#Mc escher lizard tessellation software

045in offset on the whole lizard allowed them to lock together sufficiently. The shape was MUCH tighter on one side than the other. This needed to be taken into account when testing the offset. Cut 9 with one offset, and cut another 9 to see the difference. Trial and error is the only way to do this. Tessellations are difficult, because any variation will either cause the whole thing to have slack, or as you add more, it'll lock up on you.

#Mc escher lizard tessellation software

The software is very antiquated and it took some time to figure out the right offset. I wanted a 1/2 in cutting board, and only the Coherent Metabeam 400W would cut it (pun intended). This pattern can be repeated until you have a tessellating lizard! View a video of the process here. They are based off of a repeating hexagonal shape, where a piece is taken from the inside of the hexagon, and rotated/slid to the adjacent side. Tessellation Theory: MC Escher developed tessellations after viewing a pattern in The Alhambra and using inspiration from Penrose Tiling. I encourage you to find an easier way to to this! This is a time and machine-intensive process, but with gorgeous results.

I chose the lizard pattern because they had a recognizable beauty and complexity of shape that would allow me to push the limits of the end-grain cutting board using the Metabeam Laser Cutter. I've been fascinated by MC Escher tessellations for a while, and in lieu of seeing so many end-grain cutting boards being made, I decided to take it to the next level by making an end-grain MC Escher tessellated cutting board. During my residency at Pier 9, I decided to do a project using the Coherent Metabeam Laser Cutter.