Ex-Lab: Digital Design Fabrication 2017 by Apple Huang

Ex-Lab DIGITAL DESIGN FABRICATION 2017 DESIGN JOURNAL

Apple Huang |

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TABLE OF C ONTENT S

Introductory Projects Week 00

Toolbox

Week 01 - 02

Stool 1

Week 03 - 04

Stool 2

REFLECTION

Final Furniture (Research & Experiments) Week 05

Research Agenda and Precedent Studies

Week 06 - 08

Material Experimentation

Week 09 - 10

Moulding Precedents and Experimentation

Week 10 - 11

Design Exploration and Iterations

Final Furniture (Production & Assembly) Week 11 - 12

Design Resources and Preparation

Week 12

CNC File Preparation and Mould Assembly

Week 13

Material Collection and Preparation

Week 14

Material Production

Week 15

Design Testing and Development

Week 16

Final Production and Assembly

100

REFLECTION

111

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I N T RODU CTORY PROJECT S

INTRO PROJEC T

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To olb ox

In c ol l ab or at ion w it h Frances White

Before the semester officially starts, we were assigned to make a toolbox, allowing us to get familiar and experiment with the workshop and tools. Provided with a piece of 720mm x 690mm x 15mm plywood, we started by laying out the pieces on the board and cutting them out using different machines such as the table saw, arm stop and drop saw. Fran and I decided to join the side and bottom pieces with a mitre joint because it is stronger compared to a butt joint. We also turned the dowel on the lathe to provide more comfort to the handle. We also tried 3D rastering using the laser cutter. Whilst only thinking about the aesthetics of the toolbox, we did not consider the structural and practicallity of the toolbox. Instead of just glueing the pieces together, we should have provided extra fixings. We also could have thought through the design in a more coherent way, instead of treating each element differently.

3D Raster Image of Perth (Image by author)

Image by author

3D Raster Image of Melbourne (Image by author)

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I N T RO PROJ ECT Sto ol 1 - Ma chine (Va c uum For mer)

T he Machi ne

During the first week, Fran and I were assigned the vacuum former to experiment and test its capability to produce a stool. Following our understanding of how the machine works and function as shown on the diagrams on the right, we tested the machine using techniques such as: - Layering Plastic sheets - Stretch Forming (i.e. no air pressure) - Vacuum Forming ( Suction air from below) - Inflation (Push air up) 1. Add mould to former bed/tray top

Materials Tested: - HIPS - PVC - Foam - Acrylic Important Info: - Machine Specifications (Fablab website) - Formech 508FS - Material thickness 6mm max for 508FS

1mm HIPS | 100mm Stretch

2. Place Plastic, add template to change boundary condition of object if wanted

3. Push tray forward. Heating time will depend on material thickness and type.

Prior experiments: Testing different boundary conditions with different push objects. Second was strongest. The more folds and creases, the stronger the object is for a verticle load.

1mm HIPS | 100mm Stretch + Vacuum

4. Slide back heating tray and pull lever up so the object is pushed through the plastic.

5. Options include. A. Stretch, B. Vacuum, C. Inflate. Inflate applies pressure in the form of air from below the bed. Vacuum suctions the air out. Stretch is the absence of inflate and suction

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Material Test

Foam | Heat < 15 sec | Overheated

Double Layer of 1mm HIP plastic

Thinner Material GIves Translucency

Acrylic 2mm | Heat < 150sec | Underheated After testing out different materials, we decided to experiment with HIP for most of our tests because it gave the best result both workability and structurally. Material thickness, temperature and time were the few variables that we needed to consider will experimenting with each of the material.

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Pre ce dent Studies

RiK Stool Design 2011

Leibal Pilot Stool - Rampelotto+Pernkopf

Breaking the Mould

Stooltypes_01-04 - Nico Reinhardt

- vacuum over mould and mould help stool to be more structural and also more interesting aesthetically. - vacuum action creates folds which may give strength - Double curvature

- plastic component becomes seat and connection detail for legs

- panels created using variable string mould - plastic is melted over string to form natural forming double curves - plastic is then cut back to reveal accoustic part of panel below

- considering the different parts that create a stool - connection between the legs and the seat in this precedent is a plastic component

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PROTOT YPE 1 Boundary and Push Objects

MDF stool top MDF stool support MDF stool jig

MDF boundary template

Stool top jig attachment template

MDF base

1:2 Scale | 2mm HIPS | 200mm Stretch | Over stretched The 2mm HIPS plastic was not strong enough to support the stool top component. This method may still work if we tested a thicker and stronger plastic, and incorporated more â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;foldsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; into the trunk to allow for extra stability. The top was also too heavy to be supported by the plastic.

