2D Ghost Paper Clip

Lesson Plan: 

For this project, our goal was to create a 2D-printed ghost clip focusing on collaboration and accuracy. 

Construction Instructions: 

Create a sketch of the original ghost 2x the size on graph paper, but label the dimensions with the actual measurements. These measurements can be taken with a ruler and compass, and both actual dimensions and construction geometry should be recorded. Below is a drawing of the sketch with the correct dimensions.

Here are the instructions to build it in Solidworks

1. Create center rectangle centered on the origin 
2. Set as construction geometry 
3. Add smart dimensions to constraint box 
4. Add construction lines for where arcs and spikes start 
5. Add construction line for bottom of mouth to lowest point on constraint box 
6. Set smart dimension for construction lines 
7. Add construction line for bend on mouth (right side) to constraint box wall 
8. Set smart dimension for construction lines
9. Add construction line for point on top of mouth to construction line for arcs (right side) equal length to previous construction line and 4.3 up from bottom of constraint box
10. Add lines for mouth from bottom anchor point to mid anchor point, then mid anchor point to top of the mouth only for right side (set vertical/horizontal as needed) 
11. Offset on the inside 
12. Use trim entities to remove extra line 
13. Add arc on top of mouth 
14. Add construction line from top construction line for arcs 
15. Add construction line intersecting with previous line
16. Add circle
17.  centered where the construction lines intersect 
18. At bottom of constraint box, add a vertical construction line in from right wall 
19. Add a second vertical construction line off of the previous line 
20. Connect anchor points in triangles and construction lines 
21.  Inside top constraint box, add vertical construction line from middle line
22. Connect arcs from created anchor points
23. Mirror over center line so other half of design is filled 

Finally, compare side by side with the original model and tweak as needed for accuracy. Engrave the mouth with your initials and print! 

Design Choices

When designing the model in Solidworks, we had to resolve several errors to make our models more similar to the original. The first error we noticed before even beginning to compare our designs was the spacing between the starts of the triangles and circles and the body of the rectangle. Our original measurements recorded both the bottom and the top at 0.6cm. However, when the circles were placed, there was a gap between the top of the circle and where it was actually supposed to end in the constraint box. 

Confident in the measurements of our circles, we remeasured the distance and realized that it was actually 0.4 between the top of the circle and the base of the rectangle. Once corrected, the first change we made to make the models more similar was the size of the eyes. We noticed the eyes were too far apart and changed the length from the wall to the center of the eye to 0.85cm.

Next, the radius of the eyes was too small so we changed the size from 0.5cm to 0.58 cm and

Finally, we lowered the bottom anchor point of the mouth by 0.1 

Those were all the changes we made during this process!