Research and Planning
Before I could think about starting a project, I had to come up with ideas. After I had my idea chosen, the fish tank, I could start to plan out the parts of it. Then I made my project proposal, and after this was approved I could then make my Gantt Chart. The Gantt chart was my timeline that I had planned out to span the entire semester.
3D Printing
I started the project with the 3D printer, I needed to print out coral decorations for inside the tank, and also structural supports for the outside. I started on Thingiverse searching for a coral design that would suit my tank. I eventually found the design you see below, I downloaded it and printed it out. There was just one problem, 3D printed objects float. I troubleshooted this by adding washers to the bottom of my coral. This added weight kept the coral from floating. I then searched Thingiverse for 3D objects that would be able to hold my glass in place. I found objects similar to the ones I designed on Inventor, and I printed them out.
Laser
Next I started with the laser by cutting out the 6 sides of Plexiglas, and engraving two of the sides. For my engraving I used an image from google of an underwater seascape. Then I made an Illustrator document with the size of glass cutout that I needed, and I cut it out on the laser.
This is what my back sides of my aquarium looked like after I engraved the design, and applied the vinyl decals.
Assembly
Before I applied the vinyl decals, I started to caulk the sides together. I started by making sure that they were square, then I would caulk two of the sides together, and finally I would get ready for the next side by repeating the process. After all 4 sides were together, we cut out the bottom so it would be a perfect fit with the glass I had put together. Then I put the bottom in its place, and I caulked it on the top and bottom sides.
Vinyl Cutter
The last part of my project was the vinyl cutter. I found an image on Google of fish silhouettes, and I put it into 4 different documents for the 4 different colors. I used blue, green, red, and yellow vinyl for the decals. I then took the decals on transfer tape, and I applied them to the sides of the aquarium.
The Final Product
Here is the current "final product," I need to add some structure to prevent it from breaking under water pressure again, but it will hold water in due time.
What I Learned
I learned so much this semester from this project. First of all I learned that time management is important, and if you make a schedule you should stick to it. Second I learned that filament floats, but if you add enough weight it will stay under. Third I learned that poly carbonate and lasers don't mix very well. The poly carbonate chars and looks ugly, and the laser get overwhelmed by the fumes that come from the burning plastic. When working with the caulk I learned that it is vital to fill in every seam, and every gap because if you don't, then it will leak. The vinyl cutter taught me that the groove for the knife isn't the line at the top of your Illustrator file. That cost a few fish their lives.
Time management is vital to completing a project on time, if you don't have time management, then the project will never get done. The planning is the most important part of the project. If you go into a project without a plan, it is bound to fail. I planned each aspect of this project, and I tried to make them go as smoothly as possible. There are always things that you don't see coming, but a solid plan will minimize the amount of time you spend redoing aspects that didn't work.
One thing that I didn't see coming that I probably should have, is that filament floats. Luckily this is an easy fix that just took some superglue and a couple of washers, but if there wasn't such an easy solution, I may have had to scrap an important part of my project.
Another thing that I never saw coming is that I bought poly carbonate, not acrylic for my aquarium glass. I would have had to buy all new glass for a second time if Mr. Willauer hadn't let me use his acrylic. I was lucky enough to have acrylic available, and it all worked out in the end. I used acrylic for the 4 sides, and I used pieces of poly carbonate cut out on the table saw for the top and bottom.
One very important thing I learned with regard to this project is how to make something water tight. I used caulk for this project, and I kept running into leaks. I kept adding more caulk to the places where I saw water coming from, and eventually I stopped all of the leaks. A few of the leaks were very difficult to spot the source of because the water would slip through a crack on one side, and travel all the way along the seam of the glass until it escaped through the opposite corner. I ended up at one point just adding another layer of caulk to the whole thing which seemed to help a lot.
Last but not least we have the vinyl cutter, this was the least time consuming, and least stressful part of my project. It was also at the end after I had everything else figured out so it made it that much easier. Though there was one small problem I ran in to with the vinyl cutter. This is that the groove for the knife to cut the vinyl doesn't line up with the top of the design. I ended up cutting two top rows of fish in half because of this. This was all OK though because I only needed enough fish to fill in some of the empty space. I used what was left of the fish, and the project was finished.
The final and most important thing I learned this semester is accomplishment. I realized that in a few short months, I accomplished something that is truly amazing. I designed, generated, and built an aquarium that started out as just a few sheets of plastic. This semester taught me that though a project may seem huge before you start, as long as you keep working on it, it will eventually be finished. It may take hours of leak-proofing, and troubleshooting, but in the end you have something that is completely and totally yours. That is the beauty of this class, and that is the greatness of making.
Time management is vital to completing a project on time, if you don't have time management, then the project will never get done. The planning is the most important part of the project. If you go into a project without a plan, it is bound to fail. I planned each aspect of this project, and I tried to make them go as smoothly as possible. There are always things that you don't see coming, but a solid plan will minimize the amount of time you spend redoing aspects that didn't work.
One thing that I didn't see coming that I probably should have, is that filament floats. Luckily this is an easy fix that just took some superglue and a couple of washers, but if there wasn't such an easy solution, I may have had to scrap an important part of my project.
Another thing that I never saw coming is that I bought poly carbonate, not acrylic for my aquarium glass. I would have had to buy all new glass for a second time if Mr. Willauer hadn't let me use his acrylic. I was lucky enough to have acrylic available, and it all worked out in the end. I used acrylic for the 4 sides, and I used pieces of poly carbonate cut out on the table saw for the top and bottom.
One very important thing I learned with regard to this project is how to make something water tight. I used caulk for this project, and I kept running into leaks. I kept adding more caulk to the places where I saw water coming from, and eventually I stopped all of the leaks. A few of the leaks were very difficult to spot the source of because the water would slip through a crack on one side, and travel all the way along the seam of the glass until it escaped through the opposite corner. I ended up at one point just adding another layer of caulk to the whole thing which seemed to help a lot.
Last but not least we have the vinyl cutter, this was the least time consuming, and least stressful part of my project. It was also at the end after I had everything else figured out so it made it that much easier. Though there was one small problem I ran in to with the vinyl cutter. This is that the groove for the knife to cut the vinyl doesn't line up with the top of the design. I ended up cutting two top rows of fish in half because of this. This was all OK though because I only needed enough fish to fill in some of the empty space. I used what was left of the fish, and the project was finished.
The final and most important thing I learned this semester is accomplishment. I realized that in a few short months, I accomplished something that is truly amazing. I designed, generated, and built an aquarium that started out as just a few sheets of plastic. This semester taught me that though a project may seem huge before you start, as long as you keep working on it, it will eventually be finished. It may take hours of leak-proofing, and troubleshooting, but in the end you have something that is completely and totally yours. That is the beauty of this class, and that is the greatness of making.