Parametric Box generator

jkopel · November 17, 2015, 8:45pm

You can get cans of Acetone at the hardware store. Nail polish removers are (or at least used to be) mostly acetone, but they often have other stuff added as well.

Joshua · November 17, 2015, 9:07pm

Thanks for the tips @jacobturner One more I just learned the hard way… when sealing up an acrylic enclosure I should have wiped any fingerprints off the inside can see them now in better light. Also, placing your magnet toward the front section of your vehicle (which also could be something as simple as a block of wood if you don’t have a printer and just engrave a pocket for your magnet) will help give the appearance that your vehicle is always traveling forward instead of sideways.

jkopel · November 17, 2015, 9:21pm

There are also spherical magnets that might even be better since they will allow the vehicle to rotate around them.

Xabbess · November 17, 2015, 10:18pm

Exactly what I needed to know. Thank you

jacobturner · November 18, 2015, 12:24am

The typical advice is to get 90% or better Acetone. But the only difference you will notice is more ghosting in the acrylic from the additives.

Xabbess · November 18, 2015, 1:03am

Thank you very much. Appreciated

MikeH · November 18, 2015, 5:10pm

Good acrylic glues are readily available if you don’t want to make your own, at least in the US. One example is Weldon #16, which is a thickened clear cement with the viscosity of corn syrup. It’s available here in various sizes:

Also, I believe that methyl ethyl ketone can be used to glue acrylic together when you don’t want blobs of the thickened cement above to show in the seams. MEK is a very thin fluid that tends to wick into the crevices at the joints between glued components but it needs a moderate surface area to achieve a strong joint. Methylene chloride might be another choice. As always read the SDS for any chemicals that are new to you before use.

Xabbess · November 18, 2015, 5:45pm

Thank you very much. I have Weldon 4 bookmarked to try. Most likely won’t try making my own until after I’ve practiced a bit with some scrap or small pieces.

jacobturner · November 18, 2015, 6:22pm

I have no experience with the purchased weld-on. So cannot say for sure they are the same as making your own with acrylic. But I believe strongly that it is.

The main draw I see to making your own: Acetone is easy to get. And Acetone is useful for more than just acrylic bonding (I use it to clean smoke marks off of wood when I do not use a masking layer)

Mike13 · November 18, 2015, 6:28pm

Just a tip about using Weldon, it’s important to not apply too much pressure on your joints after you apply it. You’ll squeeze the solution out and “starve” the joint, making a weak joint/seam. (if you need to hold things together, use tape - not clamps)

Xabbess · November 18, 2015, 6:47pm

Fantastic tip. I’m keeping a folder related to all things GF…so your help is going into it, too. Thank you so much.

marmak3261 · December 6, 2015, 1:59am

I’ve been exploring JavaScript to automate design. Here’s a good browser CAD widget that is laser friendly: http://joostn.github.io/OpenJsCad/

beachfitrob · January 1, 2016, 9:05pm

Find a plastic ball that you can put a ball magnet in and snap the halves together. Mark it up sort of like a headless BB-8. Roll in the sand.

jordanloshinsky · January 5, 2016, 2:14am

That might be more useful then my excel sheet for graph functions

I’ve been exploring JavaScript to automate design. Here’s a good browser CAD widget that is laser friendly: http://joostn.github.io/OpenJsCad/27

Dunfee · January 8, 2016, 1:54pm

I did something very similar with my 3D printer when making my combination keychain/bottle opener. I paused my print half way through, inserted a penny to assist in the opening of bottles and then started the print again
https://tinkercad.com/things/drgWAvkhbtt

Joshua · January 8, 2016, 2:15pm

That’s a clever use of combining objects. last night i was experimenting with captive hex shaped nuts and bolt heads for a vacuum bracket for my router. 2 of the 3 turned out ok

Joshua · January 8, 2016, 2:20pm

That’s a great idea! just saw that movie and having a BB-8 toy would be fun. a steel ball might do the trick for the inside. It’s pretty close to a design for a clock that I am working on. i’m struggling to find a clock movement powerful enough to turn all the parts I have however.

jacobturner · January 19, 2016, 9:54pm

I can find plenty of options akin to boxmaker. But I want to make a single container (outer walls) with multiple compartments (inner walls).

Ideally, with minimal need for wood glue being used.

I know I can design these myself pretty easily in InkScape. But I am offloading this work to someone with no exposure yet to anything laser.

Anyone know of a good resource where he can enter a few parameters and get considerably closer to a ready model than box maker will get him?

kigster · April 19, 2016, 6:49pm

I wanted to submit this tool that’s been live for over a year, and is generating over 100 boxes every single day!

http://makeabox.io/

I invite you to comment and submit feature requests!

Konstantin

jkopel · April 19, 2016, 6:52pm

I just made a box plan using your tool, and it looks great. I was having trouble with a few of the others being not perfectly symmetrical, but your did a good job. I will be giving it a workout.