My Interdisciplinary Skin: Initial Steps.

For my Interdisciplinary skin i chose to do a plastic mallet which is part of the construction management discipline. The mallet form and shape is quite different from that of my first project item, which was the Buxus topiary pot and plan. After analyzing the work of the previous student for this particular shape i wanted to try and challenge myself by adding a few extra elements to the skin and also attempting to create a closer fit for the mallet as i believed the shape could be improved upon. Although this form may not be as technically difficult as my first project i believe it will present its own individual challenges, especially when it comes to the changes in curvature from the head shape to the handle form.

I started the process by  tracing the shape of my item  on my piece of metal, making sure that i left a  fair bit of extra around the edges to allow the sheet to cure up the edges of the mallet and for both stretching and shrinking when working the metal later on. Once i had the outline completed i used this machine to cut my shape out.

Once i had cut out my shape  and smoothed up the edges i placed it over an actual plastic mallet (similar to the one the original model was based off) and began lightly working the metal into the shape of the mallet. I did this to try and get a feel for both the metal and the shape.

As i had suspected the concept of shaping this piece around the plastic mallet wasn't an ideal way to go about it, as it caused a number of issues relating to the overall metals appearance, and shape as well as the form of the plastic mallet being undesirable in terms of a sturdy item to work on. After consulting with Russell i began working on the tree stump and creating the desired curves in the metal by beating the inside of the skin along a central spine, allowing the shape to gradually stretch the way i needed it to.

I then used the handle of a wooden hammer to create a small arc in the handle area of my skin and allow the shape to sit closer to the model, this way i could start to get a better idea of the form of my skin in relation to the mallet model.

 This was the stage i managed to get up to after my first day in the workshop. Although my skin was far from complete i was beginning to get good shape and gradually gaining a better understanding of varying metalworking techniques used within this kind of industry and the ones that best applied to my particular project.
Points to note: i found that by both listening to people with experience in the industry rather then trying to work things out for myself gave me a better knowledge base when it came to stretching and shrinking techniques in regards to my mallet interdisciplinary project.