Aluminum Sea Otter Nutcracker
My first machine shop project, requiring woodworking, sandcasting, and manual milling techniques. The aluminum sea otter was a novel attempt to create a biomimetic nutcracker, operating with a simple"door knocker" mechanism. This class project was particularly challenging because of its irregular, organic curves, which lead to milling difficulties. The existence of a single reference plane (backside of otter) made drilling through holes in the arms and body a test of precision machining.