Eiffel Tower Rises!

As mentioned previously, I’m in the middle of working on the largest book I’ve ever produced – well over 300 pages full of designs, tips from other designers and a lots of other things. I also decided to put my designer’s cap back on and get back into making a few more laser projects that I’ve had on my mind for a while… one of which is a laser cut Eiffel Tower for CNCKing.com.

Eiffel Tower leg

What you are looking at here is by far the most complex piece of geometry I’ve made in my life! The Sydney Harbor Bridge has some internal geometry but the Eiffel Tower is so much more complex – what you see here is the result of a few hours of work. Part of creating a design though is being smart about it… although it may be hard to see, the four outer legs will be the same piece replicated 4x which is achieved by staggering the edges so one side is male while the other is female.

I’ll post updates to this model as I add more details and have something worth posting… I’ve optimized this model to be cut out of 4mm material so that the internal geometry can be cut a bit easier with even the most basic of laser cutters. The little block you see to the left of the leg represents the wood thickness… yes, this will be a very good size model indeed!

ETA? I don’t know – depends on inspiration and how so many other things go, if it wasn’t for the internal geometry though, I’d be done by now. I’ve seen this done numerous times by others but what I want to do with this laser cut Eiffel Tower is include an internal elevator that actually works… something I’ve never seen done by others, hence why I’m giving myself A LOT of room by using 4mm and a larger model to begin with.

I’ve assigned myself about a dozen new laser cut models to complete before I can release my 4th volume, the CNC table router end of things is pretty much done so this is very much “extra bonus” material to make the book all the more memorable for me. This book is really starting to look more like a telephone directory in size than a standard paperback. Good!