Practical 3A: Acrylic
Practical 3A
Week 4
Teammates Present: Trumann, Shawn
Written By Trumann
Date: 09 and 10 Nov 21
Location: Fablab@T11
Objective:
To build the acrylic prototype
Take photos to be submitted for the Engineering Show
Review and reflect on places to improve
Key learnings:
Smoothing the sides of the acrylic is important for a good seal when using glue
Acrylic glue should be used instead of the marine glue
The bottom design of the prototype lacks space
- The procedures have been altered to remove 2 pieces (c1 and c2) so that there will be less parts to glue and lower chance of leakage.
Steps from current procedures
Step from previous procedures where additional pieces are required
Acrylic board in the laser cutter
CorelDraw laser cutter software outline
While the acrylic parts were being cut, the other parts like the clear acrylic cylinder needed to be saw off to obtain the measurements. All parts had their sides smoothen out to ensure a consistent seal when glued together.
Using handsaw to cut acrylic cylinder
Using hand file to smooth out large rough edges after cutting
The laser cut parts finished and the team laid out all the parts to be used to build the prototype before starting to ensure all parts are accounted for. Shortly afterwards, the team worked on gluing the prototype. GOOP marine seal glue was mostly used and some acrylic glue for some parts.
Parts to be used in prototype
Electrode glued onto acrylic parts (bottom) and bottom support of the bottom plate (left)
Marking out measurements before gluing to reduce chances of mistakes
Acrylic piece being held up and kept in place while waiting for the glue to dry
Photos of the finished prototype
Prototype with solar panel
The team finished and took photos of the prototype to send for review. However, the supervisor determined that the prototype did not look presentable enough due to the messy glue work. Thus, the team will be remaking the prototype with acrylic glue and a translucent coloured acrylic board.