Plastic sheets for diffuser molding arrived at FirstBuild. We’re trying HDPE because it’s already translucent, no need for frosting it with spray paint to diffuse the light like the white PETG prototype in the photo. Randy helped narrow it down to a few plastics, and he also connected up Robby to mill out the wooden mold in the photo at top left. Wood is much cheaper than Modulan, which matters when we need multiple molds (or “forms”), and carving the 3D shape from wood without facets and stairsteps is turning out to be a good test of FirstBuild’s CNC machines. This example was made on a ShopBot. Now to try vacuum forming the new material on the wooden forms, and decide how to cut out the diffusers from the sheet and add attachment holes for the circuit. HDPE can be laser cut but it melts, and laser cutting is slower than the cookie-cutter method. In the photo, Robby has routed a triangular path in a block of wood to hold a metal die-cutting blade.
