Laser Acrylic Shelving

Laser Acrylic Shelving
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Primary Contact	Michael Erskine
Created	09/06/2014
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Simple slot together shelving for display of a Rubik's Cube type puzzle collection.

• replacing a simple shelving system made from regular crystal CD cases
  • too brittle - "the world's most brittle material"
  • too fiddly - hard to make - needed reinforcement with superglue
  • hard to clean - turned out to be a dust collection system

Prototype 1

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  Picture rail

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  Picture rail profile

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  Picture rail profile

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  cutter

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  prototype front view

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  prototype rail hook detail

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  prototype side view

• my first real use of the new A0 laser cutter at the Hackspace
• using various offcuts from the bulk red 5mm acrylic available at the Hackspace
• picture rail profile cutout for hanging
  • profile for the picture-rail on the prototype seems to work OK
• it looks rather gross - a sort of 70's cheap and nasty!
  • I think it must be a combination of the red acrylic and my overuse of Bézier splines
  • the next version will be a simpler and blockier design
  • also I will be using clear acrylic to make the shelves themselves less obvious
• shelf is 440 x 140
  • will be reduced to 120 depth and 300 between uprights

Next version: -

• need some quality material
  • http://www.kitronik.co.uk/materials/clear-and-mirrored-acrylic-sheets.html
• 4x uprights with 300mm shelf spans (to fit 1000mm acrylic sheet)
• 3x shelves at just shy of 1000mm long and 120mm shelf depth
• stick with 140mm shelf spacing?
• modernise design - actual angles? less curves?
• make it look like glass wherever possible

Second Build

I ordered a sheet of 1000x600 5mm thick clear acrylic from Kitronic (£23.10) and modernised the design as planned. The cut went well although I had to run at a lower than normal speed for 5mm acrylic to cut though it: 10mm/s at 65% power. Done Weds 25th June 2014.

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  cut parts kit

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  peeled parts

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  in place

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  loaded with cubes

The design process was quite enjoyable in Inkscape: I have a good setup with all the appropriate tool preferences for laser cutting. The most important option IMHO is for the thickness of the path outlines to be ignored in the size of an object. The outlines are only there to allow me to draw them and their thickness is irrelevant in the design. The fancy shapes are easily made by performing operations on paths. A help file is available online at http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths-Combining.html