Tent Progress

Here are some shots of the progress that I have made on my tent during todays class. I focused on crafting the tent poles. To bend the poles into position, I first took the heat gun and ran it along the joint area, then bent the PVC around a wooden circle jig. Once all the pole were bend into place, I taped the bottoms together and mounted it against the bottom of a wall. This allowed me to make a template from paper for the vinyl fabric cover. I removed the cover, took apart the poles and sanded them down. They are now ready for primer and aluminum paint.

Mike Hummel's synth rack progress

Today I finished my welds on the rack and also drilled the holes that will be used to bolt the rack to my stand. I drilled a total of four holes; 1 vertical and 1 horizontal through the stand and rack on both sides. I also added a piece of sheet metal to the one side since my synth doesn't take up the whole length of the rack. This can be used to hold sheet music or my interface that connects my synth and keyboard to my computer. I grinded down all the joints followed by sanding of the entire piece and finally using Fantastic! to clean the remaining oil off. Now it's time for paint. Some pictures are below.

Jordan_Cork_Final

For my final project I will be designing a cork bicycle seat. Since cork is both moisture and bacteria resistant, I feel that a bike seat is an appropriate application. I plan to obtain an existing bike seat, modify the form by shortening the nose and widening the rear section, then covering the shape with layers of cork and glue. I plan to finish the bike by heat sealing clear PET over the cork.

Experiments on plaster

My first goal when experimenting with the plaster was to find out how well it retains the shape of the mold it was in. I used an old half gallon milk carton, and surprisingly the plaster picked up the majority of the details, down to the little bumps in the plastic. There were no bubbles in the mold either, because while the plaster sets you have to tap the sides of the mold to help release any trapped air.

My second experiment with plaster dealt with using carving tools to forge a shape out of a small block of plaster, and seeing what kind of detail i could get and keep on the surface of the plaster. This worked out really well and was actually surprisingly easy. The plaster is alot easier to shape when there is still moisture left from the mold, as time goes on and the moisture dries out, the plaster is more likely to crumble. I would say if you wanted to carve something, do it sooner than later after it comes out of the mold, as the moisture definitely makes it easier.


My final experiment with plaster was trying to get 2 separate pieces of plaster to attach together, using some kind of adhesive or the plaster itself. Adhesives failed, i tried hot glue, elmers, even apoxy, and all just flaked off after drying. The plaster also didnt work, it just didnt have the strength to hold the two pieces together. So ive concluded from this that if you want 2 pieces attached youre better off making a mold with the two pieces already combined.

Fiberglass final

Today during class I spread the epoxy onto the fleece covering. This will have to cure for about 12 hours before i can start to wet lay the glass. I plan on doing this friday morning so that it can fully cure by saturday morning and i can finish it all weekend. The process of sanding is going to take a long time becasue with the gloss finish i will have to get every imperfection out of it.

Final

For my final project, I am going to create a flower vessel that can either be placed on a deck rail, or a long a path. I am CNC'ing a negative mold that will be filled with concrete. Once the concrete cures, it is going to be gap filled, sealed, and finished.

Eliot Final Project Post

So everything went relatively smoothly on my jewelry box. The acrylic inside I cut on the laser cutter and weld-oned the pieces together very patiently. I made a compartment area on the top for little pieces of jewelry, it is removable. When you pull this piece out you see a large compartment underneath. The frame is made with 1/2 ID copper tubes. I cut them sanded, buffed them and then glued them together with 50 minutes epoxy. The cap for the project was made out of sheet copper. I cut it rectangular and then rounded the edges to match the tubular frame. I then used the acid etching to etch a very large coy fish into the face plate for the box. I bolted the face plate onto the box. The last five percent of my project is taking me way too long! All I need to do is rivet the hinges in place but I bought the wrong size rivets twice and am waiting on that to put the final touches on the piece.

Final Acrylic

For my final acrylic project I'm going to make a vase.  I'm going to use the heat from the vacuum form in order to melt the acrylic so that I can bend it into the shape that I want.  I'm either going to use a yellow foam or wooden structure to form the acrylic around.  Depending on how the clear acrylic looks I'll decide whether or not to put a painted finish on it. 

Fiberglass Final

Since my last post i have changed my process a little. I made that blue foam model to get the shape and form of my final. I have taken the measurements from that and have created another model. This model is framed out of mdf and covered with fleece to get an even uniform slope. I had seen this technique used many times in videos i have watched about fiberglass and now i understand why people do it. The fleece has stretching qualities that are ideal for this. This allows you to pull it over any shape/form staple it into place and stretch it to get any wrinkles out. So now that i have this form made i can move on to the next step, which is fiberglassing. I plan on putting a layer of epoxy down and letting that harden so i have a hard surface to glass over. Once the epoxy is hard i will start to lay the glass. I plan on doing 12 layers because this has to be strong and resist the vibrations of the speakers. Once the 12 layers are dry i will continue to the finishing process of sanding priming and painting. I am planning on a gloss finish. I dont know the exact color yet.

