Magnetic Aluminum Lockbox
During winter quarter of my sophomore year I received my first hands on engineering experience as part of Stanford's ME203 Manufacturing and Design class. In ME203, student's are challenged to take a project all the way from conception to design to finished product over the course of ten weeks.
I chose to manufacture a sculptural aluminum lock box with magnetic latch, thus giving me the chance to log nearly one hundred hours mastering machine shop staples such as the manual mill and lathe.
Initially I went through numerous iterations in Solid Works until I had a full CAD model of the lock box, then generated a set of manufacturing drawings and got to work. The six main pieces of the box are made from three-eighths inch thick aluminum plates and have been fastened together using rare brass spanner screws for aesthetic appeal and security.
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The lock mechanism consisted of a spring loaded (spring not included in picture) latch made of beautiful architectural brass attached to a steel disk that would lie flush with the box exterior when locked. In order to open the box, the user would simply wave a very strong neodymium magnet across the circular steel piece, which would pull the disk out of its recess and allow the owner to rotate the latch and unlock the lid.
In order to lock the box, one need only to slide the top lid into place along the channel cut for it, rotate the latch into the locked position, and then press it down until it becomes flush with the aluminum outer walls.
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After countless hours of careful sanding, I ended up with a beautiful final prototype combining elegant curved edges and rugged durability with a unique palette of polished aluminum walls, dark grey steel latch, and bronze fastener accents.
