Assignment Deliverables

• 1 Cardboard full scale model

Physical Test Model

1. Choose one of these drawings
2. Get some cardboard. There is some in the classroom. Use good clean cardboard rather than old, torn, and bent cardboard so you are not fighting the material.
3. Make a 1:1 scale model. This means real world scale. If you are using 1/4" plywood or acrylic, then make your cardboard the same thickness. We want the model to be accurate and full scale so we can test our ideas quickly.
4. Use the joining and assembly techniques that you plan to use with the laser cutter, such as slots, grooves, tabs, and butt joints.
5. Often it is not possible to use the same construction techniques with cardboard that you will use with wood or acrylic cut with the laser cutter.

Cutting Techniques

• Laser Cutter - cuts cardboard very well, can make shapes in graphics program like Adobe Illustrator and send to cutter. Fusion 360 can also be used. We will learn how to make panel constructed objects next week.
• Box Cutter - Always use a new blade and a cutting mat
• Metal Straight Edge - useful for cutting clean edges
• Remember that often you need to run the box cutter multiple times to cut all of the cardboard
• serrated cutters - good for cutting curves

Assembly Techniques

• hot glue - strong, fast, but hot and messy
• PVA glue (white paper glue or yellow wood glue) - strong and clean but slow
• tape (packing, duck, paper) - fast, clean but ofter weak, especially if only on one side of a joint
• bolts - strong but can pull through cardboard if a washer is not used.
• cardboard - slots, tabs, grooves, folds

Grading Rubric