BUILD BIG
A model maker cuts parts on the shop’s Felder combination machine. In addition to conventional woodworking equipment, the shop also uses 3D
printing and laser cutting to make models.
Felder USA, combination machine 302.322.7732 www.feldergroupusa.com Laguna Tools, CNC router 800.234.1976 www.lagunatools.com Universal Laser Systems, laser cutting machine 480.483.1214 www.ulsinc.com Z Corp., 3D printers 781.852.5005 www.zcorp.com For more info: Or go to www.CabinetMakerFDM.com
allows us to jump
up in scale,” says
Deutschman.
In addition to the
standard vacuum
hold-down, the shop
uses a variety of
conventional clamp,
which are sometimes
more convenient
for the wide variety and often thin
materials they use.
Deutschman showed
a freeform test piece in high-density foam that was cut on the
router to test the machine’s capabilities. “We are figuring out
how to work with different material characteristics,” he says.
Full-time model shop
While many architectural firms outsource their models,
Morphosis is committed to in-house model production, says
Deutschman. The shop functions with two in the office and six
in the shop. Most of the shop workers are paid interns who are
typically architecture students, says Deutschman.
On a recent visit to the shop, on-going work ranged from the
painstaking hand process of gluing miniature trees to a model to
working out computer designs for 3D printing and cutting acrylic
parts on the CNC router. Both Magner and Deutschman say they
intend to stay with model making because they especially love
the challenges it presents in a wide variety of media and tools.
“We are always learning the limitations of our equipment to
achieve to the closest degree what the architects design,” says
Deutschman. ❮
