Glue experiments.
Posted: March 23, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, design, laser cutting., light, mixed media., perspex, student, wood Leave a comment
I have decided to test a few things out with glue, as I feel that the results of Araldite can be so varied. The issues I’ve had in the past include the glue becoming too spongy after it has set and causing parts to become wobbly and eventually fall out.
The image above shows two experiments, firstly the use of Gorilla Glue’s two part epoxy instead of Araldite, which seems to be much stronger and a lot easier to work with as it is less “gloopy.” The initial working texture is a lot smoother, and it is more clear when the glue has exceeded its working stage. The second experiment it that I have left the protective film over the perspex, something I usually remove after cutting but before this stage. I wanted to see if I could remove the excess glue before peeling off this layer and cleaning the perspex with methylated spirits. This worked, and it also means that less scratches are left on the pesrpex.
So, two successful experiments.
Floor planning.
Posted: March 20, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, design, light, mixed media., student Leave a comment
I have been working on plans to display my work at the degree show, and here are two of them. This will be an ever changing thing as I finalise my designs and space is allocated. I will be showing finished work alongside a selection of maquettes and models on shelving alongside the work.
Casting for the pulley light
Posted: March 18, 2015 Filed under: Field, Subject | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, design, light, mixed media., petwer, pulley, silicone mould Leave a comment
I have taken silicone moulds of the wooden laser cut components, and also a clam cleat typically found on a boat, and cast them in pewter.
I’m still working on getting them smooth and shiny with wet and dry sandpaper, but their starting to look really good. I’m still unsure of the size of the weight, it may no be heavy enough to keep the tension throughout the pulley system. Only putting it all together will give me an idea.
Testing the cuts.
Posted: March 18, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: cardiff school of art and design, design, laser cutting., light, mixed media., self supporting, student, valchromat, wood Leave a comment
At the same time I got the smaller box light cut I also got a version of the self supporting light cut. The images show the design with LED tape inside. This size of design uses 75cm of tape.
Issues with this design include the size of the supporting hinges, they are not wide enough for the thickness of the material, and also need to be a little more flexible. These hinges will be shorter in the final design, I needed them to be longer for this design to determine where they need to be. The flexibility of the large middle hinge is good, so the only change here will be to put in a semi circle to aid the lifting of the hinge.
The next plan for this design is to create a larger version.
First Valchromat cut.
Posted: March 16, 2015 Filed under: Field, Process, Skills | Tags: cardiff school of art and design, design, laser cutting., light, student, valchromat, wood Leave a comment
I have cut green 8mm Valchromat with Bespoke Laser UK, a laser cutting company based in Cwmbran. This is because there is not a laser cutter that it powerful enough to cut through the material at university, this includes the Fab Lab’s laser cutter.
This is the box light with a few changes made from the last cut. The front is longer, and can be compressed to distort the front panel. The next challenge is to find a way of holding the distortion, I plan to use laser cut toggles and elastic, but needed to wait for this piece to be finished to begin to figure out the size they need to be.
Perspex Toggles.
Posted: March 15, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, design, laser cutting., light, perspex, student, valchromat Leave a comment
I have been experimenting with perspex toggles which could be attached to the false backs of these boxes. It would allow more control over the hinge and to add distortion to the pattern through the front of the box as these would be placed at intervals down the sides of the boxes.
After a little experimentation I have decided not to use these or develop them further as I cannot see a solution. The tension of the elastic makes these really hard to get into place and it almost feels as if the hinges could snap. It would also mean the pieces would have to be taken off the wall to be manipulated, which is not ideal.
Developing the pulley mechanism.
Posted: March 11, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff school of art and design, laser cut, laser cutting., light, pewter, pulley, student, wood Leave a comment
Creating parts for pulleys. I have laser cut, glued and sanded these two parts to cast in silicone and make in pewter. The piece on the left is the centre part of a pulley which has been sanded to allow fabric flex to move smoothly through the pulley. The piece on the right is a laser cut box that will become a weight to help the smooth flow of the other parts. It has a loop to simply be threaded onto the wire before a bulb holder and the plug is attached.
Developments of the pulley light.
Posted: March 10, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, design, laser cutting., light, light source, student, wood Leave a comment
I have advanced the design of the light to encase a bulb by using a small amount of the hinge design to allow the wood to fold over on itself. I have also cut parts to fold around the sides to encase the light source, these need further development and adjustment to become more flexible and to fit into what has become the top of the light.
Unfortunately this piece has been cut in poplar plywood and it is not as strong as the birch ply that I usually use, this has limited the object in fully working in the way that the other experiments have. However, this has given me a useful insight into the changes I need to make to create a successful object.
Changing the box light.
Posted: March 7, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff school of art and design, Csad, design, laser cutting., student, wood, working model Leave a comment
The original box light has undertaken some drastic changes. I have changed the size of the piece I am working on to firstly get a working model before scaling the design up. I have altered the design to merge the front into the top (or side) of the box. The issues with this design is that i have not made the front longer and so it does not meet the bottom of the box, this could only be realised through cutting the object. The next steps for this object is to begin to work in a thicker material, like 6mm MDF or 8mm Valchromat and to make the box a little larger and deeper to allow it to hold a large bulb. I also need to add a cut for the bulb holder to be placed into the box.
I am hoping to use elasticated toggles to add control to the box, this will be further developed once a longer front section has been cut in a thicket material.
Developing the self supporting hinges.
Posted: March 5, 2015 Filed under: Field | Tags: art, cardiff met, cardiff school of art and design, design, hinges, laser cutting., light, light box, living hinge, student, wood Leave a comment
I have built a light box to experiment with the living hinges that support one another and light.
There are a few issues with this design, firstly the material is too flexible, the hinges have been cut too large for the thickness of the material and I feel that the overall size of this is too large. The design needs to be shorter in length as it does not have enough stability.
For this design I have used perspex at a distance from the wood, I feel this needs to be closer to add support to the material when it is standing. I have used the waste material from the hinge in the perspex, so that the pieces line up. I plan to cut this in a thicker material and for this waste to be put into perspex that is thinner. The overhang of this material will add support to the hinge when it is laid flat to the box as it will interlock, it will also allow less light to be seen.
The lighting I plan to use within this box would be a strip of LEDs or a tube bulb as it is more eco friendly and generates less heat than florescent or halogen bulbs.
Alice's ArtVenture 