10. Textile Scaffold¶
Research¶
This week, I wanted to do a little more work with wood and one of the most readily available types of wood was bamboo. It is versatile and can be used to make a variety of items ranging from furniture to artistic miniturized items. I was primarily interested in bending it into different shapes and the methods and ways of doing that while maintaining material integrity and strength.
So, first order of business was to confirm that indeed it can be bent and so I got some and sliced some thin pieces and tested the bending properties. I found that it can sufficeintty bend even when dry and without steaming.
I then researched some methods of bending wood and found the following; 1. Cold Bend Lamination 2. Steam Bending 3. Kerf Bending
Cold Bend Lamination and Steam Bending were ideal for me because they did not require me to cut into the material They are similar except that steam bending uses a steam box to treat the wood before bending. Since I did not have time to build a steam box, I decided to go with Cold Bend Lamination
The process involves taking thin, malleable pieces of material and bending them into shape using a mold/jig, pressure and glue in between the layers.
References & Inspiration¶
I took alot of inspiration from from Artek Furniture a company specializing in making furniture.
I primarily used the following video showing how they bend wood to make one of their products.
Video by @Nestcouk
Overview material research outcomes¶
Based on the research, I was able to determine that I needed to do sevsral things: 1. Make a mold with the shape I need to bend the bamboo into 2. Make thin bamboo strips 3. Figure out a way to press the strips into the mold
The first 2 were straight formard but the third required some thingin. I had the option of using straps, a metal strip or clamps. I decided to use clamps for the time being.
Tools and Materials¶
- Fusion 360 for design work and toolpath/g-code generation
- CNC Machine (In my case a Forest Scientific router)
- CNC Control software (To send the toolpath/gcode to the CNC router)
- 3/4" Plywood
- Bamboo strips
- Wood clamps
- Wood glue
Process and workflow¶
I started by designing the mold/jig in Fusion 360. I did a 3D model for better visualization.
Next I used Fusion CAM to setup and prepare for manucaturing i.e. milling in my case.
I then generated the g-code and simulated milling to ensure there were no errors.
It was then time to send the toolpaths to the CNC Router.
Followed by milling.
Bamboo strip preparation
We then applied glue in between the bamboo layers and clamped the whole setup together.
Result¶
The final result:
