10. Textile Scaffold

INsparetion

The First Artist Who Inspires Me — Heinz Isler

I think after seeing this photo and the results of his work, you don’t really have any questions left — but we will talk about his art deeper.

You may think you already know ice well: living in a cold climate, drinking iced drinks, or just seeing snow every winter. But the best thing about ice is that it’s STRUCTURAL.

He places different types of fabric outdoors in winter, splashes water over them, and simply leaves them untouched for several hours. The fabric, the water, and nature itself create the form. Isn’t it perfect?

You can create any shape, any object with this method, and the result will always be fantastic. By combining different materials and structures, you can get unique shapes that look like scenes from a magical movie.

Heinz Isler is the person who came up with this idea a long time ago. He built a huge number of shell structures that covered large spans using extremely thin concrete. But he also created incredibly beautiful ice shells.

Another one of his masterpieces ⬇

If it was winter now, I would already start experimenting with his technique this week — but it’s not, so I have to wait. Anyway, I will definitely try it.

The Second Artist Who Inspires Me — Ernesto Neto

Ernesto Neto is a Brazilian Conceptual artist whose installations offer a chance for the viewer to touch, see, smell, and feel his artworks for a truly sensory experience. “For me, mind and body are one thing, always together,” he said.An influential body of work that explores constructions of social space and the natural world by inviting physical interaction and sensory experience.

He mixes sensory feelings with visual sense, creating spaces that interest you not only by how they look — they pull you in through touch, smell, weight, movement, even softness in the air. The artworks are never made just to be seen; they become environments that your whole body reacts to. Huge forms magnetize your eyes and activate every sensor you have.

The style is deeply organic. Soft, stretchy textiles, transparent membranes, pockets filled with spices or beads — all of them shaped by gravity and weight. Materials don’t get forced into form; they grow into it. Entering these installations feels like stepping inside a living organism, warm and breathing, carrying the smell of cumin, cloves, or other natural materials. The space doesn’t just surround you — it touches you back.

The technique is simple and magical at the same time: nets, hanging skins, suspended volumes that stretch under their own weight. They are sculptures, but also shelters, landscapes, and sensory playgrounds. You don’t just look — you feel. The space reacts to your movement, and your body becomes part of the artwork.

His other interesting works are the ones where he creates these human-hugging objects — soft, warm, breathing shapes that literally feel like they want to wrap around you. And other works.

The Third Artist Who Inspires Me — Alice Potts

Alice Potts is a prominent biotech fashion designer and material researcher known for her mind-blowing experiments with sustainable materials — especially her technique of turning human sweat into shimmering crystals that grow directly on garments and accessories. She also creates biodegradable plastics from food waste, which already sounds like a fairytale mixed with a lab experiment.

Her unique making style feels like time frozen in material form. It’s like she captures moments, feelings, memories — and then lets them crystallize. Her works remind us about our favorite objects, the ones we use for years, the ones that slowly change with us. All this invisible history suddenly becomes visible through her crystals.

And honestly… discovering this technique only this week put me in a strange emotional tornado: half shock, half admiration, fully beauty coma.

What is CNC Machin?

A CNC machine is a computer-controlled piece of automated manufacturing equipment that uses pre-programmed software to perform tasks like cutting, drilling, and milling with high precision and minimal human intervention. These machines follow instructions from a sequential program, often written using G-code, to manipulate tools like lasers, lathes, or routers to shape materials like metal, wood, and plastic. In our lab we couldnt cut only metal.

In the Armenian lab, we have this machine that you see as soon as you enter. The first time I saw it — and even during later visits when I wasn’t a student of the academy — I was always amazed by it.

Now, in Week 10, Textile Scaffold week, it’s finally time to work with this machine. In the lab, the machine is adjusted with safety parameters to make it slower and safer for beginners, so it won’t harm anyone.

Since the lab is around a school, this safety feature is very important, and it makes the machine a key part of our lab.

