Hack-a-Day, Day 02: Acrylic Soma Cube (FAILED)

 The Soma Cube is a 3D, tetris-like puzzle -- picture credit 2ndlook.nl
The Soma Cube is a 3D, tetris-like puzzle -- picture credit 2ndlook.nl

Today I tried to design a laser-cut set of Soma cube pieces. The pieces (shown above) are (conceptually, and sometimes actually) made of 3D blocks glued together.

I've seen a particular style of joinery for acryllic, called finger joints. Those looked easy to cut and easy to put together (if hard to design).

 Acrylic box made with finger joints -- photo credit txoof
Acrylic box made with finger joints -- photo credit txoof

I wrote a python script that takes a description of a piece, like this:

Piece E
xx x-
x- --
-- --

And draws all the flat faces I need to cut.

 Flat faces for the soma cube
Flat faces for the soma cube

I was already running far behind, time-wise. I ran out of time before I could get the joinery working. Honestly, I don't think I'm very close, either.

 Finger joins drawn incorrectly with turtle graphics
Finger joins drawn incorrectly with turtle graphics

How to do a three-piece corner join was especially confusing me.

Tagged . Bookmark the permalink.