Obomodulan Pattern
Drilling center bowl
Finished center hole
Hollowed out head for reduced weight/material cost
Hollowed out feet
Sea otter arms - first iteration
Finished pattern
Pattern coated for sand casting
Fourth casting attempt (final)
Experimenting with polishing techniques
Milling flat faces onto arms to bore through hole for axle
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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.
