Rendered Speechless

After slaving for days over a dusty keyboard, our final SolidWorks model is done. Unlike the last one – which was as much of a brainstorming as a model – this model contains the actual parts we're going to be milling out on the FMS.

Sunflower™ – Final Render

Apart from the mirrors, the whole thing (mostly) is made of 1/2" MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard), an extraordinarily cheap and environmentally kosher wood. To add strength and thickness to the parts, each component is actually several MDF sheets layered together and connected by hammering wooden dowels through them. The arms will be milled in their full length and stuck together to add thickness. The base, on the other hand, is staggered: each layer is made up of four identical pieces, but consecutive layers are offset 45° from one another (ensuring that the seam of one layer corresponds with the solid part of the next).

Eight layers of 1/2" MDF compose the base, while three layers make up the arms; all these pieces have holes cut in them in order to reduce the weight, with the exception of the middle layer in the arms (which is solid to give us somewhere to screw the mirrors into). The pivot points the arms rest in are 3/4" MDF, while the axel that holds them there is 4cm hollow steel pipe we found lying around in the Tech Lab (yay recycling!).

Next week, I begin turning these Solidworks parts into the MasterCAM toolpaths that will be milled. Allonsy!