Busy Beacon = Tetrahedron

Howdy, below is an updated image of my concept, the Busy Beacon. As you can see the main body (the Tri-ball Beacon) takes on the form of a tetrahedron. Below is my model making progress to machine this shape. It's important i test out these machining operations now on my foam as my final will be from wood, therefore i will undergone the same process. Previous attempts to hand carve the tetrahedron failed spectacularly - vertices did not line up, faces intersected themselves etc.

The photos below show my milling machine creating the tetrahedron. It is supported through he model via a shaft, connected to an indexing head. The indexing head allows me to rotate the tetrahedron angularly about two axis. Note: the actual body still needs to be sanded down from this basic shape, however the basic shape determines the accuracy of the final sanded form.

Hot Tip or maybe not: If you ever find yourself machining parts, within the lathe or milling machine, support the model via a common shaft or impaled item. You can therefore vice, calm ro chuck the impaled items, to position your part. However, sticking shaft or blocks into foam pieces etc. can create unwanted holes, der. As my shaft has intersected my tetrahedron, i am using the remaining hole as a design feature. Furthermore it's important to think about the manufacturing or machining process to create your design and design and refine with your manufacturing capabilities in mind.

Catch

Daniel Dobbo.