HW #2: Laser Cut Bracelet: Nathan Richter

For the homework #2 I decided to design and laser cut a wearable bracelet. I thought about a couple of materials but an the end I settled on wood because I though it would have a nice feel to it and present a challenge in its design and construction. I also settled on 0.2" thickness since the wood we have available in the shop has a glossy finish on it which resists additional burning from the laser. At the same time, this thickness gives the bracelet the necessary strength to be worn without worry.

The bracelet itself is made of a series of hexagonal pieces which are connected via links. There was a limit to how small I could make these links, since they had to accommodate the thickness of the wood, while also retaining the required strength. I originally used Adobe Illustrator to design the pieces but switched over to Fusion 360 once I realized the amount of tinkering the design would require. The links were the most complicated part of the design and the entry point for the hex pieces on the links faced in, which meant it was difficult for a hex piece to line up and be removed during normal use:

I started with cardboard but quickly moved to wood so that I could test the pieces with the intended thickness. I went through a few iterations of hex and link pieces before I found ones that worked well. I settled on Hex pieces that were 1" in length. Meanwhile, I used the Zing printer and had to play around with the settings to find a good one. My first attempt at a full strand went well:

But I though something was missing. I added a raster of a penrose triangle (my favorite "impossible object") and a "design by" line. The final product ended up looking pretty good:

I cleaned the edges of each part with a wet towel and was able to get some of the gunk off that had been formed from the laser. I definitely recommend cutting it with the gloss side up (if you have wood that has that) since you can clean it up a little. I like this design, especially its modularity, but I also think it could be improved with some parts that give a little, like a 1D hinge. I didn't need to add this since it fit really well, but it would be a necessary part in a design fit for anyone. Overall, the design worked well for what I had intended it and it takes intent to put it on and off.

If you want to make your own you can download it here. I set the Zing's setting to 100%/25% Power/Speed for the cuts and 100%/70% Power/Speed for the engravings. Because the design is modular, you can make additional links to have it fit.

-Nathan Richter