I used good grade of Baltic Birch 1/2" ply with few inner voids. After much frustration, new software and a lot of cursing, I decided to switch to tried and true Carvewright friendly plywood for the bulk of the project. Factor in various software issues, machine issues and user issues and I started running out of patience ( and laminate ). ![]() Plus it quickly dulls the bits and will burn them up over time. The grain patterned surface is also very brittle and chips out easily. The biggest problem is it's so slick it's hard to hold in place which leads to tracking and misalignment problems. There's a learning curve in using this laminate in the Carvewright. The porthole cover has a clear polycarbonite Lexan window to assist in keeping out the elements.Īs with most projects, things change and after much trial and error I determined the laminate had to go. This way the cam plate will be enclosed under the housing cover and the small gear allows the aperture to function without having to open the porthole. To open and close the iris I added a partial spur gear to the cam to mate with the pinion gear mounted to the side. The cam ring holds the travel pins on the leaves and rotates to operate the aperture. The main cover shell contains the leaves and the cam. I chose to use 12 leaves because it gave a nice round opening and the 30 degree increments work well around a circle. Irises can be built around an unlimited number of leaves from one (think guillotine) on up. I played with a few designs of different numbers of leaves. Plus, with louvers on the outside of the house, it's not like I have some grand view outside anyway. An 18" aperture seems a bit more practical. It would take a considerable amount of material for the leaves not to mention weight concerns. That's a little large for a window like this. The material seemed to machine well and I thought the color contrasts would make it *pop*. The early design, shown in the shop drawings throughout this Instructable, used the leftover flooring as the iris framework and mechanics. I knew I'd be using my Carvewright CNC to mill out as much of the project as I could so I planned most of the parts to fit in the machine. I began by drawing up the project in AutoCad. Thanks everyone for taking a look see - please vote for me in the Full Spectrum Laser Contest! I found some inexpensive laminate flooring and used it on the floor and for a different look I covered the windowed wall with it as well. The window was only finished on the outside so I covered the void with OSB and marked the opening. I began insulating and laying the sub-flooring and covering the walls and ceiling with OSB sheeting. On the exterior of the house this window is covered with louvers so even with the lights on at night it doesn't draw much attention. The space originally was completely unfinished with open rafters, roof and wall framing with a simple screened window built into the framing. ![]() This wall is something of a focal point in the room and I've been want to do something creative with the window and a big round iris seemed perfect. The room had one small window on the one framed in wall. Little by little I've been filling the space with tools, decor and computer equipment. ![]() Several months back began creating a studio in the attic above my garage. Irises have a unique balance and symmetry and the steampunk world has taken the device to a new level of appreciation. I've always appreciated old fashioned ingenuity where the mechanics were as much art as function and a mechanical iris is a great example of this. In this Instructable I will describe the process of building a mechanical iris diaphragm window with a porthole into an existing wall opening.
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