Softness Combination Lock Final
For my final I wanted to revisit my combination lock / puzzle, but this time changing the surface making it more pleasing to the touch. I sketched out some designs to help express my ideas. Here’s what I came up with.
The next step was to build and explore surface materials. Since I had little time to laser cut my pieces I decided to make my next puzzle out of wood and neoprene. Scavenging basswood from blink and sporting wrap from K-Mart I came up with a cylindrical design. I wanted to use a more organic shape but this proved to be a bit difficult due to lack of skill on my part.
I first set out to cut out 7 circular pieces out of the basswood. Then I cut out the slits for the key.
Next step I hand cut the braces for the pieces then glue them to the ends of the object. Rubbing wood glue to both pieces always guarantee a secure attachment - advice form Thomas G.
Now it’s time to make the key. this is done by taking a slice of wood and with the Exacto knife, space and cut out the ridges. This took some playing with while adjusting the circular joints. At times I had to shave off pieces of wood to make it fit.
After fitting all the elements together it was time to seal it with the neoprene. but somehow I got the bright idea to add an LED to the device. I managed to fit it in the base so when the key is all the way in it closes the circuit. It was quite difficult getting the circuit in. Thus it broke while I was testing.
Anyway, having little experience with the neoprene I found it hard to work with. It was a bit thicker than I would like and applying the fabric glue made it too messy for my liking. But I stuck with it and after a few tries was able to glue the neoprene to the wood.
I also wanted to add beads for sound when shaken. But I decided to leave that to future revision.
All sealed up and ready for testing I had Stephanie demo it. the combination was very easy for her to figure out but she really liked how it felt.
IN class I had some good feedback when I presented it. So far most liked how it felt. I think most got the concept and would be interested in future versions. My personal critique was that it was too big. I would really like to play with other shapes and try to introduce a narrative with these objects, making the more than a puzzle. Making it more complex while simple with a soft touch is a great task I foresee. having them laser cut will be a great help in the future.
Here are some links I found interesting with respect to puzzles.