon test of the material you are gonna use so you can be comfortable with it, see how it reacts and how it behaves! In my case I am going to use cardboard as a skeleton so I wanted to test that to. So here is the process of casting:
  1. Cut a small prototype of desired shape of cardboard

  2. Cut the material going to be tested with a 10mm extra in the boarder.


  3. Cut the Different layers of the casting process



  4. Prepare Epoxy Resin and the Hardener mix, by weight 100% Epoxy and 47% Hardener; Mix for 5min-10min




  5. Pour over the material and spread with a old brush or spatula and wrap around the model
  6. Make the "Sandwich" for the Vacuum

  7. Put in the vacuum in auto-mode

  8. Final Result:


Board Design:

I Designed everything using Rhino and Inkscape.
  1. Used Inkscape to trace a board shape and exported as an DXF to Rhino.


  2. Worked on the pattern and created an array out of it


  3. Applied the pattern to the board and trimmed the extras

  4. Created some Darts to cut the Fabric and used a base line to "flow" the darts along the board line.

  5. Created the Styrofoam base to give a smooth angle to the board in Vacuum, based on SkimBoard Production Values


Laser Cutting and Milling:

Laser Cutting :

Since the board is quite big for normal laser cutters I took the opportunity to learn how to use the large scale laser cutter Multicam 2000 Laser Cutter.

Generating cut path's for the machine:

  1. Open EnRoute. If it's already open – go straight to step 2
  2. Open a new file ( File - New ) and set your sheet size (width/heigh in mm, thickness is not important)
  3. Import your .dxf file: File – Import – find your file
  4. Make sure that your drawing is inside the red border. If you need to scale or move your drawing: select everything and press F2 on the keyboard
  5. Select everything and go to Transform – Merge selection… and click OK
  6. If you are using two strategies (engraving and cutting) then go to Layers ( Setup - Layers ) and turn the engraving layer ON and the cutting layer OFF
  7. Select all and click on the 'Engraving...' button (Toolpath - Engraving), in the drop-down menu select your Strategy – 'eng' and click OK. You will see the generated paths for your design
  8. Go to Layers again and switch your cutting layer ON and the engraving one OFF
  9. Select all and go to Engraving again but this time choose 'cut' in the drop-down menu
  10. Switch all the layers ON. You will see all your paths together
  11. Click the 'Output option' ( Machining - Output ) icon. Go to the 'Tool Order' section and make sure that 'engrave' is the first. If not – drag it up (click on the left box next to the number when the cursor will be an arrow to drag it up). If you have smaller pieces inside bigger pieces (holes, openings, etc.) then in 'Object Order' check 'Inside out'. Also check 'Small parts first'. Press 'To File'
  12. Save your file inside 'Dnc files' folder. Use one of the existing folders (MAA, FabAcademy, etc.). You can also create your own folder
  13. Done! Your file is sent to the machine

Setting the machine to cut:


  1. Place your material on the bed of the machine. The X axis is the longer part of the laser cutter and the Y axis is the sorted one. Home (0,0,0) is on the lower left corner.
  2. Set material thickness and surface height. Press SET SURFACE (button № 6) and ENTER (button № 30) and set the thickness of your material. The values are in millimeters. Press ENTER again, then button 0 and hold it until the sensor touches the surface to automatically set the height.
  3. Set home. Move the machine with the arrow buttons 2, 4, 6, 8 and place it at the point where you want your zero. Press SET HOME (button № 11) and ENTER to set home for your file.
  4. Set speed and power. In MENU (button № 15) choose Params_2d by pressing ENTER. Set speed (X Y feedrate) and power for your material according to the table.
  5. Find your file. By pressing button № 16 you will enter the DNC files folder on the computer. Use the up and down arrows to find your file and choose it by pressing ENTER.
  6. Start the job. Press GO (button № 10) twice.
  7. If something goes wrong hit PAUSE to stop the machine (button № 5).
  8. To continue press ENTER.

Laser Cutting Results:





Milling:

  1. Import your .stl file to Partworks 3D

  2. Set the zero and the bounding box of the material being used

  3. Roughing: Change the Milling bit, define the cutting speeds and the milling strategy

  4. Finishing Toolpath: Change the Milling bit, define the cutting speeds (The smaller the Machining allowance the more defined) and the milling strategy

  5. Save each toolpath independently

CNC Milling:


Milling Skimming Board Curvature



Final result


SkimBoard Fiberglass compositing: