Firecoin

Description

Lesson Plan and Constraints: 

Our task was to create a 3D-printed coin that would act as a physical logo for ourselves. 

• All coins must be made from an initial revolve resulting in a coin that is 6cm in diameter and 1.25cm in thickness.
• Must not require ANY supports, (no supports).
• Should be gear-esque in nature.
• NO moving parts, (no gyroscopes, fidget spinners, etc.)
• Must slope downwards towards the center in some fashion.

Summary and General Advice:

My maker coin consists of a fire surrounded by stars which is then surrounded by flames. I decided to make a fire because I think that they are cool. I then continued on with the fire theme by making flame edges. I also decided to add some stars to emphasize the flame in the middle.

For anyone making their own Maker Coin, I would advise using patterning tools such as the circular pattern tool for the flames on the edges and the linear pattern tool to create the numerous edge flames and the stars. It is definitely easier than doing it one at a time.  

Overview:

Before I created my maker coin, I googled cool clipart. I scrolled through pages of images until I found a picture of a fire, and that was when I knew that a Firecoin was what my maker coin was meant to be. The two greatest pieces of inspiration that inspired me to make the fire are shown below. 

This is my design progression in Solidworks

First 4 were progress checks, last 4 were different versions. The 8th image is my final which I ultimately printed

Design Choices:

Once I had decided and visualized what I wanted to create I decided to compile my thoughts into an initial sketch. I was originally planning to cut circles on the edges instead of the side flames, but changed in order to maximize the fire theme. 

Redrawn Side View:

Flames were then cut through the triangle section. (Dashed line was where flame cut started).

To execute this plan, I changed my revolve shape. 

Then, I changed the cut shape. I originally cut circles but changed it to flames to fit the fire theme

I used the circular sketch pattern to make all flames identical. The maker coin ultimately had 28 flames. 

The flame was designed using arcs in Solidworks, and the sketch for it remained the same throughout all 4 versions. I later added Fillets to the sides of the flame to make it smoother.

This is the final product in Solidworks

Then I printed it out.

However, after printing, the stars were too small to look like stars, so I sized them up. This means that the coin now has 32 flames on the outside.

Then, I decided that I didn’t like it, so I reprinted the original except with a cooler filament