10. Textile Scaffold

References & Inspiration

My favorite pieces I discovered this week I didn't really have the chance to explore during my experimentation, but want to continue to do so in the future! I love these in particular because of how the pieces appear to retain their softness while they have been "hardened".

Knit Candela by Zaha Hadid

The Knit Candela by Zaha Hadid is a structure made by creating a soft structure using a knit that when pulled taught has a certain shape and then it is hardened with concrete

Ernesto Neto

Ernesto Neto also uses knit / crocheted soft structures and fills and hangs the shapes to create scultpures

Milling Tools

- CNC Mill
- Drill
- Chisel & Hammer
- Fusion

Crystallization Tools

- Borax or Alum
- Fishing Wire

Process and workflow

CNC

We had a CNC tutorial from Camille at our lab which included creating a 3D file, selecting the correct settings and using the mill

Tutorial: Creating the file in Fusion

We started with this 2D shape, shared by Camille at our Fablab who led our CNC tutorial.

Note, the following instructions are for this shape with a specific CNC bit (which I need to double check)

Then we opened Fusion.

Working in the Design workspace:

• Insert --> Insert DXF --> Select DXF file (see files below, here it is a dxf file of the 2D image above)
• Then select the yellow square that is on the X,Y axis (red, green)

• Hit OK

• Select the shape

• Create --> Extrude --> Enter 12 mm (because our piece of wood was 12mm)

Then move to the Manufacture Workspace

• Setup --> New Setup
• Select "Body" under Setup / "Model" & select the shape
• Go to the Stock tab and select these settings
• Go back to Setup tab and under "Work Coordinate System (WCS)" / Stock Point, select box point and select the lower left corner (@ z=0). This will become the origin (0, 0, 0) for the CNC machine once it starts
• Double check Z axis is going up and down! This should have been done in the Insert step.

• Select 2D --> 2D Pocket
• Select bottom circle (@ z =0)

• Select these settings:

• Click OK and popup will come up, in top left there is a + sign, click this to add the mill type, we used a flat end mill
• Add these settings

• Select 2D --> 2D Contour
• Select these settings:

• It is VERY IMPORTANT to add tabs for this part (2D contout / Geometry / Tabs), because this is what keeps the final piece from flying away from the rest of the wood.

Now we simulate the cutting to make sure everything looks good

• Select Actions --> Simulate with Machine
• Check "Stock" box
• Press play, watch to check everything looks good

Now we export

• Exit simulation
• Right click your object on the lefthand dropdown under Setups, click Post Process
• Select the machine, for us we used a Mekanika
• Double check the Operations tab to make sure both actions (2D pocket + 2D contour in this case) will be executed
• Name the file and click Post!

Tutorial: Using the Machine

• Screw or otherwise securely attach the piece of wood to the CNC table

• Make sure the emergency stop button is easily accessible

• With the CNC unplugged, put in the correct bit
• Turn on the computer of the CNC
• Click "Home" button so the machine can orient itself on the X, Y axis

• Then we need to calibrate in the Z direction, so we take the Z probe like this and click the ruler button below the Home button

• Now we set the speed, in our program we chose 20K so we needed to select between 4 & 5 on the drill
• Put in the thumb drive, open the file
• Go to the bottom left corner of the wood, click the XY button, this sets (0, 0) to this point (i.e., the starting point)
• Move the drill around using the X, Y up/down, side/side, buttons and watch the screen to make sure that the drill will be able to go all around the shape without hitting the screws or outside of the wood
• Prepare a vacuum to vacuum up the sawdust as we go
• Put in earplugs, wear safety goggles and tie up any loose hair or clothing

• Plug in the drill, turn the drill on & press play!

• When its done, turn the drill off, move it away from the work station using the X/Y buttons

• Using a chisel, break off the tabs and remove the piece

• Sand off any sharp edges and you're done!
• To finish off, unplug the drill

Fusion: Other CNC Molds

There was some confusion on if we could schedule the CNC machine on or not so unfortunately I spent most of this week creating the files for the molds which ultimately I wasn't able to cut.

Waves

To create this file, I used this Wavy Panel tutorial

• I first drew a group of wavy lines freehand on a square

• Then added another square projected down 8mm, and added lines on this second plane between the waves on the first one

• Then I created a loft between 2 lines on the upper plane passing through 1 line on the lower plane. This differs from the video because the video uses an older version, so make sure to be in the 3D section when lofting.

• Once this is done, I extruded down 12 mm (the size of the wood) and used split body to hollow out the top so I was left with a closed surface with a wavy top. I repeated this by extruding up 12 mm to create the negative

• And I rotated and moved the piece over so the pieces are side by side. I will adjust them later to reduce waste once I've chosen a piece of wood

I will need to work on the Manufacture settings for this file before cutting

Squiggles

This one I wanted to make a bit more simple in order to use the same 2D cutting settings we used in the tutorial

• I drew a box, and placed ovals in the box in a pattern to help guide my line

• Then I drew squiggles along the border of the ovals, mirrored this line over the middle vertical line of the oval and copied it over 4x. Then hid the circles.