MONster Progress

Today was a big progress day for my final project. I began my morning by crafting the stakes that are oriented in the back of the tent. I measured and drilled holes so that they can be secured the tent poles as well as each other. Below are a few pictures of the pole and stake in action. I tested the stake's durability outside Hayward in both grass and sand landscapes. Following that, I sanded them down with varying grits to get a smooth surface which I them primed. I then wet sanded, sprayed them with two coats of aluminum Rustolium and left them to dry. In addition, I began to measure out the tent poles. I took inspiration form the form of the human hand to model the structure of my tent shelter. A visual below shows how I took string and places it along the bones in my hand to take measurements of where my joints. By scaling the measurements up to fit the size of my tent, I now have an accurate read on where, and at what angle, I need to heat bend the PVC poles. Next class I plan to lay down the template for the fabric cute out and begin more construction on the tent poles.

Carolyn's First Final Model Attempt

Here is my first attempt of my stained glass candle holder and the drawings that I based it on. I have very mixed feelings about it. The corners are still not right and therefore it is not something I can hand it. I am still pretty proud of it for my first attempt at making a stained glass object. I hoping that when I figure out how to do the corners right I can try to salvage this model, but I am not sure that’s going to be possible.

Mike Hummel's Progress

I've been out of class the last week due to an illness so this is my first post in a little while. I decided to build a rack that will hold my synth above my digital piano. The rack will attach to my stand that I already have for my piano. My current configuration:As you can see it's a little more difficult to play both instruments at once because of the way they are angled and on top of that I'm losing a lot of desk space. My rack will eliminate both of these problems.

So today I started making the rack with making some cuts on the chop saw and doing some welding and grinding to make the joints. Here is my rack so far:
It's a little hard to see but bsically it has 1" square tubing in the shape of 'C's on both sides and two .5" tubing running the length of the rack where the instrument will sit. I also made two little stoppers by bending sheet metal and welding it to the rack. These will hold the instrument in place since my rack is angled downwards. It is hemmed at the top so it doesn't cut my wrist when playing:

Weds. I will be bringing in my digital piano stand to do some drilling for bolts that will attach the rack to the stand.

Experiment

The first experiment I did was with the vacuum form.  I took one 12"x12" sheet of 1/8" acrylic and attempted to form it over a piece of yellow foam.  With 3 trials the heated to the point where it sags down in the middle, when I release the pressure and let up the form the acrylic didn't get sucked down around the yellow foam.  Although I was unsuccessful I found the acrylic to be easily molded (and very hot).

I also tested the strength of different adhesives; Weld-on, Sobo glue, and wood glue.  After 24 hours the wood glue easily snapped off while the Weld-on and Sobo held strong.  With a little bit of applied pressure on them both had the Weld-on become detached and the Sobo glue was slightly flexible until it too snapped off.  I also sprayed flat white spray paint on one side of the acrylic to see how well it adhered.  The next day it held on strong while one side was flat white and the other glossy from the acrylic.  

Finally I used the laser cutter to see how it could etch as well as cut various shapes.  I set up shapes is small and tight curves as well as straight lines and points.  They laser cutter took 3 tries to fully cut through the 1/8" acrylic.  All of the pieces were cut with precision.

Final Flashlight

Here are some pictures that show the process I went through to create my final flashlight.

I started with sketches and when I came upon a final design went right away into sanding and forming the yellow foam into my desired design. When I was done I started adding the spot putty.  I applied many layers of the spot putty, sanding in 

between and priming with the spray primer.  My final finish was a flat black base coat that I faded into a glossy blue end.  The button

 I added was from a toy helicopter that I had. 

Progress on Final

Below are some visuals of how I plan to execute my final project. I have chosen to make an outdoor shelter that functions as a rain water catch system. This weekend I went to a fabric store and purchased some vinyl fabric material, chord and sewing equipment. Additionally, I ordered some plastic clips from an online survival shelter website. I can thread the vinyl through the clip which will then allow me to attach it to another material such as PVC pipe. I began working out the plans for what the shelter is going to look like. Here is a rough sketch of my idea. I also began to work on the stakes will help to hold the tent into place. Tomorrow I plan to begin measuring and heat bending the poles of the shelter using jigs.

