Laser cut dividers

Continuing the discussion from Laser Thursday and Hello! – Leather & Acrylic Wallet & Keychains:

I figured I would start a new thread for this. I pretty much finished modeling @madebynick 's dividers in OnShape.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/a45d5972b68cacd491168973

It took me forever to figure out constraints for the two intersecting curved slots, but I finally found a setup that works.

I don’t have time right now to experiment with adjusting the curves or lengths, but anyone is free to make their own copy and try it.

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One would need a Glowforge first.

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If you could post all of the parts up on Thingiverse, people could 3D print them for a test.

Would be happy to test print, assemble and post photos if you would like.

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Thanks for making the file public in Onshape. I’ll have to take a look at it later and maybe 3D print a set. It might be fun to machine a set as well.

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This was mainly an exercise in geometry to figure out if the dividers can be constructed so that the 3 tips are always in a line as they open. I finished building but still need to figure that part out.

Posting to thingiverse is a good idea, will do that and post a link.

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If you have a cad file I can download, I can cut one on my CNC machine via fusion360

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Wow, that is awesome! I need to learn how to do that…

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Follow that link and sign up for OnShape, the file is available to anyone with that link. It is kind of like thingiverse for sharing OnShape files.

It is free, and is worth messing around with if only to see the difference between it and Fusion.

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=\

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Actually you just need to load the file and experiment with the geometry. Help me get it right and post the results here!

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It is hard for me to tell (since it is my file) but I think if you are registered you can make a “private” copy of it. Otherwise you will be messing with my version. :slight_smile:

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I registered just to see if this was the case, but it still gives me the same message

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Oh and check out the “assembly” tab at the bottom, that is were the kinematics are applied.

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yeah ive been playing around with it! its fun. id like to make a modified version of this. I can always recreate it from scratch, but would be nice not to have to…

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I have just made those public.
With any luck that means they are yours to copy if you have an account.
Divide and conquer. :grin:

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I’m not sure how well those will work as dividers, but it certainly looks awesome as an exotic torture device.

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Is there an export option? I cant seem to find one. I hope thats not a premium member thing…
Looks like I might have to make from scratch…

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Yes there is an export if you right click the assemblies tab:

Once you get to the export there are a few different formats you can use.

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I signed in and am impressed with how Onshape works. I did an export to .dxf but my Inkscape converter didn’t quite manage to bring the whole surface. Will play around a little more next week.

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As someone who started with CAD on Autocad and Integraph back in the '80s, OnShape is frankly astonishing. The breadth and depth are amazing, and it runs in any browser (even mobile ones).

If you are looking for a way to export just lines there are “drawing” tabs along the bottom that let you export DWG or DXF files. I just added one that is a simple front view of the dividers, give that a try if you are interested.

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