Originally, I was going to begin my journey by figuring out how to scale the countries onto a paper sphere, but I decided to go a different route and I started with a base. I figured that a globe with no stand wasn't worth much, even if the countries were spot on. But if I ran out of time on the countries, I could always freehand a stylized map onto a nice globe with a base.
I decided to make the base simple so it doesn't take away focus from the globe. I also needed to make it open so that I could change the batteries. I measured all of my electrical components and the pipe I'm using for the core, and got to work.
Once my model was done, it was very simple to unfold in Rhino and get to work.
First, I made my model in cheaper cardstock to ensure proper fit with all of the components and the two parts. I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut and score the pieces.
I identified an issue with the switch hole placement, but otherwise it was perfect. I adjusted the switch position and cut the pattern again from my final paper. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that glue is EXTREMELY visible on black paper. I'm still trying to find a way to make it less shiny and noticeable, but I might have to remake this if I can't.
The next step was to cut out the pieces of board that would support the central rod in my globe. Having access to a laser cutter, I decided to use that. I had already modeled these pieces with Rhino, so it was just a matter of figuring out the correct settings for Raven Board.Finding the correct settings for Raven Board ended up being more difficult than expected. I originally started with a small settings test, using lighter settings to try and avoid lighting the board on fire. Even the strongest settings on this tester barely scratched the surface. So I ran a bigger settings test that ran up to a higher power to see if that would make a difference. It did.
I figured that using a speed of 500 with full power should do the trick, since the sampler cut a clean hole that way. Unfortunately, on the final pieces it didn't cut through. I didn't re run it, I just used a crafting knife to cut the rest of the way through.
Once the pieces were cut, I stacked them up with extra strength glue and let it set. After checking for fit, I glued it into the bottom half of my base. Once everything dried, I confirmed that everything fit once again.
I decided to make the base simple so it doesn't take away focus from the globe. I also needed to make it open so that I could change the batteries. I measured all of my electrical components and the pipe I'm using for the core, and got to work.
Once my model was done, it was very simple to unfold in Rhino and get to work.
First, I made my model in cheaper cardstock to ensure proper fit with all of the components and the two parts. I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 to cut and score the pieces.
I identified an issue with the switch hole placement, but otherwise it was perfect. I adjusted the switch position and cut the pattern again from my final paper. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that glue is EXTREMELY visible on black paper. I'm still trying to find a way to make it less shiny and noticeable, but I might have to remake this if I can't.
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I figured that using a speed of 500 with full power should do the trick, since the sampler cut a clean hole that way. Unfortunately, on the final pieces it didn't cut through. I didn't re run it, I just used a crafting knife to cut the rest of the way through.
Once the pieces were cut, I stacked them up with extra strength glue and let it set. After checking for fit, I glued it into the bottom half of my base. Once everything dried, I confirmed that everything fit once again.
Now that I had a solid base, I was finally ready to move onto the globe itself. See part 2 in the next post for all the globe-making fun!