Acrylic Beverage Container
This Project was associated with the DIY Design and Fabrication class I took as a masters student at Carnegie Mellon. The goal of this project was to put some more conscious thought into beverage preferences and consumption habits. The design challenge was to create a drink accessory that could be incorporated into daily life. I chose to create a cup holder for my long board that would hold my water bottle. The restrictions of this project were first, the only material allowed for construction was acrylic and second, adhesive/glue usage was highly discouraged.
Mood Board
Here is the mood board I created for this project. I am not a coffee or tea drinker so I knew from the beginning my accessory was going to be for a water bottle. I enjoy long boarding and thought it would be nice to create a bottle holder for my board. The other pictures relate to structures I was considering for my design shape, material thoughts, and fabrication methods.
Concept Generation
Here are sketches I did to brainstorm ideas on how I would create a bottle holder for my longboard. The majority of the brainstorming revolved around coming up with ideas on how to design pieces to lock together so no glue or adhesive would be necessary.
Final Design Choice
Here are sketches of my final idea I chose to pursue and the pieces I would need to make.
Proof of Concept Prototype
Here is a cardboard model I made of a few pieces to test my interlocking design/strategy. It was very successful and proved my concept would work.
CAD Models
Here are the detailed CAD models I made of each part
Fabrication Method Testing
There were two fabrication strategies I needed to test. The first one was the size to make my gaps so they would be wide enough for the acrylic to slide through but tight enough to ensure a good friction fit so the pieces wouldn't just fall apart. To do this I cut test pieces with different size gaps until I found the right tolerance. The second method I tested was countersinking the acrylic. I wanted to countersink the holes that would attach my project to my board so the longboard bolts wouldn't be sticking out of the top. I tested different sized bits to get the perfect countersink shape that also wouldn't crack the material.
Final Parts Fabrication
Here are my final laser cut project parts.
Project Assembly
Because I designed for tight friction fits, I used a rubber mallet to gently tap all the different pieces into place. I used scrap pieces to support different parts of my project during this process.
Final Project Results:
Here are the results of all my hard work!
Project Rigidity Demonstration:
All pieces of my project are connected with friction fits. There is absolutely no glue or adhesive of any kind. This video shows how solid my friction fits are and how structurally sound my project is.