Laser Cutter
This week’s assignment is to make something using the laser cutter. I have not used the laser cutter before. For some weird reason I found this assignment more tricky to approach compared to others. Not sure why. I think I’ve just been so used to doing all fabrication completely by hand / analog / manually — whatever — so I just didn’t know how to start. Maybe that and I also couldn’t think of what I wanted to build. But at this point in time I think I’ve settled on something.
I keep coming back to that record stand thing I made in P Comp. When it comes to these assignments I think my thought process starts with what do I have around my apartment and what can I add to it? I have a cheap wooden record sleeve holder, however I don’t like it because the support on the back is low so if a record sits there for a bit the weight at the top starts to make it droop backwards slightly. I want to make something that has a higher support so my record sleeves don’t bow. I might make it for this assignment.
Here are some sketches from my notebook throwing around ideas.
So for the record stand I like the style as just one piece of acrylic bent at different points to create one solid piece. I also thought of creating a record weight that also has a 45rpm adapter. I have some 1/4″ sheets of plywood as well as 1/4″ and 1/8″ sheets of acrylic.
Update: I changed my mind. Came up with a quick sketch of a redesigned record stand made of four pieces that fit together without any hardware or adhesive. Here are some quick sketches and a screenshot of the pieces drawn out in Illustrator.
I did a test cut on some cardboard.
They obviously didn’t quite fit together since my measurements were for a 1/4″ sheet of acrylic.
Then I did the official cut, but first etched out the “NOW SPINNING” text.
The pieces don’t fit snugly but if they angle inwards it works.
Bianca Gan 