Vitruvian Man Clock

Intention

I wanted to create a clock based off of da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, because the centered circle fits the path of the hands naturally. It is also a well known design, which is much easier to produce using lazer cutting techniques than by hand. 

Context

The design is borrowed from Leonardo da Vinci's well known Vitruvian Man drawing. The idea to layer multiple layers of material to create depth, rather than creating all the patterns on a single sheet, was inspired by my classmates design. 

Process

Deciding to create the clock face out of multiple layers presented the problem what to put on each layer. I decided that the two figures should be on different layers, which led to the decision to make the bottom figure a negative image, cut from the rectangle. I decided to turn the circle into a ring with the radii of the minute and hour hands. When drawn like this, the circle extends above the figures and square making a space for an hour marking. Other minute or hour markers could be placed on this ring, but I chose to keep the design clean and minimalist to not distract from the figures in the middle.

I created the sketches for each layer by tracing an image of the work in Fusion 360. I took advantage of the symmetry by mirroring some of the body parts over the centerline, and used projections to easily mark where the square layer overlapped the circle layer for scoring. 

Product

I designed three layers to capture the four major elements of the image. The bottom layer is a ring, with twelve engraved in roman numerals at the top. The outer radius is the same as the minute and second hand, and the inside is the length of the hour hand, so the clock face and hands look like they were made with the other in mind. The second layer is the rectangle of the picture, combined with one of the figures cut out in negative. This layer partially obstructs the circle of the drawing, so I scored a line that follows where the circle should be. The final layer is the second figure. All the layers were cut from birch plywood. The bottom two layers are attached with wood glue, and the top two layers are attached by the clock kits spindle. It is finished with butchers block conditioner to protect it as it ages.  

Reflection

I learned that I should have used the lazer cutter's precision to make marking to make aligning the three layers easier. The top two layers must be rotated around the clock spindle to line up, so I could have put a score of the top figure on the bottom figure so that all I needed todo was match up the lines. The same technique could have been used to mark where the square intersects the ring, making this alignment more precise as well. 

Collaboration or Attribution

As previously mentioned, the design of this clock is based heavily off of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian man drawing.