It was then that I decided to learn SolidWorks. It was exciting, infuriating, and amazing all at once. I could feel the power under the engine, so to speak. I learned how to make a 3-point arc, what a sketch was, and how to create guidelines, all of which took a long time, but resulted in a very nice repeatable pattern.

I hadn’t found the answer to my initial question about the name of that style of art on the panels, but I found something else: a new project! I’m going to make a series of wagara high-contrast prints for each season. There is a twist to the project: I’m going to use these designs as backs for custom sets of dominoes, matching each season’s dominoes with its own custom box and lid.

In my mind, the dominoes are already finished and in front of me. They’re ivory in color save for two bands: a band of red in the center, and another around the top, where the matching pips are. The center band of color isn’t very wide, only thick enough to prevent the color of the pips from showing through. The top band, made colorful via the filament-swap technique (like the center layer), is not only decorative, but also hides the raised pips when the dominoes are face-down.

I hadn’t played with the scribble tool before, so it was kind of cool to use it to solve the problem I was having making branches. It was so cool, in fact, that I wanted to share the technique, as well as show my very pretty cherry blossom trellis divider.

The result: it’s a great strainer, guarding my sink drain as we speak. However, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, the well collects water. Not good. The strainer portion has some flex, and lets water flow. The fit is nice, the handle is comfortable though it really should get sanded down, as the texture is rough here. This device does what I want, but needs a redesign to be truly thoughtful.

"The next step was to make the rings flexible. I like the print in place flexible strips I had made earlier; I felt like more give would let it resist the weight of heavy kitchen items, while the holes would provide drainage."

Of course it wasn’t that easy, notably because this panel wasn’t missing a simple wedge: it was a wedge missing a wedge, a sloped angle that suddenly sloped up even harder, a compound wedge, if you will.

Version one finished printing before I finished writing the piece, it was unbelievably fast to design and build. I've already started on the second piece — by this time tomorrow we will once again have a working nightstand drawer. Hooray for 3D printing!

I designed a solution for that, and it was wonderful. I even had it as one of my free uploads. However I have since learned that my design might not work the same way on every printer with every filament type, and that I need documentation. Also someone seems to have thrown away the lid. Gasp.

Time for a re-design, and this time you can come along with me :)