Laser-Cut Bottle Opener (3 of 3)

3rd Design:
With limited time and a failed second iteration, my partner and I hoped to resolve the dimensions issues and modify the design. A few things we noted:
-- The lamp pole wasn't the best handle. We needed some sort of curve to aid grabbing the bottle opener.
-- The arms were too weak and tiny but we liked the idea of a similar lift; maybe we needed a larger hook and another point of leverage.
-- The base of the lamp (the bottom opening) appeared that it would work if it had been printed to scale. So we wouldn't mess with that portion of the design.

We returned to SolidWorks and modified our design, by eliminating the bottom arm and forming a more exaggerated upper arm/hook. We added a little bump on the pole to make a better handle (similar to the curves on the first design -- the "Bottle" bottle opener). However, again, when we sent it to the laser printer, our drawing was scaled down about half or more.

[A note on SolidWorks: After remeasuring and remeasuring the dimensions of our drawing, we noticed a small dropdown menu on the sidebar in drawing mode called "Scale ratio." It had been set to 1:2 (meaning an automatic downscale of 50%) and a source for major problems. Looking back, it is very possible that our 2nd iteration may have worked if we had noted it earlier -- but it was already too late in the game to return our old idea. So, if you're ever using this software, make sure to check your scaling options before you print.]

After finally figuring out the scaling issues we were having, we sent it to the laser printer and, of course, the laser has its own issues: not cutting all the way through on the curves, melting the plastic, etc. Long story short, three Delrin sheets later, we had to use an Olfa knife and a mallet to free our prototype.

The Moment of Truth: We pressed on a new bottle cap on our Coca-Cola bottle. We first tried the base, the trapezoidal opening; it fit better than the first design but also seemed a bit too small. However, in less than three minutes, we were able to remove the bottle cap. To compare with the first bottle opener design, we needed to remove three. The second newly pressed bottle cap came off much easier than the first and the third cap was a breeze. Success! We then tried the "hook" or upper arm: it lifted a bit but not enough to fully remove the cap. However, we found that if you use the hook to lift the flaps and then the base to pull all the way back it would work. Additionally, instead of using it as a backwards lever, the opener worked if you turned it upside down and lifted upwards. Overall, it was much better than the first design though there's always room for improvement.

The REAL Moment of Truth: Yet, we may have celebrated to early. During demonstrations in class, we tried our third iteration on a filled bottle of Sprite, and while the hook allowed us to hear a little gasp of air, our bottle opener couldn't remove the full cap.

Plot twist! In fact, we had to go back to our first design and do one solid yank to finally remove the cap. What went wrong? That moment made me realize that even with a few cases of success, the measure of a superb product comes from the fact that it can work every time -- and ours failed that test. Though disappointed, I thoroughly enjoyed this project and had a wonderful time designing in SolidWorks.

What I would do differently:

• Remeasure the opening of the bottle opener with the measurements of the bottle cap for both the 1st and 3rd designs: the leverage point still seemed a bit off and could improve lifting method.
• Additionally, I would try to draw the opening more circular to create a semicircle fit around the bottle cap -- as I saw with the Pier 1 Imports bottle opener back home.
• Try to add on the bottom arm again and recreate the jaw-like design.
• Make the bump in the 3rd design a smoother curve -- I'm being nitpicky but it irks me.

Better luck with and looking forward to my next project.
Auf Wiedersehen until my next engineering rendezvous.