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10. Textile Scaffold

Introduction 🏗️✨

This week, I delved into Textile Scaffolds, exploring how textiles and solidification techniques can create innovative composites for applications in architecture, fashion, and beyond. The academy emphasizes the endless possibilities, from textile-based formworks to reinforced composites.

But the real adventure? 👉 The CNC Machine a loud, intimidating beast capable of cutting and carving with precision, unlocking new design opportunities.

I also experimented with Alum & Salt crystallization, growing shimmering crystals on fabrics, threads, and leaves, blending science and magic for unique materials. Let’s dive in! 🎢🔥

🔬 Research & Inspiration

Before jumping in, I explored different technical textile applications, CNC techniques, and crystallization experiments.

Textile Scaffold Applications

  • Composites: Textiles reinforced with resins to create strong yet flexible materials.

  • Fabric Formwork: Using textiles to shape and mold concrete or plaster.

  • Crystallization: Growing structures onto fabric and fibers.

  • Crystallizing Fabrics with Alum

✨ Crystallization Experiments

Crystallization is all about creating saturated solutions, dipping materials, and waiting for the magic to happen. But—spoiler alert—sometimes, it doesn’t work on the first try!

🔹 Materials Used

Material Description
Alum Powder A chemical compound used to grow crystals.
Salt (Sodium Chloride) Used in crystallization to form salt crystals.
Water Heated for better solubility of substances.
Organic Materials Leaves, feathers, and threads for crystallization.

🧪 Recipes & Process

  1. Heat 1 cup of water (DO NOT BOIL!).
  2. Slowly add Alum powder until no more dissolves (saturation point).
  3. Filter the solution to remove impurities.
  4. Dip materials (threads, feathers, or fabric) and let them soak.
  5. Place in a quiet location and wait 4+ days.
  6. If nothing happens, reheat the solution, add more alum, and try again!
  1. Heat 1 cup of water.
  2. Stir in salt until no more dissolves.
  3. Filter and pour into jars or cups.
  4. Dip the materials and let them rest undisturbed.
  5. Spray water occasionally to keep them moist.
  6. Crystals should form after a few days!

✨ Result Crystallization

✅ Successfully crystallized leaves, threads, and feathers!
✅ Learned how to adjust solubility and improve crystal growth.
✅ Threads could be woven into fabric designs for fashion or accessories.

ALUM

SALT

🏗️ CNC Machining: The Beast Awakens

🌀 Once Upon a CNC Dream...

Picture this: a room humming with the electric energy of creation, the smell of freshly milled wood in the air, and in the corner stands ShopBot, the Beyoncé of CNC machines. It’s powerful, precise, and ready to carve your dreams (or at least your files) into reality. This week, I got to choreograph my first dance with this diva of the digital workshop.

🤖 Meet ShopBot

Before the sparks flew (figuratively), I had to learn how to speak ShopBot's language. Here’s the quick rundown of my new mechanical partner:

  • Name: ShopBot (aka "The Bot")
  • Special Skills: Cutting, carving, drilling, and showing off curves in wood, foam, and even some textiles.
  • Best Features:
  • A bed large enough for ambitious dreams (and oversized plywood).
  • A spindle that spins so fast, it could make your head spin too.
  • Precision? It measures in millimeters. Drama-free? Not quite.

📚 Day 1: CNC Crash Course 🚀

First things first, we went through CNC etiquette:

  1. File Preparation:
  2. Start with a clean vector file. Think of it as ShopBot’s playlist—it won’t groove to bad tunes (or messy files).

  3. Exported my design in DXF format, but ShopBot also loves SVG and AI files.

  4. Safety First:

  5. Goggles on, hair tied, and fingers away from the dance floor (bed). No one wants a close encounter of the spindle kind.

  6. Toolpath Magic:

  7. Using VCarve Pro, I set up the toolpaths.
  8. Learned the CNC golden rule: Measure twice, carve once...or face the wrath of the wasted material pile.

⚙️ Day 2: ShopBot Tango 🎶

  • The Setup:
  • Loaded my material like a chef preparing a masterpiece.
  • Secured it with clamps and crossed my fingers for no surprises.

  • Zeroed the Z-axis with the precision of a tightrope walker.

  • The First Cut:

  • Nervously hit "Start" and watched the spindle roar to life.
  • ShopBot danced across the material, spitting out sawdust confetti. 🎉
  • It was like watching a robot graffiti artist—mesmerizing and mildly intimidating.

