Sean Kennon - Metal Experiments

I have begun experimenting with steel. So far it's waaaaaay better than Mike Hummel's experiments. Oh man. First, I made a sand bag out of a pantleg. I got this idea from some research I did, and it works pretty well and I don't need a log. Thanks to a friend in fashion design, it is the best looking sandbag ever.

I hammered out some scrap sheet steel to form a bowl shape with a standard hammer.

A ball peen hammer would probably be more effective, and a shallower curved hammer would be best.

NEXT EXPERIMENT: Flux Welding (oh god the horror)

First I did some test weld beads on a flat plane, they look nasty compared to real MIG welds, but I can see that with practice they can be strong and neater than before.

Then some tests joining parts. A corner weld and a butt weld.

Third experiment: Grinding

Grinding and metal brushing the welds and metal surface clearly improved the look of the welds. It removed the discolorations from welding and smoothed out bumpy and lumpy welds.

Updated Final Project

I have changed my material from liquid plastic to plywood. I have bought square cut outs of hardwood plywood. So it has a smooth finish on it and it is not filled with knots and is really rough. My three experiments will be cutting curves in the wood to see how the bandsaw will be able to cut radii. Also I will be researching the different types of joints like miter joints,t joints etc. My third experiment will be sanding and finishing the wood. Basically I would like to see how smooth I can get the wood and also how much I can sand off. From there I will see how paint sticks to the plywood and use different finishes on it

Mike Hummel Steel experimentations twoo

I decided to practice making some more joints today using thicker steel tubing. I first made some 45 degree cuts with the chop saw.

I then used the grinder to make sure the pieces were flush with each other.

I then began welding and luckily this time I was able to use some argon which I borrowed from Dan. My welds turned out a lot better and after some some more grinding at the joints they looked pretty good. I made two different pieces as seen below.

Jordan_Cork_Experiment 2

Today's experiment involved mixing granulated cork with epoxy in a mold. An identicle technique was used to make this stool. First, I diced sheets of cork to mimic granulated cork. Found two plastic cereal containers. Mixed epoxy (two seringes worth) with the cork in one container. Then, pressed the second cereal container down into the first with seran wrap in between them. The result was a hard cork block with virtually no flexibility. During this experiment I learned expoxy produces a lot of heat during the curing process. This "exothermic reaction" can burn through plastic if enough epoxy is added.

First PVC Experiments

I have begun to experiment with PVC. Below are some of my findings. I applied a coating of liquid PVC primer and both primer and PVC glue to two separate surfaces. After sanding them down I, i then sprayed them with Rustolium primer. I was able to receive a smoother finish on the surface that had only primer. However, if sanded down with a higher grit I could probably receive the same results results and I did with just the primed surface. I also experimented with join connection. The PVC glue forms a very attractive bond with other PVC piping. I twisted, pulled, slammed and bent a variety of pieces. They remained unchanged. From this I learned that I could connect the PVC with the pre-made joins or drill holes in the piping and insert another pipe of smaller size. Both methods work effectively when the glue is applied. Additionally, I began to prepare to experiment with heat bending the PVC, which I will experiment more with tomorrow. I made three different types of jigs with different ark lengths. From this I hope to discover just how far I can bend the PVC without it developing folds. I also want to see if it will hold its shape when cooled and removed from the jig. Below are several photos to illustrate my process.