elarson2 Project 1 - Mid Century Clock

Intention

As someone who regularly teaches in A5, I face the back of the room. A clock is hanging above the studio doors to help track time, however, this clock isn't pleasing to look at. My goal in this project is to create a mid-century inspired clock that will serve as an example for digiTOOL students. My secondary goal is to bring more aesthetically pleasing fixtures into A5. 

Below is a sketch of my concept. This clock needs to fit above the door, so the heigh has to be less than 20".

Context

Home goods are incredibly personal. I like my surroundings to be aspirational, bold, and complex. Much of my aesthetic is informed by tension created by opposing influences. I'm also interested in what it means to use new fabrication tools to create traditional folk art or augment biology. 

For this project, I'm going to challenge this tension by using a laser cutter to make a mid-centiry modern clock. I'll be using a CNC tool to fabricate an analog clock whose aesthetic form predates the technology used to created it.

Process + Procedure

I'll be using Fusion360 and Adobe illustrator to design and prepare this clock. My design steps are as follows:

1. measure exact dimension of clock kit and door frame
   
2. use F360's sketch environment draw first 3-tier pattern for outer clock shape 
   
3. create a circular pattern to repeat the 4 major design elements of clock
   
4. stop sketch and extrude clock 
   
5. create second sketch for clock face
   
6. extrude clock face
   
7. create third sketch for numbers and spindle hole
   
8. extrude-cut numbers into clock face, extrude-cut hole into all clock body
   
9. combine-cut clock face into outer body
   
10. assign materials to bodies and render final model
    
11. create sketch projections for all bodies
    
12. export projects as DXF
    
13. use Illustrator to create artboard sized to material (cast acrylic and wood)
    
14. layout DXF files in Illustrator to test and cut clock
    
15. test cut until satisfactory outcome
    
16. cut final pieces
    
17. clean acrylic with acetone, sand wood and seal with butchers block
    
18. assemble final clock with clock kit
    

In this process, I ended up switching the materials used. Originally I was going to make the clock face out of acrylic and the outer body of wood. Due to the material constraints, I ended up switching the materials and bodies. In this process I also created multiple outer rings. In my original file, I only created one layer, but seeing how each layer of acrylic added dimension, I changed my design to account for multiple layers.

Product

For my MCM clock, I used the CNC workflow (CAD>CAM>Cut). Below is a timelapse video and more details of my process.

Software: Fusion360, Adobe Illustrator, LaserCut

Tools: 80w Rabbit Laser

Materials: black smoky cast acrylic, birch plywood, clock kit

Finishing: sanding, cleaning acrylic, sealing wood, glueing, assembling

Reflection

Reflect on the process of making this project. What did you learn? What would you do differently?

Collaboration or Attribution

Thanks to IDeATe for providing the facility to teach this class.