My Final First Skin

My Final First Skin: Completed

Is the skin Beautiful??

                                             

Does the found object reflect Landscape architecture? 

The found object is a potted Busux topiary which is a commonly used form of planting throughout both the landscape design and landscape architectural industries. 

Has an accurate 3D model been created?  the model was created through 123D catch, 123D Make and Meshmixer and then printed using the UNSW FAblab laser cutters. for a model as complex as it is, it is an accurate representation of what a Buxus Topiaries form would look like

Has the the template been designed, cut, and

assembled with care and precision? Yes the process of cutting and assembling the model took several hours of detailed and precise gluing

Is the Scale appropriate? The scale of the model buxus is slightly smaller than the typical buxus used within landscape, although they can be pruned to be at the same scale. The scale of this model is appropriate for this modeling and metal working process

 Does the skin adhere closely to the contours of the template and is the skin beautiful? I believe the metal skin that i have produced for this model adheres extremely closely to the contours of the existing model, considering the complexity of the models shape and form and my lack of experience, I am extremely pleased with the final outcome, knowing how much time, preparation and effort i have put into this process over the past few weeks. As far as the skins surface goes, it has a skin only a mother could love.

The End. My Digital Making Journey: Part 1, My First Skin

Shaping my final first skin.

The following steps were taken by myself to reach my final first skin:

I used the curving machine ti get the right arc in the piece and then secured it to my model using under tension wire

I used a thin nosed hammer to mend the metal into the groves at the bottom of this image

i applied this even smaller hammer with soft consistent force to the inside of the shaped groves

At this stage it was starting to take shape

Using the English wheel to smooth out the surface

Gentle hammering the surface  of the skin over the laser cut model, an attempt to get a more precise skin shape

Using both a file and steel wool to even and smooth out the surface

Metal Shaping Begins.

This Post covers the process i went through during the initial stages of producing my first skin.

Marking out the dimensions and shape

Cutting out the shape using snips

Using the wood lathe to make a replica model

Lathe model completed

Side by side comparison

The correct way to go about constructing my metal skin???

At this stage of the process i was just feeling out the metal. This was an attempt to try and get an idea of the best possible way to go about constructing the first skin for my topiary model.

This session was really just a practice for myself to get used to the tools, techniques and methods that i would need to grasp before being able to produce a skin of significant standard.

Attempt 1:

   

Attempt 2:

    

Attempt 3:



The things i learnt from this session proved extremely valuable when it came to actually producing my final skin. The unique shape that i had chosen for my object made things extremely challenging. From here on in, it was about finding a surface within my object that would allow myself the opportunity to demonstrate varying styles of form, shape and angle within the metal working process, without undertaking something outside of my skill set.

Research: Looking at examples containing similar elements to the features of my future skin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHndI9Izywg

Practicing Metalwork techniques and becoming familiar with the equipment.

    

  

            

            





        

Constructing my Model - All 175 Layers

After successfully using the laser cutters to create all of the 175 pieces, i packed it up for the day and took my puzzle home.

I started by organizing the pieces into groups of 10: 1-10, 11-20, 21-30 and so on.... to 160-175

 

Starting with layer 1, I used fishing line to tie through the alignment holes. A technique i hoped would help keep the model inline.

Threading and placing the next on top of it and gluing it down as i go.

  

For the base of the object, this technique worked quite well in keeping the structure in the correct position.

It wasn't until i reached the curved and twisted nature of the top section, that the alignment technique using the fishing line began to impede the object. Many of the holes failed to line up correctly, and subsequently i scrapped this idea and began aligning the layers by hand, many of which had markings on them to support this process. As a result it became much faster to construct.

    

  

In the end i was reasonably happy with the result, my model was not exactly as i a had envisioned it from the beginning but none the less i was pleased with the outcome. The spiral section of the object gradually began to lean away from the centre of the item. Although i think this adds a bit of character to the object, it is not how i intended it to occur. This process took about 4 hours of meticulous concentration and around 24 hours to completely dry.

The next step is to begin preparing and practicing metal working techniques for the following stages of My Digital Making Journey.

The Laser Cutting Process

These are the following steps i undertook for my first complete attempt at laser cutting:

Opening up my PDF file on the Laser cutting computers and then importing them into Illustrator:

Editing line colours and light weights depending the depth of the cut

Red for a full cut 

Blue as a 0.001mm cut for labeling and position indicating lines

Saving as PDF and sending to the printer application.

opening the Laser cutter printer application

Setting the material to Matte board and a cutting depth of 2.50mm

Turning on the Laser cutter

Adjusting the focus point of the laser cutter using the focusing tool

Positioning the board on the laser cutting bed and using the computer program to position the laser and the edges of the sheet so that all pieces of the cut will be within the sheet. (i did this by ensuring all corners of the sheet were within the lasers range.

Shut the lid

Turn on the extractors

Press play.

The average sheet cutting time was around 12 minutes

Repeat this process for each sheet.