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PROTOT YPE S 2-6 Embeded Stool Components

Inflate plastic | Pierce with dowels and twist into plastic to secure

Flat Cylindical top dowel | Did not lodge as there was no gripping point

Inflate plastic | Pierce | Suction

Push mould | Suction

These experiments explored the capability of lodging dowel into the plastic to act as supports for a stool top. The resultant pillow form could be made more structural by adding concrete. We have learnt that plastic can be manipulated quite easily when they are in their molten state and really stable once they are cooled. We also learn that by adding ribs and folds to the plastic provides more strength. Similar to prototype 1, too much stretching to the material causes it to crack because it got too thin.

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Sto ol 1 Fina l Pro duc t ion

JIG DESIGN

PROCESS HYPOTHESIS

We created a jig in order to guide the dowels at the correct angle into the plastic. Due to the fact we wanted to form both the bottom and the top of the stool we had to form the legs in 2 pieces and then create a joining piece our of timber. We designed the jig to work and be able to form both the top and the bottom, we just had to rotate the box to get the angle to be the same. The dowels used nails in order to stop them from falling out and to lock them into a new height level.

For this design, we were hoping to test the potential of two methods of forming plastic around dowel. The stool top required rigidity as a surface, thus we wanted to explore the potential of creating strength through the formation of a form-found shell using a triangular string template. The second method was using the twist method discovered during week 1. This technique we thought could provide a connection from the dowel to the plastic with the turning action, while a combination of stretching and suction the plastic would create structural folds.

We had to incorporate a mdf base in oder to support the jig and to stop it from falling through. Triangle template was strung with tiger-tail wire and crimped.

Dowels with Nail stoppers

Timber Frame

Laser Cut MDF

Laser Cut Shell Support

Laser cut top template

Plastic

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PROCESS AND REFLECTION

ISSUES - Plastic too thin (1mm) - A larger plastic was too thick to let the dowels ‘catch’ on in order for the twisting action to occur (2mm) - Dowels needed to be made more ‘spikey’ - The vacuum vent should not be covered EVALUATION: - Our initial prototype was freeformed using hand methods and relied on our hand eye coordination to do the work and understand the limits of the material - Although having a jig brought in the element of accuracy particularly for the leg angle, it took away to work with the material on the fly - Plastic, particularly heated in the vac-former is never consistent based upon time - Thus combinging a very unpredicable material with a rigid jig created undesirable results.

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I N T RO PROJ ECT Sto ol 2 - Mater i a l (C ast ing Me dium )

Mou l di ng E x p er i ment s

For the second stool exercise, our group was paired with ‘Castin Medium’. This category required us to experiment with mediums such as resin, clay, concrete and/or plaster. We were mainly experimenting with the types of mould we can use to cast our mediums in rather than choosing a medium to experiment with. We began looking at precedent studies that uses uncoventional moulding methods to create the projects

Cast Thicket - Christine Yogiaman and Ken Tracy Plaster in balloon + shaken + pegs

- material science and parametric modeling. - exploration in tensile concrete - Light colored limestone aggregate , lime stone powder and white fiber reinforcement

Cloth Slip-cast

Dowel in Balloon + plaster

Plaster Bandages as Slip-cast mould Based on these experiments, we decided to further explore casting using latex or flexible plastic materials as moulds and formworks.

Transformable mould - transformable mould such as wax which can be melted to remove from casting medium - creating negative spaces in solid Top: Wax shavings + white concrete. Bottom: Wax chunks + white concrete.

Plaster in Balloon

Steel Wool + Plaster in different ratios.

We explored using a variety of different balloon shapes and sizes. We constantly considered we could exploit the properies of balloons such as it’s relationship to pressure, compression and squeezing whilst accepting their constraints of fragility of the material.

Concrete Soft Molded Bench - Atelier Remy & Veenhuizen - Soft moulding: Pouring concrete and foam into flexible, textile moulds

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STO OL2.1

S of t Mou lding w it h L atex E xp er iments

Ballloon Cast Stool

- long cure time for cement meant not enought time to organise a stool top - filling the balloon too much made it to heavy for the latex and broke on two occasions - thus the amount of cement was reduced - the original jig was to hold the legs, but was unable to - we hung the legs to let them form naturally under gravity - we would have like to have the top cast from cement as well. - we would need reinforcement in the cement in order for it to be structurally feasible

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STO OL 2.2

STOOL 2.3

Vacuum Form Mould

Cement + Hung Towel

- a quick experiment to see the effects of having a vacuum form mould - the vacuum form was made from melting plastic under gravity - due to the complexity in areas of the plastic, it was weaker in some areas - when the cement took the shape, it was heavy than the plastic could hold back - fractures were created and some cement leaked out

- a white towel was soaked in cement mixture - the towel was then hung over a minimal steel frame - the towel was scrunched at the base - part of the towel was picked up and placed above to reveal the inner part of the stool.