How look like the macchine ⬇

The CNC machine instruction was given by our engineer and the best machine instructor I have seen, Rudolf Igityan. He is now an instructor at Fab Lab Academy and graduated from Fab Academy in 2023.

Rudolf started the instruction with safety rules.

Safety rules:

• Always tie your hair back if it is long.
• Do not wear large, flowing clothes.
• Always roll up your sleeves when working.
• Wear safety glasses and headphones.
• Never work if your mind is anywhere else.

The next part was about how the machine works and the types of cutting heads it has.

CNC Milling Heads — My Notes * Downcut * Upcut * Straight

Of course, each type can come in different diameters: smaller ones for narrow or detailed parts, and larger ones for cutting big surfaces faster.

The difference between these heads is in how they handle the shavings:

• The upcut pulls the shavings upward.
• The downcut pushes the shavings down.
• The straight type presses the shavings into the material.

Unlike a lathe, the cutting edges of CNC milling heads are sharp in all directions. This is because a lathe usually works in one direction, piercing the material, while CNC milling heads can cut in every direction, making them much more versatile.

The CNC heads photo ⬇

The heads and elements we have at the moment ⬇

The main difference between cutting heads is in how they cut the material. The second important characteristic is what we want to create. Often, we need two, three, or more endmills for different stages of the work. For example, we can first cut the surface gradually with a larger endmill, and then use smaller or finer endmills to finish, smooth, or sand the remaining areas.

The material must be securely fixed on the table using clamps or a board underneath. We usually place two large, solid pieces (for example, MDF) under our material, sized to match it, so that it cannot move during cutting.

Around our cutting area, we have a vacuum system that sucks up small pieces of material and collects them in the vacuum box. This helps reduce burning residue and keeps the working surface clean.

BUT WE HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM if we make the wrong steps and the object starts burning. If the vacuum system sucks the burning piece into the vacuum box, a fire cannot be avoided!

Of course, it is also very important to clean the space around the machine and the machine itself after use.

How to Change the Endmills

Our machine has an interesting and very smart system for changing endmills. When we want to change or tighten an endmill, we cannot remove any part of the construction without the special wrench. The wrench must be connected with the key and in its correct place while the cutter is working. Without it, the cutter will not operate.

This is a safety feature — nobody can change the cutter head and accidentally turn on the machine. ISN’T IT PERFECT?

We have an outer layer, an inner layer, and a core, which is the cutting wheel. We cannot remove the inner part without first separating the endmills. This is also a safety feature, both for the operator and for the miller.

Following the safety parameters, the machine has a box with three buttons: Start, Reset, and the red Emergency Stop.

• Start – we press this when it’s time to begin cutting, after all preparations are done.
• Reset – this turns off all parameters and brings the machine to its initial state.
• Red Emergency Stop – this is for major emergency situations, such as burning material, broken endmills, or anything else that requires the machine to stop immediately.

The Programs We Use and the Zero Point Finding

For the ShopBot machine, we work with several programs that help us prepare, edit, and run our cutting processes. Each program has its own purpose — from giving directions to the machine, to editing cutting paths, to generating the final toolpaths we send to the CNC.

The main programs we use are:

ShopBot Editor is a text/code editor used for programming ShopBot CNC machines.

ShopBot CNC routers use a special scripting language called ShopBot Part File Commands (.sbp), and the ShopBot Editor is the software where you write, view, and edit those commands.

We don't use it but i put this information just for known.

VCarve ShopBot Pro is a CAD/CAM software that lets you:

• Design
• draw shapes, text, logos
• import SVG, DXF, AI, PDF
• create 2D and 2.5D designs

This time I didn't use it too, but good to know that you can do with different programs.

ShopBot 3 is the control interface + editor + machine driver for ShopBot CNC routers.

With ShopBot 3 you can:

• Move the CNC in X/Y/Z
• Load and run .sbp cutting files
• Edit toolpaths in the built-in ShopBot Editor
• Set cutting speed, spindle control, and zero positions
• Jog the machine manually
• Connect to your ShopBot hardware

It is the brain of the CNC.

This is the main program we use throughout the entire cutting process.

