11. Open Source Hardware - From Fibers to Fabric¶
Research & Ideation¶
In my practice, I am always looking for ways to repurpose waste that I find at thrift sores. This week, I used the Open Source Hardware assignment as an opportunity to find a new use for a discarded kitchen gadgets. The gadget I chose to work with was a vegetable chopper, which I transfromed into a fabric stamp using a 3D printed blade attacment for interchangeable pattern plates.
My research for this project centered around traditional block printing techniques used in different parts of Asia. Below are images of the looks I was looking to replicate.
This video is from the Victoria and Albert Museum and links to their website offering some historical context on the process. The website for theSaffron Marigold company gives a nice overview of the process as it is being practiced today.
References & Inspiration¶
The references I found inspring for my project from the assignment archives were Marion Guillaud's pattern machine and Ala' Janbek's rolling pin printing press.
Tools¶
The Chopper Stamp¶
Materials¶
| Qty | Description | Price | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegetable Chopper | 2.50 - 20 $ | Thrift Store / Amazon | |
| 1 | PLA Filament | 20.00 $ | Bambu Lab | |
| 1 | .5" foam sponge | 1.50 $ | Amazon | |
| 1 | Speedball Fabric Ink | 10.00 $ | Blick | |
| 1 | Velcro Mounting Squares | 4 $ | Amazon |
Process¶
I started my week at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore center looking for discarded gadgets that I might use for the project.
Among the items I picked up was this vegetable chopper. My original plan was to try to remove the blade and just use the spring mechanism, but the screw attachment was stripped and I did not have the tools to safely cut it away from the rest of the machine. I pivoted to trying to make a shoe attacment that would slide onto the lower part of the blade.
I began by creating trackings and rubbings of the blade shape.
I brought an image of tracing into Inkscape an used the Opacity tool to trace a vector path that could be made into an .svg file.
I modeled the blade attachement in Tinkercad using the .svg file from the blade tracking to create the hole. I also added a hollow shaft running through the blade opening in case the attachement needed to be secured with screws or a rod.
Above are images of the attachment on the blade. It ended up being a secure fit so the holes for the screw/rod were not necessary.
I then used a combination of Inkscape and Tinkercade to design and 3D print the texture plates below. Each were created using one of the default fill textures. The "Trace Bitmap" option under the Path tab was used to convert them into .svg files.
Below are the 3D printed plates and the Velcro mounting pads used to attach them to the blade attachment. The velcro worked, but would probably peel off over time when cleaning the tool. After printing everything, I came across this video demonstrating how to embedd magnets into your prints. I would like to try this if I revisit this project.
Below is a video of an intital test I did to see if I could use the tool to emboss leather. I think way more pressure is needed for this to work:
After the leather test, I began trying to use it for printing. I 3D printed a custom ink pot so that the rim of the chopper would not be submerged in the pigment and become part of the print.
Below is a video of the tool being used for fabric printing.
Final Prints¶