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STO OL 2.3

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R EF LEC TION

Plaster + Plastic Pillow + Timber

The two stool exercises have helped me to understand the process of making and get a good gauge on the amount of time needed to produce a product. One of the major learning outcome that I have got from these exercises it to always think about the end product in a full package; aesthetics, functionaility, practicallity, structural, jointing methods, working methods and finishing touches. Although Fran and I had good ideas of coming up with interesting experiments, we did not think very much about how to get different parts to join together and how the experiments would come together to form a final piece of furniture. All of our stools are incomplete and non-functional because of that. It is also important to have quick resolving skills and being able to learn from our mistakes during these four weeks. And being able to come up with quick iterations and methods to test the materials in a 1:1 scale.

Digital tools and machine such as laser cutting and vacuum forming enabled us to produce iterations quickly. I have learnt that it is important to have a balance between the digital and analogue, moving from what is drawn on the computer to actually testing them in reality was crucial. Often times what is drawn and predicted digitally may not work in the physical because of factors that cannot be considered digitally. Factors such as structural issues, material behavior, production time and so on. Overall, it was a really exciting experience as Fran and I had limited experience in producing a piece of working furniture. Personally, I really liked the process of casting and wish to take a step further in my final furniture piece. The idea of being able to create something by relying on a pre-existing form or shape creates opportunities that are interesting and different.

- Timber legs were turned using the lathe - these allowed the timber to slot through the plastic holes - plaster was chosen to be used as it sets quickly - should have casted the stool upside down because the weight of the plaster causes the mould to sag and the plaster cracked and broke when mould was remove

F I NA L FU RN IT U RE PIECE WE E K 05-16

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R ESEARC H AG E NDA Waste Mate r i a l

Environmental issues are one of the major concerns in our society today. We, humans are producing more waste than ever, resulting in climate change, resources depletion, polution and environmental degradation. As designers and makers of this world, should not we carry responsibilities in the things we create by understanding the impact we can bring to our society? The explorations in reusing waste materials for various purposes are not new. Architects, designers and makers have been experimenting with ways to resuse and recycle waste materials in their works. However, these experiments are often viewed as boring or dull, and also not worth the time and money. With the aid of digital design tools, software and fabrication technology, it is now possible to design and fabricate complex and unconventional geometries at a quick and relatively lost cost manner. Quick iterations and studies can also be made easier with the aid of softwares and simulation programs provided nowadays This has led to my research agenda of producing a furniture that showcases that waste material can be made beautiful. Precedent studies that focuses on the idea of recycling and resuing waste material will be covered in this journal.

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N EWSPA PER WO OD

SHR EDDED

Mieke Meij er and Vij5

Jens Pr aet

Interested with the ways in which architecture and furniture design can transform waste materials into new and beautiful materials, the NewspaperWood project for Milan 2014 developed by Mieke Meijer and Vij5. These dutch designers presented a wood-like material made from recycled newspapers. The main goal was to create a new and expanding view and exploration over the potentialc of such a new material had to offer. They aimed for “embracing the experiment and creating an open character to the project as a whole to keep future possibilities open and within reach.” An important aspect of the material is ‘upcycling’; where newspapers are (temporarily) taken out of the already existing and efficient cycle of paper-recycling and using glue to construct the material which is free of solvents and plasticizers.

The Shredded Collectin Furniture by Jens Praet is made up of kilos of the glossy leftover magazines transforminfg them into a mass of splintered paper – making up the main ingredients for the collection. The furnitures are a reaction to the great amounts of wastepaper produced in offices – converting otherwise useless documents into valuable and useful objects. The material is fused into a useable compound by mixing them with resin. The mix are then moulded, and allowed to harden which produces a structural integrity similar to wood.

The main idea behind Newspaperwood was to return newspaper, which are made from wood, into wood again. The revealing of layers of paper that is cut appear like lines of wood grain or the rings of a tree and thus, resemble the aeshetic of real wood.

One of the downfall of this collection is with the use of resin to bind the papers together, which generates a lot of costs and harm and I am not sure if the amount of resin is balanced by the amount of waste that is the furniture is able to reduce.

I find it really interesting to reconstuct and return the material to its origin, showing how a surplus of material can be transformed into something more valuable by using it in another context; furniture, objects and etc. Reference: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/05/16/newspaperwood-by-mieke-meijer-and-vij5/ http://vij5.nl/portfolio/framed-coloured-newspaperwood/ http://www.newspaperwood.com/about/ Images and videos: http://vij5.nl/portfolio/framed-coloured-newspaperwood/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0je48mfL1wM

Reference:

http://www.jenspraet.com/projects_shredded_2011.html

Images:

http://www.jenspraet.com/projects_shredded_2011.html

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WATERSCHAT T EN

STRUC TUR AL SKIN

Studio Nien ke Ho og v liet

Jorge Penadés

Waterschatten furniture and homeware is made from reclaimed and recycled toilet paper. The main concept was to combat the negtative associations with the material, reproducing them into beautiful objects. Combining with beautiful finishes and fittings such as brass, the material is represented of something that has “great value” despite coming from the sewer.