Using ShopBot 3

When we open the program, we can insert our generated code and continue working from there. Every toolpath step has its own code, and we must place the correct one into the program before starting.

After this, we must find the zero point for our material. This part changes for every material because each one has its own thickness. We click on the Z-up / Z-down button, and a warning appears, asking if we placed the metal plate. If everything is ready, we click OK.

The CNC machine has a special zeroing plate and an electro-clip sensor. We place the metal plate under the endmill, and the clip goes on the upper part of the cutting head. When we start the procedure, the cutting head slowly comes down and touches the plate twice. With those touches, the system calculates the exact Z-zero point.

And finally — our zero point is found. Now the machine knows exactly where our material starts and how deep it must go.

We can put the vacuum cleaner head on the cutting area to pick up small pieces that could move or disturb the machine during work.

Next, we put the key back into the machine’s key panel and rotate it to start. After that, we turn on the computer. The program will ask about all the previous steps to make sure everything is ready.

The last question is whether you are ready to press Start. After confirming, the machine begins working.

COMPOSITE MATERIALS

What Are Composite Materials?

Composite materials are made by combining two or more different materials to create a new material that has better properties than the individual parts alone. Each material in the composite keeps its own characteristics, but together they work in a way that is stronger, lighter, or more flexible.

For example:

• Fiberglass – glass fibers embedded in plastic. Strong and lightweight.
• Carbon fiber – carbon fibers in a resin. Very strong, stiff, and light.
• Plywood – layers of wood glued together in alternating directions. Stronger than a single piece of wood.

Composites are everywhere — in airplanes, cars, sports equipment, buildings, and even wearable textiles. They let designers create materials that are strong, light, and functional at the same time.

What Biomaterial I Created

I wanted a material that I could put into a mold and create a form that allows movement. I was trying to develop a biomaterial that would be perfect for this purpose. We had wool left in the lab from Biocrhom week, and I also used the knowledge I gained in the BiofabricationBiofabricationMaterial Creation week.

Why I Wanted to Combine These Two Materials

Svetlana made a recipe with wool, but not with gelatin. I noticed that material became more stable, more like a fabricated form, soft, and it could keep its movement. This time, I was interested in making a material with gelatin, and trying to put it inside a mold the next day, so that it would dry inside the mold and keep its shape permanently.

What Is a Molder?

A molder is a tool, machine, or device used to shape material into a specific form or mold. It gives the material a desired shape by pressing, pouring, or forming it inside a cavity or template.

For example:

• In plastics, a molder can be a mold where melted plastic is poured or injected to make a toy or part.
• In metals, a mold can shape molten metal into tools or machine parts.
• In textiles or composites, a mold can give fabric or layered materials a 3D shape.

What Is Cold Molding Material?

Cold molding material is a material that can take shape without heating. Unlike hot molding (where heat or melting is required), cold molding materials harden at room temperature or through chemical reactions.

Examples:

• Epoxy resin – mixed and poured into a mold, then hardens at room temperature.
• Silicone rubber – can be pressed into a mold and cures without heat.
• Plaster – poured into a mold and solidifies naturally.

Cold molding is useful when you want precise shapes without applying heat, or when working with heat-sensitive materials.

Textile Molding

Textile molding is the process of shaping fabric or textile materials into a specific 3D form using molds, pressure, heat, or other techniques. It allows designers to create structured garments, soft sculptures, or functional textile objects that go beyond flat surfaces.

There are different ways to mold textiles:

• Cold molding – the fabric is shaped into a mold without heat, sometimes using adhesives, gels, or resins to hold the form.
• Hot molding – heat or steam is applied to make the textile more flexible, so it can be pressed into a shape that hardens when cooled.
• Layered molding – several layers of fabric or composite materials are stacked and pressed together to create thickness, rigidity, or a special effect.

In my experiments, I combine biomaterials like wool and gelatin with molds to create forms that are soft, flexible, and capable of movement, while keeping their shape permanently.

