Iris Lid

[nick07lee]

I am so excited for the ability to make precision parts for assembly. I really like the way this piece moves and I think it would be an awesome lid to a box. or maybe a piggie bank if scaled down?

Original post here. –

Mechanical Iris Will Make You Want A Laser Cutter Even More

[polarbrainfreeze]

That is actually the post that inspired me to make the lid for my Round Mechanical Iris Box. You can see it in the other tread:

Round Mechanical Iris Box

Here is a round box that I made. It has a mechanical iris on the top, so you can open just the middle part if you want. I wanted to make something that was not “square”. It has 64 sides, and each side is 2 layers. It was really difficult to put together. I had to cut extra pieces to hold things in place while I glued them. [image][image] [image] You can see more of my stuff at: http://polarbrainfreezethecut.blogspot.ca/

[nick07lee]

I hadn’t your post! Great job. Your detailing is awesome.

[quixotequest]

@polarbrainfreeze Beautiful use of art-nouveau-steampunk tracery-filagree throughout many of your designs. Can you share what metal hardware you are using for your joins?

[elsman18]

I am still surprised whenever I start to read a post and see it’s a year old and somehow I am have missed it. Keeps the forums interesting lol

[polarbrainfreeze]

I don’t use a lot of hardware in most of my projects. For the box lid though, I did use Chicago screws to hold the iris pieces in place and let them swivel (one screw per iris plate).

Chicago screws are just 2 piece screws, one with a thread and one with a hole. Each piece has a large head to hold things together. Here is a picture from Google search:

You can get them in lots of different sizes and lengths. I just got mine at home depot (I think). They were pretty expensive per item. You can get them cheaper online, if you plan ahead.

[Scott.Burns]

I’ve often wondered what those are called. I should have known, having grown up in the Chicago suburbs.

[tim1724]

Wikipedia says they’re also called “Sex bolts”

Sex bolt

[Scott.Burns]

Sex Nut has a much better sounding name…

[erin]

Because it has both male and female parts?

I thought it was hilarious when I discovered plumbing terms were silly like this. I was just imagining a committee of, like, grizzled, experienced master plumbers deciding to name the connectors like they’re 15 year old boys, and giggling maniacally.

[jamesdhatch]

@erin

I thought it was hilarious when I discovered plumbing terms were silly like this.

Versus some technical term like “innie” & “outie”? It’s a shorthand that clearly identifies the part without any training or obscure jargon. I thought it was odd myself at one time when I was more sexist-sensitive but I’ve never been able to come up with a better alternative.