7. TEXTILE AS SCAFFOLD#

This was a messy week for me. A lot of experimentation but the results weren´t as I expected

Christals#

This was my favorite exploration from this chapter.

The mission is to create an over-saturated solution so the Chrystals may form. In this case we worked with Alumn but you can also use sugar, salt, coper to say some. Chrystals grow better in organic porous or fibrous materials.

Materials:

-Alumn powder -Water -Surface to grow the crystals (in this case was wool thread)

Make sure to get a recipient big enough and enough water to cover the surface you want to grow crystals in. It is better, if possible, to hang your structure because if it’s in contact with the bottom, crystals will not grow there.

Heat the water for few minutes (it shouldn’t boil) and start adding and dissolving the alum powder until it doesn’t dissolve anymore. This means it is oversaturated.

Put the solution in your recipient filtering it with a coffee filter to avoid lumps. It is better to cover your recipient with a porous fabric to avoid it gets contaminated and let your experiment rest for few days and watch how the crystals grow.

Enjoy the beautiful results!

Cement#

Materials:

-Cement powder -Water -Elastic Fabric

To prepare this mix is easy, you just need to mix the cement with water. I like how organic shapes look in cement so for this experimentation I decided just to sew some knots in the fabric and suspend it with the mix inside to see what happens, the result was a beautiful door stopper or papaerweight.

CNC Milling Machine#

One thing you want to consider in your designs if you are planning to use this machine is that most of them only work top views depending on their capabilities and drive systems.

Another thing to consider is if you need the positive or negative of your piece, depending on what you want to create and which materials are you going to use after.

Once you have your model ready, you need to create the code to drive the machine in CAM.

Here is a very complete tutorial on how you should prepare your file for the milling machine:

Me bajé la luna#

Probably I´m the only one laughing at this little tittle joke. In México when someone “Promises the moon”, we say “Me bajó la luna” and downloading is also translated as the verb “bajar”.

I did downloaded the moon… from Thingiverse! So lucky you don’t need promises either and can get the moon yourself here

After the CNC did my mold, it was time to sandpaper and varnish to give the right finish.

My idea was to recycle some materials, for this reason, the composite I chose for this exploration was sawdust and resin.

To prepare resin you just need to mix part “A” with “B” in same proportions by weight.

Before doing the mix, I prepared my mold with a lot of vaseline

I mix A + B from the resin and immediately I mixed with the sawdust using my hands (covered in latex gloves)

Then I covered the mold completely with the mix and took it to the Vacuum Forming Machine. If you don’t have one you can easily do your own following the next tutorial:

To protect the vacuum machine, I covered the piece with a plastic bag with little holes and turn the vacuum on and help it to reach the shape by pressing with my hands, then the mold rested for a night inside the machine and this is what happened:

If you are looking for something ultra rigid and resistant this may be it. Unfortunately I lost my mold… forever! I could never took the piece out, I guess vaseline wasn’t enough so maybe you can try to place a plastic film between the mix and your mold.

I also tryied the sawdust with arabic gum resin and the result was mostly the same.

Boobs everywhere#

My attempt was to do something a little more artistic. I was inspired by Matteo Pugliese and Katie Grinnan sculptures.

For this composite I used Arabic Gum Resin with piñatex that was disposed from previous projects from my classmates. The Arabic Gum and piñatex are both biodegradable, the gum comes from acacia trees.

I took some rocks and dissolve them into boiled water Then apply one layer of piñatex over the mold Apply the gum mix with a brush Repeat the process until you get the thickness desired.

The resul was very different from what I expected though.