Recipes for Composite Material

For my biomaterial, I used the most common gelatin-based recipe.

Base recipe:

• 240 ml water
• 38 g gelatin
• 2 g alginate
• 24 g glycerin (add glycerin after mixing everything and waiting a few minutes)

After that, I added a little natural color that Svetlana made, which turned the yellow mixture slightly brown.

I placed small pieces of wool on the bottom of the container. Before that, I opened the wool fibers by hand and pulled a very light, thin layer to prepare it.

While making the mixture, I kept stirring it until the temperature increased enough to be sure that the wool and the container would not be damaged.

Then I poured the biomaterial mixture into the container, directly on top of the wool.

Because the container was too big, one batch wasn’t enough, so I made the recipe a second time using half the amount. In the second batch, I added another color to create an interesting gradient effect.

Photos of my experiment ⬇

The next day I placed this biomaterial on one of the laboratory molds to see what result I would get. When I opened the mold the following day, I saw the cutest and most beautiful outcome.

It wasn’t fully dry yet, so I decided not to remove the bottom part. I left it inside the mold so it could continue drying and become stronger, helping it keep the final form more accurately. I especially love how the edges naturally curled and how the whole biomaterial started to look like a natural little pot.

Now it needs a few more days to dry completely. I’m very curious to see what will happen next.

CRYSTALLIZATION

What is crystallization ?

Crystallization is the process when a liquid or a dissolved substance slowly organizes itself into solid, geometric shapes — crystals. It happens when the particles in the liquid cool down, dry, or become more concentrated, and they start building tiny repeating structures, layer by layer, until a crystal forms.

In design and biomaterials it feels like watching a material “grow” its own skin. You prepare the base, set the right conditions, and then the material continues shaping itself. It’s a natural way to create textures, patterns, and surfaces without forcing the material — you just guide it and let it do its thing.

This week we tried to grow crystals on different materials. It works better with natural materials — wool, cotton, leaves, hair, or anything similar. We prepared a liquid that grows crystals over time and placed our material inside it. The material must not touch the bottom or the sides of the container. It should hang freely in the solution, somewhere stable, where nothing will disturb it.

I made two types of crystallization this week — one with salt and the second with alum.

How to make it?

It’s actually very easy. Just heat water and start mixing in salt, alum, or any other crystal-forming powder you want to use. Add it proportionally, little by little, until you see that it cannot dissolve anymore and a small precipitate starts to appear. That means the water is fully saturated and ready.

Both of my mixtures were made by eye, so I don’t know the exact proportions. But it’s fine — But it’s fine — I add a line where you can learn more about crystals and their proportions. Link.

What Materials I choose for Crystalization ?

1. I took wool that was dyed with indigo by our lab members last year. You can check it in Anush Arshakyan’s Biochromes week. I took that indigo-dyed wool and started crocheting with a hook. The hook I printed last week just for interest, and while working with it I also started remembering how to crochet.

How it was

After adding the wool parts, I wanted to see how everything would look on those thin threads of wool. The final result looks like this ⬇

I put it inside the container with salted water. And now it’s time to wait and see what result we will have after some days or weeks.

1. The second material was a piece of partly dyed cotton. The hairs on the bottom part were sticking out, and I found that very annoying, so I decided to remove more hairs and crystallize it that way. I shaped it into an oval form just to see how the crystals would grow on it, then dipped it in alum solution.

Waiting for final resalt...

MODEL FOR MOLDING

Blander

For molding, we need our 3D model made in any 3D program. I chose to do it in Blender because it is a relatively new program for me, and I want to continue working with it.

Remembering last week’s knowledge in Blender and using new ones, I started with an easy object, trying to make an interesting shape.

Where can you find standard mesh forms? Press Ctrl+A and choose any form in the mesh part if you need. First, I chose a base on which I would continue working. I selected some points to understand the mold sides and continue creating. I used the toolbar on the right for this. After using the same mesh forms, I created interesting details that I wanted to rotate and make both sides of the object similar.

For my first pattern creation, I duplicated the object a few times using Shift+D.

