Thanksgiving break began, and I spent the last couple of days designing and cutting out a mechanical iris. I got some practice with Autodesk Inventor and using my CNC. The entire thing was designed in one part file, then exported to an assembly, where I added constraints to simulate the movement of the mechanism. Then, the face of each part was exported as a DXF file and converted into a toolpath with V-Carve.
Closed
Opening
Open
The simulation looks great, but how would the actual device turn out? Since my machine is not rigid at all, the the cuts were significantly off (when compared to other DIY CNC machines). But in the end, the final product wasn't half bad.
Cutting out the fins and support ring.
Closed
Opening
Open
A quick video showing the opening and closing:
I would say this project is a success. I'm still working on getting the machine more rigid. I made some rails out of 8020 and v-groove rails and bearings.
