WEEK8 - composites.

This week assignment was about composites.

The process to make composite objects it's pretty straightforward, and it combines some of the techniques learned on previous weeks like 3D modelling, CNC milling and casting.

1- Design

Playing with some codes i wrote last year i designed a surface affected by gravity (catenary surface like Antoni Gaudi's models).

I wrote the program in java using some physics libraries. testing different settings for spring rest lenght and damping. after a couple of iterations i decided to mill one model.

IMG_0928 from DIGIFAB on Vimeo.

Finally i exported the model from eclipse to rhinoceros as an STL file.

3- Milling.

To milled my mold i used foam because it's fast to mill and because it has enough resolution for the model that i want. I used the onsrud router from n51 (total time : 25 min).

4- Preparing materials and vaccuming.

I used burlap as the material, i cutted 5 layers (45 and 90 degree pattern) of fabric + two layers of thin plastic. The first layer of plastic prevents the burlap + resin to stick to the foam. the second one that goes on top of the burlap, gives a shiny finishing to the object.

after preparing materials i did my vaccum process with pauline and rungu. we left the model all night in the bag.

5- final details and final result.

the final result was better of what i expected. Some details were missing from the original mold but the resolution and texture of the burlap are very interesting.

finally with the band saw i cutted the final model (using mask and eye protection, and of course cleaning all the dust generated). at the beginning i wanted to make a lamp, but because the results weren't that detailed, i have to find another use for my model , for now it looks good with apples on it.

-eof-