moveable 3D project
One of the projects assigned to my 3D class this past fall semester was a wooden project with moveable parts. The project before this one was a just a small abstract wooden sculpture but it gave our teacher the idea to do the moveable piece. This project had to include at least one moveable part. My 3D teacher showed us different examples of “whirligigs” which are basically simple pulleys and lever systems to make things move. I had no idea how I was going to make my project move but I knew what I wanted to make. I came up with the idea to make a box that could change between a daytime scene and a nighttime scene. Since I wasn’t sure how to make the parts move, I spent most of my time cutting the pieces out. To hide the parts that weren’t being used, I cut up small pieces of a skinny wooden dowel to make the clouds stick out. This allowed the pieces to fit behind the clouds.
the night box
The most complex part of this project was the moon because I wasn’t sure how to get it to move up and down. I ended up making a small crank which can be used on used on the left side of the box. The crank is made out of wood and small pieces of wire attached to a short piece of dowel. Unfortunately, the dowel was too short and it can no longer be turned. So the only way to get the moon to move is if you pull it up and push it down by hand.
I also used wire for the stars and then glued the wire to a wooden dowel that can be moved on the right side of the box. Both the moon and the stars can be hidden behind the bottom left cloud. To make the inside of the box look darker I added a lid that can be removed. I also drilled holes into the lid, by doing this it can allow light to come through the holes and give the illusion that there are stars shinning. The only problem with this is that the light has to be just right above the box for it to work.
the day box
Making the day box was a lot easier. The only thing that I needed to make for it was a sun. To make the sun move I used a skinny wooden dowel just like I used for the stars. The dowel can be moved from the upper right side of the box. When you push on the dowel the sun will appear from behind the upper right cloud. To make the inside of the box brighter you just remove the lid. There is a problem when you push the sun out though. The moon doesn’t go down far enough for the sun to be completely pushed out. Overall the project turned out better than I expected even though there were a few problems with it. The funny thing is that later on I found out that I made my project more complicated than it needed to be but my teacher still liked it anyway so I can’t really complain.