Array tool: I used this tool to rotate the copied parts of my object and create a new object. I joined my objects with Alt+J and, in the Modifiers panel, chose the Array modifier.

The Array modifier is used to duplicate an object multiple times in a structured way. It can copy the object in a line, grid, or circular pattern depending on your settings.

How I worked with it:

• Select your object you want to duplicate.
• Go to the Modifiers panel (wrench icon) and click Add Modifier → Array.
• You will see several options:
  • Count – how many copies you want.
  • Relative Offset – moves each copy by a certain distance based on the size of your object. For example, if X is 1, the next copy will start exactly after the first one on the X-axis.
  • Constant Offset – moves each copy by a fixed distance, ignoring the object size.
  • Merge – merges vertices if the objects touch, creating a continuous shape.
  • Start Cap / End Cap – you can add a special object at the start or end of your array for more complex shapes.

For rotating in a circular way, choose Circle in the Shape part.

• Put a checkmark on Relative Offset.
• Choose Object Offset and select the axis — it can be the Blender center or an axis you created yourself.

How to create your own axis:

• Right-click with the mouse and choose the point you need.
• Then, in the Array modifier, select that axis as the Object Offset.

After that, you can change the number of items, the radius, and create whatever shape you want.

How I Made the Middle Star:

• Go to the Modeling part.
• Switch to Face Mode.
• Select the faces you want to duplicate for your future object:
• Click on a face
• Hold *Ctrl and click until all the faces you need are selected.
• Add more faces piece by piece using Shift.
• Duplicate the selected faces.
• Scale them with S.
• Press F or Alt+F to close the object.

Now it’s time to make molds from our model.

For this part, we must understand that our molds have two faces — male and female. The male part must have a substrate under our model, and the female part must be cut to fit together perfectly when we place one on top of the other. But in any case, we must leave some space in the middle of them for future fabrication and molding.

How do we create two mold parts?

For the fimale part we need cut off the model. but we need to offset the object becous its a part where must enter male parts with a piece of fabric.

How to ofset? In the modifires choose the solidify modifire and make ot a bit beager.

now choose boolian modifir and cut offseted object by our mold ( we need choose the lengt of model by our material ).

The male part we just join the model with not tiny board. my material is 18sm and that's why I calculated my parts according to these parameters.

Mold.verev by lil11.barseghyan on Sketchfab

Mold.rnerqev by lil11.barseghyan on Sketchfab

Autodesk Fusion

Fusion is the program we use to make G-codes for the ShopBot cutter. It’s a great program for engineers and industrial designers who need to design technical parts. The program is very precise in sizes and creates solid objects with correct proportions. It is easy to use and understand, but you cannot design curvy objects in solid form like in Blender.

How to download Fusion?

Write in Google: “Fusion for personal use download” and open the first recommended page. Choose the button “Get Autodesk Fusion for personal use” and register. After that, you can download it for free for 30 days.

How work on it?

Open the program. chooseing new project. Insert → Insert Mash → Choose your files and open them. dont save two parts of mold together becous the program will understand that it is a same object. If is all normal click ok.

Your object paramiters can be wrong. becouse of it choose inspect tool and chak if they correct or not. if it not correct we must scale it.

How to scale an object in Fusion 360:

• Go to the Design workspace.
• Select the body or component you want to scale.
• In the top menu, click Modify → Scale.
• Choose the type of scale:
  • Uniform — the object keeps the same proportions.
  • Non-uniform — you can scale X, Y, and Z separately.
• Enter the scale factor (for example, 2 = double size, 0.5 = half size).
• Click OK — your object is scaled.

My work in fusion ⬇

Put this two objects around each other and and put circules by their sizes in the bothom of them.

Rotate with Move/Copy

• Choose your body, face, or component.
• Go to the top menu → Modify → Move/Copy.
• In the Move window choose Rotate instead of Move.
• A circular rotation gizmo will appear.
• Pick the axis around which you want to rotate (X, Y, Z).
• Drag the rotation circle or type the exact degrees (like 45°, 90°, 180°).
• Click OK.

