Week of Crit: December 17-20

Building the Final Elements

The mobile frame I laser cut from Masonite broke while in transit. I hadn’t realized how fragile Masonite becomes when it’s cut into a thin strip. So, I had to recut it. Thankfully, I was able to snag a bit of wood from the scrap pile in the Fab Lab to use instead. I had to tweak my model a bit given the different height (z) of the material, but thankfully it worked on the first try again (well, apart from a mishap in which the first cut hung off the edge of the material).

I used needle nose pliers to do the tedious work of attaching the dangly bits to the mobile base.

Final Test

A few days later, I finally had my first opportunity to put everything all together in the Social Design studio and test out everything on a small group of classmates.

Here’s what the final test set up looked like:

Not pictured: The mess of wires, my laptop, and the Makey Makey that are all hidden beneath the table.

Final Adjustments

Based on this test set up, I added a few more details to address the remaining problems and take the aesthetics to the next level.

Thanks to a suggestion from a classmate, I used the copper tape my teacher generously gave me to create a thin band around each rock in order to more reliably trigger the sound to play when the rock is picked up. The copper band looks beautiful, and it has just enough contact with the soldered wire beneath to ensure that picking up the rock triggers the sound to play without fail every single time. It’s the first time this has happened!

I painted the edges of the hangy bits of the mobile, the front part of the mobile base (where the letters are), the back of the mobile base, and the edges of all of the wooden pieces that the rocks fit into a beautiful copper color that matches the copper that’s now on the rocks.

To create a more cohesive look, I added a copper strip to the grounding rock as well.

Here’s some in progress shots of the painting and beautification efforts:

Final tweak: purchasing fishing line for a less distracting hanging device.