10. Textile Scaffold¶

Research¶

This week focuses on the design and exploration of a textile scaffold: a structural textile system that acts as a base or framework capable of supporting additional materials, in this particular case we will be working with crystalization processes. Rather than developing a finished garment or product, the objective is to investigate how textile structures can guide material behavior, deformation, and interaction.

Crystallization is a process where matter organizes itself from a dissolved or amorphous state into ordered structures. When guided by external conditions—such as temperature, concentration, time, and substrate—this process can generate complex geometries, gradients, and textures without direct shaping or molding. In this sense, crystallization challenges conventional fabrication by shifting control from form-making to condition-setting.

By designing this structures as scaffolds, the work investigates how flexible, porous structures can influence crystal growth patterns, attachment, and density.

Context/Concept¶

Textile scaffolds operate as intermediaries between soft systems and rigid matter. The porous networks provide anchoring points, capillary pathways, and spatial constraints that can steer material growth in subtle yet powerful ways. This approach aligns with broader research in material science, bio-inspired fabrication, and self-organizing systems, where complexity arises from local interactions rather than top-down design.

Crystallization on objects opens questions about:

How structure influences growth
How time becomes a design parameter
How material systems can be partially autonomous

Process and workflow¶

We will be working with two different ingredients for creating crystals: borax pentahydrate and aluminum sulfate.

The solution was created as it follows:

Weigh the Borax in a container, we need 65g
Weigh the Aluminum sulfate in another container, as we need 35g
Measure 100ml of distilled water and add it to each of the containers.
Stir, and heat if needed, until we end up with transparent solutions.

In each of the solutions we dip the objects, in this case we experimented with voronoi patterned 3d printed models, as it follows.

After this first experiment, I want to create a ring with borax crystals embeded. The first part was designing the Ring, for which I used Fusion 360. The next part was printing it on PLA, and then glueing strands of yarn and securing them to create this beautiful piece.

So now the next part is to submerge only the yarn in the saturated borax solution, with the previous measurements (65:100).

3D Molding¶

This next part is about shaping a material by force with two molds, a positive (convex), and a negative (concave). The positive enters the negative part with the material in between and forces the shape into it. In this particular case I will be using leather, which has been tinted in orange. The software i used is OnShape, a quick and easy online parametric 3D design software.

The first part is to design the molds, there must be an offset between the shapes, I will be using 1.8mm because is a bit more than the thickness of the leather.

After designing the molds, they're going to be cut on the CNC router, first i have to paste 35cm x 20cm pieces together for the blank. Quick Tip: after some 3D cutting we came up with the idea to leave the bottom piece 10cm longer so it is easier to attach to the CNC cutting bed.

I am using the software Vcarve for configuring the cut. There are two types of operations we will be using for 3D sculpting:

Rough 3D Cut¶

Rough cut means it will remove as much material as possible, so it is useful to use a bigger cutter, in this case i will be using a 1/2 inch straight bit. Parameters vary from cutters, materials, etc. but a good rule of thumb is to never go beyond 80% of the thicknes of the cutter for depth on every pass, and most of the information can be found on the manufacturers website, for example Amana Tool The parameters we use for MDF are the following:

Feed rate: 2500 mm/min (How fast the machine moves on the cutting surface)
RPMs: 16000 (How fast the spindle spins)
Plunge rate: 650 mm/min (How fast the cutter penetrates the material)
Stepover: 45% (How close each pass is from one another)
Depth-per-pass: 5mm (How deep the cutter goes at every pass)

Detail 3D Cut¶

The detail cut operation is, as the name implies, more detailed cut, it removes what is left between the final piece, and the remaining material after the rough cut. Generally we use a smaller cutter, and with a round tip. In this case I will be using a 1/4 inch ballhead cutter. As it is more delicate, the speeds are slowed down, and the depth per pass is lowered.

Feed rate: 2000 mm/min
RPMs: 16000
Plunge rate: 450 mm/min
Stepover: 10%
Depth-per-pass: 2mm

In theory everything was supposed to be working, but I made a fatal beginners mistake… I should've mirrored one of the 3d models and only realized halfway of the cut, so I had to repeat the negative one on the back side of it. After correcting the mistake, I had both molds done for the next step.

Pressing and finishing¶

The leather is cut to shape, around 5cm longer and wider, and then soaked overnight before the molding process, it is put between the molds and then pressed with woodworking clamps, and let to naturally dry.