ARCH 600: Digital Fabrication CNC Project By Julia Frendo
Contents Research and Inspiration Test Pieces Making & Assembly Design Iterations: Grasshopper Definition Creating the Form Details & Overview Final Remarks
Test Pieces 1. MDF Layered Block (top) 2. MDF & Plexi Layered Block (bottom)
Making & Assembling: Plexi & MDF layer
Making & Assembling: Layering 3/4 inch, 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch MDF
Design Iterations
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Final Iteration
Grasshopper Definition
Bottom
Middle 1
Middle 2
Middle 3
Top
Creating the Form I began by drawing out the 24”x24”x4” box. I then placed my first set of points in order to create a curve that would be cut out by the CNC machine. I then set multiple points on grasshopper and turned these points into nurb curves. This was repeated to create another 4 curves which were then lofted into shapes, forming a curvy-abstract surface. Having set the multiple points from Rhino onto Grasshopper allowed me the freedom to move these points around and re-arrange the design creating an assymetric abstraction of the sand dunes and rock formation of the Antelope Canyon. Finally, I baked the shape and created a bounding box on Rhino. The baked surface was then scaled to be slightly larger than the bounding box in order to trim the shape from any extra parts of the block in order to create the model of the final product of my piece, ready for the CNC Machine.
The 24”x24”x4” block of MDF and Plexi was left to be cut by the CNC machine for approximately 5/6 hours. Unfortunately, once the machine hit the Plexi glass, the pieces just fell straight off as the adhesive (super glue) was not strong enough and the machine left flat pieces on the final piece indicating where the plexi had been cut off - these can be seen in the white patches on the photo. The glue marks were sanded off and the flat pieces now show an interesting contrast to the curvy abstracted forms of the rest of the CNC-ed piece.
Details and Overview
The CNC machine left an interested textrue of the different layers and contours, contrasting the curvy-smooth forms created in the design.
Final Remarks This project helped me learn quite a variety of skills. Firstly, I became more comfortable using Rhino and Grasshopper in simultaneously to create the abstracted form desired. Creating the two test pieces before hand also allowed me to become more confident in layering the MDF (and Plexi) slabs together and gave me the chance to visualise my final piece better once having seen the texture and capabilities of the CNC machine beforehand. Once the CNC was finished with the pieces, the edges were sanded and finalised.