When: 4 June 2019, 12.30 pm
Members present: All
We met in SPMS to further discuss our project, especially after Alexis brought home the embroidery materials we bought from Spotlight yesterday to test them out.
Punch Needle Considerations
Alexis taught the others how to thread the punch needle, which requires two uses of the threader. The difficulty in threading means that we would probably have to manually thread the punch needle first before attaching it to the printer. We would also need to come up with a spool-type object to hold the thread for the printer.
In terms of how to programme the printer movement, we would need to take into consideration the following:
- The needle must be inserted as far as possible to the base of the punch needle holder. The distance pushed down is highly dependent on the length of needle exposed (can be adjusted). In many of our trials, this exceeded the height of the embroidery hoop.
- After each punch, the needle must be lifted to just above the cloth edge and moved to the next stitch location.
- The punch needle’s bevel edge must be oriented in the direction of the stitch movement.
Cloth Considerations
The AIDA cloth we bought yesterday was very stiff and tough, and required a lot of force to punch through. We wondered whether the printer has enough strength and speed to generate sufficient force for the embroidery.
When we tried Vanessa’s recycled cotton shirts, we found that this time they were too soft and flexible. It stretched too much before the needle could finally break through to the other end. Subsequent stitches (‘punches’) could not be formed regardless of the distance between each stitch and length of punch needle used.
Carissa volunteered her old drawstring bag, and the material was surprisingly ideal. It wasn’t too tough or too soft, so we were able to embroider an “R” onto the bag with ease.
Since two of our members wore jeans today, we also thought about denim as a suitable material. The toughness might be just right.
Furthermore, we need to create a base on our 3D printer, that will be able to hold the cloth in place. Since the needle would likely punch beyond the height of the hoop, we need to create a base that will be able to lift the hoop at least 3 cm above the bed.
Moving on…
Items to model in Fusion360 & 3D Print:
- Holder for the punch needle
- Spool for the thread
- Hoop base
We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon working on our update meeting and further discussing our modified 3D printer specifications.