Manufacturing and Assembly.

As mentioned previously, the linkages were designed in SolidWorks then made from laser cut acrylic. To use the linkage designs made in SolidWorks in the laser cutter, a SolidWorks drawing was created with each of the linkages, as shown in figure 6 below. A duplicate of the slider and an extra ground piece were included in case one of them were to break (they have not).

Figure 6. Screenshot of SolidWorks drawing

              After the linkages were cut and the nuts and bolts were purchased, the mechanism was assembled. The first step was to glue the ground pieces onto the wood block. After the glue dried, the links were connected using the post screws, hex bolts, and hex nuts. First, using the post screws, the slotted link should be connected to the 4^th link, and the 4^th link should be connected to the slider. Then the long bolt should be inserted into the second ground piece. Two hex nuts should be twisted onto this bolt. A post screw should be inserted into the first ground piece, along with a hex nut. The crank arm should be attached to the first ground piece via the post screw. The shorter bolt should be inserted into the other hole of the crank arm, and a hex nut should be twisted onto the bolt. The slotted piece should be situated on the bolt protruding from second ground piece so that the bolt rests inside the slot. The left hole of the slotted piece should then be placed on the short bolt protruding from the crank arm. A hex nut should then be placed on both bolts to hold the slotted piece in. The mechanism should now be fully assembled. This process is also shown in the presentation video I attached to this submission.