Week 5: Trial And…More Error
Nathan S -
This Week, I attempted to make the overhead projector bracket. A machinist helped teach me about the different machines and ways to make different parts, and it was pretty cool to see how the things people take for granted are actually made. To make the bracket, we started off by shearing a sheet of aluminum into a 9 inch by 8 inch plate. Then we used a mill to drill all of the holes into the plate. It was very impressive how accurate the machine could be, even though it is manually adjusted. After making the plate, it was checked in the quality control department. They used a coordinate measuring machine to check that all the holes were drilled in the right place, and while my part does not need to be very precise, it was nice to see that all the holes I drilled were really close to how I made the computer design.
The next day, we tried to use the plate and immediately noticed some issues. The previous bracket to the one that we are currently making had countersink holes, so the holes in the plate I made ended up being too big for the screws. While trying to find ways to get around this issue, I realized that the hole pattern itself was off, so we decided to just remake the plate. I think that the hole pattern was off because we measured the holes from edge to edge, but I was doing math to space the holes from center to center, so it ended up a little off.
Even though the part was bad, it was a weird feeling to make something on a computer, and then be able to take that and make it into something I can hold in my hands. Next week I’ll be making what is hopefully the last revision of this plate. See you then!
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