• I extruded up 12 mm on every other piece, then 8mm on the remaining. Then I copied the sketch, brough the squiggles 2 mm closer to the mirror line on each side and extruded to make the negative

I still need to work on the Manufacture settings for this file before cutting

Flowers

This one I didn't finish, I just need to add the base to connect all the flowers and make the negative

I used this flower tutorial as a reference to create the petals

1. First I created 10 evenly spaced lines in a circle and drew half a petal shape. (I first included this half circle, but I deleted later after deciding I didn't like it)

1. Then I revolved (Create / Revolve) around the line to create a 3D petal.

2. Then I selected this petal, and created a circular pattern of 5 petals to make the flower

1. Then I drew a curvy line in a spiral and created another pattern, but this time Pattern on Path so I could have the flowers in a pattern, but that feels a bit more random.

1. Next step (which I will do once I have access to the CNC mill) is to add this to a flat surface as the base. Then copy the flower, but scale it up a bit in the X/Y direction to leave some space for the leather, place them on the exact same path with the centers aligned, extrude upwards, split body to create the negative and add another base structure.

Crystals

This week I experimented with alum and borax

Alum

Recipe Source

ingredientstoolsrecipe

* 200 ml boiling water
* 90 g alum

* alum
* stove
* pot
* scale
* spoon
* fabric
* tape or fishing cord to secure fabric

* weigh ingredient
* boil and dissolve in water (can choose to use dye bath as the "water" if desired)
* add dye powder if desired & dissolve
* Secure fabric so that it is submerged into the liquid, but not touching the sides or bottom of the container

Alum + Madder root powder

Fabric before:

Fabric after 24 hours:

Fabric after 4 days:

Alum + Campeche dye bath

I used old campeche dye bath from the BioChromes week instead of water to dissolve the alum

Fabric before:

Fabric after 24 hours (Top:left, bottom:right):

Fabric after 4 days (Top:left, bottom:right):

Borax

For the recipe, I referenced Olivia Cueva, a Fabricademy Alum. But she used a lot of borax and my container was pretty big and so I changed the ratio quite a bit, but I followed her instructions and copied part of it below. However, I wasn't as successful as her in this experiment.

ingredientstoolsrecipe

* 450 ml boiling water
* 100 g borax

* alum
* stove
* pot
* scale
* spoon
* fabric
* tape or fishing cord to secure fabric

* Heat water on stove/burners until it reaches 80C, just before boiling
* While water is heating, measure out borax
* When water reaches 80C, turn off burner and stir in borax. 
* Once is it all disolved, mixed in, turn the burner back on to keep the heat but don't let it boil.
* Set up the piece of fabric so that it is submerged and weighted down, but not touching the sides or bottom (be careful because the weights will crystalize and could ruin the crystallization of the fabric)
* Pour the mixture over the fabric

I made a mesh bag and I wanted it to crystallize on all sides

Since I didn't have enough borax I just started with the bottom and my plan is to rotate it side by side so as not to waste too much borax

Results

This didn't work at all!! I put weights in the bottom of the bag (acryllic waste from Soft Robotics week) so that the mesh would hold its shape before the crystal formed, but it seems like this prevented the crystals from forming on the mesh, so next time I think some wire would work better

Leather Molding

Unfortunately this was also a total failure

I referenced Olivia Cueva's instructions again. But I didn't have a vacuum hose so I missed a crucial step

I got a lot of really great leather from La Reserve des Arts in Paris (secondhand / deadstock fabric and other materials for very cheap!!), but I started off just using some of the small pieces to see if the process worked.

The forms took the shape of the mold, but it didn't hold or harden

ingredientstoolsrecipe

* Leather
* Water
* Baking Soda

* Large Pot
* Stove
* Wooden Spoon
* Mold (can use almost anything!)
* Rubber bands or string
* silicone oven mits
* Vacuum bag and Vacuum hose !! (I didn't use, but this is necessary I think)

* Soak leather in cold water for 1 hour, then remove
* Heat water in pot on stove until 80C
* Prepare molds
* Add a few tablespoons of baking soda into pot of water and mix
* Put leather in pot for 2 minutes, then remove
* While leather is hot stretch over mold while wearing mits
* Since I didn't have a complete mold (top and bottom) I attached leather to mold using string, rubber bands and clips
* Let dry

Because I couldn't cut my molds I just made do without.

Glass jar

I attached a piece of leather to a jar using rubber bands

which turned out like this:

But it didn't hold

Folding

I folded the leather back and forth like a fan and bound it with string

which had a similar result:

"Smocking"

And then I tried to create a smocking effect by using clothespins to attach the leather to a surface with holes in it.

which turned out like this:

Overall, the leather molding was a total failure, but I am very interested in exploring more and figuring it out!!

Fabrication files

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1. File: Page Holder - 2D drawing ↩

2. File: Page Holder - Fusion file ↩

3. File: Mold - Waves - Fusion File ↩

4. File: Mold - Squiggles - Fusion File ↩

5. File: Mold - Flowers - Fusion file ↩