🎨 The Result: A Masterpiece in the Making

After hours of carving and a few “oh-no” moments (ShopBot loves to test your patience), my textile scaffold began to take shape. Think laser-cut lace, but chunkier and more tactile.

Working with ShopBot was equal parts exhilarating and humbling. It’s like having a powerful friend who occasionally misinterprets your instructions but always delivers a show-stopping finale. My textile scaffold is now a fusion of precision, creativity, and a sprinkle of chaos.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. ShopBot and I aren’t just collaborators now—we’re frenemies who thrive on mutual respect and a shared love for sawdust art.

The CNC machine is an industrial monster that cuts, engraves, and mills materials with high precision. But before using it, we had to train and learn the DOs and DON'Ts.

🔥 CNC Machine Safety Rules
  • [x] Wear protective glasses & gloves
  • [x] Tie up long hair & remove loose clothing
  • [x] Secure materials properly— nothing should move!
  • [x] Always use the correct milling tool for the job
  • [ ] NEVER touch the spinning tool
  • [ ] DO NOT leave the machine unattended!

🎛️ CNC Process

Before making my layered wave model, we learned:

  • How to place the collet (tightening it correctly avoids disasters).
  • Choosing the right milling tool for cutting vs. engraving.
  • Setting cut depth, speed, and material thickness.


🔧 My CNC Model: The Wavy Layered Madness

Softwares

In the process of creating my textile scaffolding designs, I utilized a variety of powerful software tools: - Rhino: For 3D modeling, providing the foundation for creating the geometric structures of my textile scaffolding.
- Grasshopper: Used alongside Rhino to develop parametric designs, allowing for dynamic control over pattern variations, mesh formation, and modular patterns.
- VCarve: Utilized for preparing the designs for laser cutting, ensuring precision in the translation from digital models to physical output.

Designed in Rhino 🦏

  • 3D Modeling in Rhino & Grasshopper

For my CNC cut layered structure, I leveraged parametric modeling in Grasshopper, focusing on contour generation, ruled surfaces, axis projection, and extrusion. This approach allowed me to translate a fluid design into precise CNC-cuttable layers.

  • 📏 Contouring & Ruled Surface
    I started with a base geometry and applied the Contour component to slice it into evenly spaced layers. This step ensured that each section aligned with the CNC material thickness.

I then used Ruled Surface between selected contours to create smooth transitional forms, giving the structure its organic wave-like effect.

  • 🎯 Projecting & Extruding Along Axis
  • After defining the contour layers, I projected key reference curves onto a central axis for better structural alignment.
  • Using the Extrude component, I transformed these projected curves into solid CNC-cuttable layers.

🛠️ Grasshopper Components Used

Component Function
Contour Sliced the base geometry into stacked layers
Ruled Surface Created smooth transitions between contours
Project Mapped curves onto a defined axis for alignment
Extrude Generated solid layers for CNC fabrication
Plane Axis Defined alignment references for clean cuts

This workflow allowed for precise control over the final structure, ensuring seamless assembly and efficient CNC milling.

  • Each layer = 10 cm thick.
  • Created a base structure with interlocking slots to keep them stable.
  • Flattened all layers to prep for CNC cutting.
  • Exported to the CNC software for final cutting.


🛠️ CNC Settings Used

I used the ShopBot CNC machine with VCarve Pro software to execute a 2D pocketing operation. This process involved milling precise pockets into the material, aligning with the structural and aesthetic needs of my textile scaffold project. The operation highlights the integration of digital fabrication into my textile design research

Setting Value
Material MDF (Medium-Density Fiberboard)
Cut Depth 5mm per pass
Tool Type 6mm End Mill
Feed Rate 2000 mm/min
Spindle Speed 12000 RPM

🏗️ Results & Reflection CNC Model


✅ Successfully milled and assembled the layered wave structure.
✅ Locked layers together with precision cut voids.
✅ Great structural integrity, but some edges needed sanding.

Conclusion

This week was a rollercoaster of science, engineering, and design!
- Crystallization taught me patience and chemistry.
- The CNC machine? Intimidating at first, but SO powerful!
- The layered model? A success! I might refine it further for furniture or textile structures.

What’s next? Probably MORE experimentsbecause when science meets design, wild things happen! 🚀


Fabrication files