Week 8:    Composites

This week I made a candy / coin bowl with composites. It is casted from a IKEA bowl that I have at home and I made irregular cut out for the shape. Therefore, it has a very steady base.



The making process is as follows:

1) Prepare four identical layers.


2) Prepare 100 Epoxy and 1000 Hardener at ratio of 2:1 in a cup.

3) Wrap release cloth around the bowl.

4) Apply Epoxy and Hardener mixture to the layers and overlay them on the bowl.

5) Wrap release cloth around the top layer.

6) Lay cottom on top of the release cloth. And use a spiky tool to make holes in the composite.

7) Put into a vaccumm bag and clear the air. Sit for four hours.


8) Take out the whole thing from the bag. Remove the cotton and plastic wrapper.



9) Break the bowl with a hammer to release it.



10) Use saw, knife and scissors to cut out the unnecessary part.



What I would have done differently:

(1) Instead of using a whole piece of layer to make composites, I will use many smaller pieces to achieve a better fit.
(2) Definitely will use release spray next time.
(3) I wonder if I actually needed four layers. I'll try reduce the layers to make it easier for cutting.

Thank you for your sacrifice for my learning, my IKEA bowl. RIP.