Go to Design → Sketch → Circle and draw a circle with the exact size you need. Place it under the bottom part of your object.

Now we go to the Manufacturing part instead of Design. Here we will create our future G-code. On the left side we have a new tree of tools. In the Setup we open it with right click and create a new setup folder.

On the right side we see all the main parameters: what equipment you are using, the axes, and other settings. You must choose where your object’s zero point is on the X and Y axes. Check if it’s correct for your CNC machine.

After this we go to the Stock tab — this is the material page. In the size box you put your material parameters. There are several ways to write your material size.

One of them is Offset — here you write how much bigger your material is than the cutting surface. The second one is writing the Fixed Size, which is the full size of your CNC machine if your material covers the whole area. I have the second one.

we can choose where we want that our material will be stand on the board. we need a liitel speac in every part becous milling cutter could be broken if we did anything wrong or material can start moveing becous one or two sides is not stocen.

2D and 3D Panels in Fusion Manufacturing

In the Manufacturing part of Fusion, we mainly work inside two big panels — 2D and 3D. Both of them are made for different types of toolpaths, and we choose them depending on the shape of our object and what exactly we want the CNC machine to do.

2D Panel

2D panel is for the operations where the cutter moves mostly in straight lines and works with flat surfaces. It’s perfect when our model has simple sides, no deep curves, and we just need to cut around the shape or make holes.

What you can do with 2D:

• 2D Contour — cut around the outline of our object.
• 2D Pocket — remove material inside a closed shape (like making a cavity).
• Face — make the top surface flat.
• Drill — for holes, if our object has any.

2D panel is basically for all clean, flat, simple operations. It’s faster and lighter than 3D, so we use it whenever possible.

3D Panel

3D panel is the one we use when our model has curvy surfaces, rounded shapes, or organic forms. Here the toolpath follows the real 3D geometry of the object, layer by layer. It takes more time to calculate, but it cuts exactly the shape we made in Blender or anywhere else.

What you can do with 3D:

• 3D Adaptive Clearing — fast rough cutting of the main volume.
• 3D Pocket / 3D Z-level — remove material along the depth with more precision.
• Parallel / Scallop — make the surface smooth and clean.
• Contour — finish the sides in 3D form.

3D panel is for those objects that can’t be cut by simple flat toolpaths — shapes with waves, angles, slopes, star-like forms, melted organic patterns, basically everything that is not straight.

Choosing the parameters we need is the next step. For my mold I used several types of toolpaths.

For the first part I used 2D Faces with a 3 mm milling cutter. This toolpath had to remove the top layer and prepare the surface for deeper cutting. According to Fusion, this operation needed about 2 hours.

After that I chose 3D Parallel for making my surfaces clean and smooth. This part takes more time because the machine goes line by line to follow every small curve. Fusion estimated almost 3 hours.

For the final cut, the outside borders, I used Contour with a 6 mm milling cutter. This operation is the fastest one — it had to take only 6 minutes.

But our CNC cutter works 2 times slower for safety reasons and for better accuracy, so in reality the whole process took more than 10 hours to finish my object.

After I saved every step g code and put it in shopboth 3. changes the milling cutters and started cuting in the way about which i told you in cnc part.

CNC Cutting Process and Result

FThe first cutting process lasted 4 hours with a 3 mm endmill that had a 90-degree cutter head. The second process was done with a 3 mm circular milling cutter, which continued shaping and cleaning the surface. It took 6 hours.

The final board cutting was done with a 6 mm 90° corner milling cutter. for 24 minutes.

Molding Process

For the molding process we must prepare the fabric. In my example it is leather. I put the leather in cold water and started heating it until the water began boiling. After that I removed the piece, placed it inside the mold, and began shaping it with my fingers so it followed the inner curves.

When the leather took its first form, I closed it with the female mold part and pressed both sides together. After that I left it to dry for a few days inside the mold, so the material could keep the shape permanently.

The process photos ⬇

The Result on the Next Day ⬇