Laser-Cut Polygonal Sculptures

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By John Baichtal
Posted 2011/04/07 @ 11:15 am
Category Art & Design, General

Paul Kinsky of Worcester, MA, developed an algorithm that transforms 3D models into laser-cut pieces that can be assembled into a physical version of that model.

BY John Baichtal

My interests include writing, electronics, RPGs, comics, scifi, hackers & hackerspaces, 3D printing, building sets, & toys.

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5 Responses to Laser-Cut Polygonal Sculptures

Matthew Bennett on April 7th, 2011 at 8:20 pm said:

You can also create polysculptures cheaply in paper with Pepakura and a CraftRobo.

http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/

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Roger Haley on April 7th, 2011 at 8:42 pm said:

Fan-freaking-tastic. That is some next level stuff. Really, great work.

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Dethe Elza on April 7th, 2011 at 9:57 pm said:

This is cool, any idea if he has documented the algorithm or plans to open-source the code? I’d love to have something like Pepakura that ran on my Mac.

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Paul Kinsky on April 7th, 2011 at 11:59 pm said:

Thanks! I’m a junior at Worcester Polytechnic, and I’m making more of these for the rest of the term for one of my classes. Here’s a better version of the description:

I take an OBJ file, which stores vertexes, faces, etc, and use that to build a set of faces and a set of pairs of connected faces. From this the algorithm generates a bunch of triangles(faces) and a bunch of angled connectors.

These pieces are laser-cut out of acrylic – the eagle is from .060 inch acrylic and the dolphin is from acrylic that’s twice as thick. Then I slot them together, which, in theory, doesn’t require any tools except for glue. In practice, sometimes I get a measurement wrong and need to spend all night sanding the tabs to make them fit.

Also, my personal favorite is the dolphin, because it’s my first closed model – the eagle is one sided, meant to be mounted on a board. The dolphin’s also cut from plastic twice as thick as the eagle. You can’t see in the photos but it’s much more sturdy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61463511@N08/5597628375/

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Laser Cutting Leather on April 8th, 2011 at 7:50 am said:

I have not much time, but I’ve got many useful things here, love it!

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