Mechanical Design

January 11th, 2006

Valerie Morash

Mechanical Design

What Maslab provides

Tools

Safety Issues

Helpful Hints

Resources

Raw Materials

Pegboard

Hardboard

Plywood

Sheet Aluminum

Prototyping Foam

Raw Materials –

Pegboard

Good for: Initial Testing

Pre-drilled holes

Cheap

Easy to cut

Raw Materials –

Hardboard

Good for: Intermediate design

Pegboard without holes

Cheap

Easy to cut

Replace with plywood later

Raw Materials –

Plywood

Good for: Final design

Looks good

Strong

Harder and slower to cut

Pre-drill holes for wood screws

Raw Materials –

Sheet Aluminum

Good for: Small structural members

Bending can increase strength

Holes with hole punch

Cuts with shear

Raw Materials –

Prototyping Foam

Good for: Bulky parts

2” blue foam

Cut/sculpted with hot knife

Other Materials

Wooden dowels

Hollow metal tubing

Spring

PVC pipe

Foam pipe insulation

Gears

...

Fasteners

Bolts & Machine Screws

Wood Screws

Glue (hot glue, super glue, wood glue)

Tape

Motors

Servos

Limited range of motion

Cannot bear load of metal motors

Can be modified for larger range of motion

High speed and high torque motors

Tools – Scroll Saw

Cuts thin (¼”) wood and polycarbonate

No metal

Makes curved cuts

Use medium pressure, don't force it!

Ask staff to change broken blade

Tools

Hacksaws, wood saws

wood, pvc, cardboard

Pipe cutter (small red gadget)

brass tubing

Rotary cutting tool

quick, but inaccurate

Mitre saw

accurate wood cuts (any angle)

Drill press

wood, plastic, metal (different bits)

clamp small pieces

Tools

Shear/Brake

thin (1/16 sheet aluminum and polycarbonate)

right-angle bends in sheet metal

Punch

use center punch (pointy tool) to make dent

position punch head using dent

Safety & Maintenance

Wear safety glasses in shop

Use fan when soldering

Return tools when done with them

Put bolts, tools, and bits in their place

Put scrap under when drilling

Preserve benches

Techniques – Mounting

IR Sensor

Servomotor

Techniques – Metal Bending

To bend without brake ...

Make guide cuts using snips

(and holes along line for

larger pieces)

Bend along your cuts

Resources

Central Machine Shop

Basement of 38

Metal and plastic stock

Edgerton Shop

Across Vassar Street

Training/safety lecture required

Resources – Parts

Mcmaster.com

raw materials, fasteners, ...

Sdp-si.com

gears, shafts, bearings, pulleys, chains

Allelectronics.com

surplus – limited selection, cheap

Usplastic.com

sheet and rod plastic, plastic tubing

2006-01-09T17:22:20