Emma Hammerton – Aesthetics of Design

For my final project, I chose to design and fabricate a Japanese style jewelry box. I began with the idea of creating a mechanical puzzle. I did research on some common puzzle solutions, but most of the puzzles that I found and considered to be interesting involved fabrication methods that were too far out of…

Final Project Presentation: Japanese Jewelry Box

April 24, 2017

Final Stretch Progress: Japanese Jewelry Box

April 16, 2017

Final cuts on wood pieces At this time I have made it nearly all the way through the construction of the box. I have completed cutting each side of the box to the correct size using a handsaw and sanded each of them down using a power sander. It is a bit difficult to see…

Construction Timeline: Japanese Jewelry Box

April 5, 2017

My construction timeline for creating my Japanese jewelry box is linear and pretty simple. For this weekend, I intend to finish designing and fabricating the mechanism for unlocking a secret compartment in the box. By next weekend, I plan to have the woodworking finished. This includes cutting each side of the box to size and…

20th Century Design Movements

March 22, 2017

The most closely related 20th century design movement to the design of my jewelry box is Art Nouveau. The trees and flowers, combined with the smooth flowy lines, resemble those often used in the art of the Art Nouveau movement. It also fits into the Arts and Crafts design movement based on its simplistic, blocky…

Design Review: Japanese Jewelry Box

March 12, 2017

Originally, I planned to create my own mechanical puzzle for my final project. I drew inspiration from simple puzzles that I played with in my childhood. Due to time constraints, I decided that it may be difficult to come up with enough solution ideas to form an also aesthetically pleasing project. Therefore, I have changed…

Top 5 Constraints: Japanese Jewelry Box

March 8, 2017

I have already instigated a design change due to constraints — I have chosen to make more of a Japanese jewelry box with a couple of hidden compartments. I made this decision over creating a mechanical puzzle mostly because of the time constraint. Often our most thought-intensive work happens at the last-minute, since, inevitably, things…

Main Project Inspirations: Mechanical Puzzle

March 1, 2017

Who doesn’t enjoy a good puzzle?! Mechanical puzzles are a great way to exercise and train the brain to think “out of the box”, so to speak. I distinctly remember having a small mechanical puzzle kit as a child. It included a few puzzles composed of some very simple components like metal rings and string,…

Skill Sets and Aspirations

February 22, 2017

Greetings! My name is Emma and I am a fourth-year undergraduate in mechanical engineering born and raised in Colorado. Given the dynamic world that we live in, I find it incredibly important to have a wide variety of skills along with a relentless drive for improvement. I have spent the last four years working to…

Upcycle Final Report: Steampunk Jellyfish

February 12, 2017

Inspired by the giant, steampunk octopus of Burning Man, “El Pulpo Mechanico”, and a favorite video game character of mine, Fallout 4‘s “Codsworth”, I decided to use steampunk as the aesthetic of my Upcycle project and build a much smaller-scale jellyfish. My initial plans for materials included (but were not limited to) light bulbs, guitar strings, scrap…

Design Loop: Steampunk Jellyfish

February 8, 2017

I find that I like to plan things out in a very succinct, organized way, which I can probably attribute to the engineering background provided to me over the last few years. However, I also find that I become very nit-picky when something doesn’t go the way I imagine it to, which results in multiple, somewhat…

Upcycle Update: A Tribute to “El Pulpo Mechanico”

February 1, 2017

El Pulpo Mechanico: Duane Flatmo Inspired by the giant, steampunk octopus of Burning Man “El Pulpo Mechanico”, I have decided to use steampunk as the aesthetic of my project and build a much smaller scale jellyfish. My current plans for materials include (but are not limited to) light bulbs, guitar strings, scrap metal, a wheel…

Aesthetics Exploration: Geometry as an Aesthetic

January 25, 2017