Everyone knows that globes are cool — what else would you use as the centerpiece of your library/study? But, sadly, making your own isn’t a simple process. Even if you had a large (preferably hollow) sphere to work with, you’d still have to devise a clever way of printing the map in sections that can be glued to the curved surface. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just laser cut flat sections, and assemble them to form a faceted “globe?”
Well, it is, and you can! Because, [Gavin] over at tinkerings.org (a Hackaday favorite) has created the files to do just that! This map projection, originally designed by the very interesting Buckminster Fuller, is designed to be either laid flat or three-dimensionally on an icosahedron (a 20-sided polyhedron). That makes it perfect for laser cutting, as each of the 20 faces can be cut from flat stock.
After the faces are cut (and marked with the laser cutter), they can be assembled with 3D-printed vertices and simple machine screws. The final product is an accurate three-dimensional map that looks cool and is chock-full of interesting history and cartographic principles. Of course, if you want to up the technological ante, you could always build an interactive globe!
Filed under: laser hacks
// from Hackaday http://ift.tt/2hmA6HU
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