SYDNEY CARTER PRODUCT
Travel Scissors Prototype
I decided to design some travel scissors. I started by drawing an inital sketch of scissors I already own and taking measurements. Then I hand sketched a drawing of my own design for travel scissors with smaller blades. From there, I created a digital sketch in CAD software with the critical dimensions of the scissors.
I extruded the scissors from the 2D CAD drawing, and related the parts in an assembly to simulate how they would move to evaluate the range of motion. There were a few adjustments on the circular handles to ensure the depth would be compatible with the path of motion.
I 3D printed each part in 0.2 mm layers of PLA plastic and assembled the scissors. They made dull cuts in paper, so they worked well as a prototype.
Lamp Rendering
I was practicing making contoured surfaces and solids, and I decided to model a table lamp. I started by creating a 2D CAD sketch of the lamp body profile. I set restrictions on the outer dimensions of the lamp, and then dimensioned curved line segments. I used this sketch as a basis for a solid by rotating the contour around the central axis for the curved body of the lamp.
I other parts by sketching and extruding parts that would attach to the lamp body, including the bulb fixture, the corresponding switch, the lampshade frame, and the lampshade itself. Afterwards, I created an assembly from the parts that I modeled, and used mate connections to attach them together.
Finally, I rendered the lamp. I assigned linen to the lampshade material and blue porcelain to the lamp body. The fixtures holding the bulb and the lamp shade were set to brass.
Digital Product - Webpage Kit
This is a product I made to help people learn HTML and CSS coding who have little to no experience in programming. The template is set up for an artist to display their artwork and show their viewers when they will have upcoming shows and galleries. This image shows what their website would look like with sample images and text.
Modular Bed Platform Design
I'm interested in modular furniture and decided to design a bed frame that can hold a king sized mattress and store a queen sized mattress. My intention is for the king size mattress to be routinely used as a bed, and for the queen sized mattress to be tucked into the bed frame and able to be separated intermittently for a guest bed room when needed.
I wanted the materials to be simple, so this is completely made of 2x4 and 1x4 beams that can be easily purchased from Lowes or Home Depot, in addition to screws. Anyone assemblying this bed would be able to do so with a saw for cutting the wood, a drill for the holes, and a driver for screwing in the fasteners. My preferred type of wood for this is pine; however other woods such as poplar could also be used.
I envision these palette style frames being able to hold foam mattresses, which require airflow around the mattresses, so I inserted space between the height of the wood holding up the king mattress and the top of the queen mattress. The queen mattress is lifted just off the ground with stacked 1x4 and 2x4 beams. An important thing to not with modeling 2x4's and 1x4's is that they are not exactly 2"x4" or 1"x4" - instead, they are 1.5"x3.5" and 0.75"x3.5", which I used for creating my CAD model.
Another adjustment I made is that frames for king beds generally have a central support leg near the center of the bed. Since the queen mattress would be in the way, I strengthened the support for the king mattress by using 2x4 slats instead of 1x4 slats since the doubled thickness would provide additional strength. I included 4 legs on each side to distribute the weight across more support structures.
Overall, I'm happy with the rendering of my modular bed design, and this was a fun exercise in minimalist design for simple materials.
Business Card Holder
I like to put business cards of people that I meet who inspire me on my fridge using magnets. I have been running out of magnets to hold up all the business cards, so I decided to create a little magnetic shelf that I can stick to my fridge. This is a simple object that can be produced at high volume even though I designed it just for myself.
I started by drawing the initial design on paper, using measurements a standard business card and some circular magnets I had from another project as constraints. I dimensioned the walls such that there was space for the cards to shift sideways, and the height of the back wall would have clearance above the cards if they were positioned upright. I dimensioned the front wall so that there was about a 2:3 ratio between front and back, which was a visual design choice.
I created CAD models of the magnets, a business card, and the card holder, using the dimensions in my paper sketch, making some adjustments for styling. I added trim on the front and side walls of the card holder to imitate wooden door paneling.
I designed this for 3D printing in plastic; however, the design is simple enough to also be fabricated from a block of aluminum using CNC machining if I modify the inner corners of the box to be filleted instead of sharp. I created a technical drawing of the card holder, so someone could manufacture it or look at the dimensions without opening my CAD files.
Finally, I 3D printed a physical model in ABS of my business card holder using a hobby 3D printer, X-one2. The print quality was not perfect, but still translated my 3D model to a physical object well. I personalized the business card holder by painting a base code of white acrylic paint, followed by shades of lilac. I glued magnets to the back with gorilla glue. Now it lives on my fridge and holds the business cards of people who inspire me!
Pocketwatch Rendering
I designed this pocket watch as a logo for my business card. I wanted to render an object that would have a steampunk style while personalizing it with my name.
Initially, I made several sketches for watches, keys, and similar items that had a vintage flair. After narrowing the object down to a pocket watch with an engraved cut-away frame that would reveal gears, I began preliminarily dimensioning it on paper. I researched the range of dimensions for real pocket watches and used that as a base.
Afterwards, I dimensioned the design in a 2D Solidworks drawing to see exactly how the constraints would layer with each other.
After finalizing the outer dimensions, I began 3D modeling each part in separate Solidworks part files. Finally, I brought each piece together in an assembly and altered the materials to reflect what I would use if I actually made the watch. The last step was rendering, the image shown at the top of this page!
Wooden Integral Chair
I designed and constructed a wooden chair inspired by the shape of a Riemann Sums graph for calculating and integral. I wanted each piece of vertical piece of wood I incorporated to look like the slices on a sinusoidal curve on a graph that add together to approximate the value of the integral.
I started by taking measurements of the seat height of a regular chair, and measuring the planar dimensions to comfortably have space to sit in the chair.
I created a scaled drawing on graph paper, in which each square had a length and width of 1.5 cm. Then, I created an abbreviated scale model of the chair in balsa wood.
I also wanted to include a gradient of widths, in addition to the heights imitating a sinusoidal curve, in the vertical wooden boards surrounding the sitter of the chair. I made a partial model using cut widths of the balsa wood, in addition to modeling the wooden pieces of the seat that would be oriented horizontally from the top view.
After finalizing the outer dimensions, I began creating a CAD model of the chair. This step helped me confirm all dimensions of the wood I would need to cut so I could minimize the amount of extra wood I may need to account for mistakes.
Next, I selected wood as the material in my CAD model so that the rendering would accurately depict my chair.
Finally, I measured and cut the wood with a circular saw. I assembled my chair and fastened the pieces with hammer and nail. I added a thin flexible piece of wood around the curves of the chair and a block on the central three boards that would support the sitter's back to reinforce the structure at the bottom of the chair.