Final Acrylic project proposal

For my final I want to make a table using the techniques I learned in my first couple of experiments. It will have a two piece top with the lower piece having the recesses for the acrylic rod legs to go into. The top will have minor indentations but only enough for it to be stable and will have an image etched onto the top. I am not sure of the image yet. The legs will be made out of acrylic rods and will be heat bent to angle into the places put in for them in the lower piece of acrylic. I am thinking about trying to get the legs to twist together and then fan back out for the legs but I am unsure if I will do that or not.

Materials-
16"x16" Clear 1/8th inch acrylic
16"x16" Clear or Black 1/8th acrylic
4 1" acrylic rods

Final Project: Fiber Glass

I plan on making an enclosure for my speakers in my car for my final project. Many people use fiber glass for this because it is very strong and can form to almost any shape. I have two 6x9 that will be installed into it and once this project is done i plan on installing it in my car. I will take the current cover out of my car to get he measurements and then create a form out of blue foam. Once i have the form, i will sand it and find the exact location of the speakers. Once i know that the speakers will fit, i will test it in my car to make sure it fits there. After everything is fine tuned and everything fits i will start the lay up. I plan on vacuum bagging this because i want it to be as strong as possible. I will be laying the 12 layers because that gave me a very strong form in my experiments. Also, i will create a form that doesn't have many complex sharp edges because they were tough to work with during my experiments.

Materials:
existing speaker cover
blue foam
shur form
sand paper
scrap blocks for sanding blocks
spackle
epoxy
hardener
cup(for mixing)
paint brush
respirator
latex gloves
exacto
glass
carnuba wax
rag(to apply wax)
high grit sand paper (waterproof)
primer
paint

Final Project Proposal :Wood Veneer

I decided to make a lamp for the final project. It won't have a traditional shade, its more of an "up lamp". I'm going to leave much of the veneer without a substrate except at the base, so that the light will shine through it. I'm going to make the one at the bottom.

Wood Veneer Experimentation

After researching different veneering techniques, tools, and glues, I decided that this new, non-toxic "Heat-Lock iron on" glue would best suit my purpose, which is to work with small pieces and different shapes. I purchased sample packs and glue from veneersupplies.com . Their sister site, joewoodworker.com, had some of the most useful advice.


For my first experiment, I tried something that I really did not expect would work. I wanted to see if the veneer would be flexible enough to wrap smoothly around a dome shape. I purposely picked a very warped, flawed piece of walnut burl to see what the limits were. Cutting veneer in anything but a straight line is very tricky, you have to be really careful and give yourself an allowance. First I hacked at it with a cheap circle cutter and you can see, it wasn't too successful:




The glue gets liberally on both the veneer and the substrate, then dries (it takes a while, at least 30 minutes to an hour), and works best with two coats. It is water soluble, and looks like really thick chocolate milk. I ironed the veneer to the dome with a paper towel between the iron and the veneer. It was necessary to give the piece a lot of steam to make it flex, but the steam worked much better than plain water. Its still pretty bumpy, but once it is sanded down it looks good considering how it started out:


For the second experiment I decided to see how well a piece of straight grain veneer can be wrapped around different angles and curves. I heard that straight grain is easier than burl if you bend parallel to the grain, but because the glue I used was waterbased, it did not work at all with the first type I tried. The veneers were not labeled, but I think it may be ash. Apparently this wood is very porous and the glue I used was absorbed into one side of the veneer and not the other, causing it to curl and crack beyond repair regardless of whether it was taped or not. If I were to use it in the future I would use hide glue or contact glue.


The veneer cracked even more when I ironed it to the shaped piece.

My uncle said that cherry was denser and might work with the glue I was using. When I tried it, it did work very well, except that it cracked only at the seam where it had been matched in the factory. But it took to the shape very well. I found that applying a great deal of steam with the paper towel between the iron and the veneer allowed for much tighter angles than without.

For the third experiment I tried wrapping a differnt kind of burl that I could not identify around the same shape. It pretty much worked the same way, was a little harder to get around angles but that may be because the piece was thicker than the cherry.

Trimming the sides with an exacto knife does not look as nice as sanding them down to the MDF.

Next I tried adding a color with clear varnish, and just clear varnish to the different woods.

I wanted to see if the veneer would stick to plastic, so I tried wrapping it around a high heel. I sanded the heel with 80 grit first. It cracked a lot because of the severe shape, but it stuck very well to the plastic. You just have to hold the iron on each section long enough to really heat the glue.

I also combined fabric and veneer.


Then I had a piece laser cut, which worked pretty well.


The veneers were really fun and versatile, and I hope to work with them a lot more in the future.