As an awareness of the amount of leftover material from the car, fashion, shoe and furniture industries, Penadés wanted to come up with a new way to recycle leather. The designer was surprised at the lack of well-established recycling processes for leather although it’s the first material in the history that human have used.

In collaboration with The Dutch Water Authorities, the company estimates 180,000 tonnes of toilet paper is flushed down Dutch toilets each year. Rather than being burned, used toilet paper can be collected from the water by using fine sieves.

Instead of resin, the artist opted to use animal bone glue. Penadés first turned the leather into strips by using a paper shredder. After adding the strips to the glue, the mixture is transferred into iron moulds and compressed, then left to set. To finish the product, the artist uses shellac which is a natural resin.

I assume the artist combine the papers with glue and moulded them and allow the papers to dry over the mould. I liked how the artist tackled a large environmental issue by collaborating with the higher authorities and educate the public in regards to the matter through their art.

I really liked how the artist explores with alternative methods to recycle the material, and thinking about the environmetal issues that conventional methods would produce. I like how the different colours and patterns of the water material is being showcased and being transformed into beautiful objects.

Reference:

https://www.nienkehoogvliet.nl/portfolio/waterschatten/ Images:

https://www.nienkehoogvliet.nl/portfolio/waterschatten/

http://jorgepenades.com/home/?/projects/StructuralSkin/

Images:

http://jorgepenades.com/home/?/projects/StructuralSkin/

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REM A IN S

L AY E R S C L O U D C HA I R

Shani L angb erg

R i chard Hutten

Remains is a project that tackles with the waste from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dispobudâ&#x20AC;? factory that manufactures disposable products made of non-woven fabric. Through extensive research, the artist uses heat process in order to transform the raw material into a new material.

Although this project does not use waste material as its material but I found the process and intend interesting as it aims to create an object with the material itself rather than using the material as a cover which fabric is often treated as a surface finishing in objects and furnitures .

The artist showcases the powerful use of modern technology by combining both industrial processing techniques and craft. In a CNC milled aluminium mould, the artist melted the raw material (non-woven fabric PP) into a mould, She was able to produce multiple products in a consistent and quick manner

With 545 layers of fabric was used with different colours each, the pieces of fabric were drawn separately, cut with a CNC machine and manually assembled one by one. Similar with the previous precedent, the advent of using modern technology programs and machines has aid in the production of a unique piece that would have taken ages to do manually.

Reference:

https://www.shanilangberg.com/remains

Reference:

http://www.richardhutten.com/

Images and videos:

https://www.shanilangberg.com/remains http://www.designboom.com/design/remains-re-use-of-factory-waste-by-shani-langberg/

Images:

http://www.richardhutten.com/

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G Y RO TA BL E

PA R L EY F O R T H E O C E A N S

Bro die Nei l l

Adi d as

Neill constructed the Gyro Table from tiny pieces of plastic that have been collected from beaches around the world. Using chips of blue, white, black, brown and green plastic, the tableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speckled top evokes the colours of the ocean. Each piece was separated by colour before being processed and arranged into a plastic composite. Small slabs of the composite are CNC cut and inlaid into the table as well.

As waste plastic is a growing concern in our current world now, many designers have aimed to creat products to help raise awareness of the problem and proposed a variety of solutions.

Neill collaborated with an international community of environmentalists to collect the plastic pieces from their local seashores. The plastic was arranged carefully in a resin mix and was allowed to cured overtime.

Not limited to just homewares, furnitures and art, Adidas has pushed the boundary to incorporated recycling materials in their footware. The shoes are made using Adidasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; existing footwear manufacturing processes but the usual synthetic fibres are replaced with yarns made from the recycled plastics collected around the Maldives

This precedent shows the flexbility of plastic being used not just as a reproduction but as a raw material as well by mixing with another composite

Furthermore, the green wave pattern across the uppers is created from recycled gill net, which was collected from the sea and recycled into the fibre.

Reference:

http://brodieneill.com/gyro-table-2016/ Images:

http://brodieneill.com/gyro-table-2016/

https://www.dezeen.com/2016/06/08/adidas-trainers-parley-for-the-ocean-plastic-design-recycling/

Images:

https://www.dezeen.com/2016/06/08/adidas-trainers-parley-for-the-ocean-plastic-design-recycling/

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T H E M ELT ING POT

MÜLL

Te j o R e my and R ene Ve en huizen

C ar ter Zu felt

Industrial designer Carter Zufelt invited a process that turns old plastic bags into objects that he calls Müll, which are not only beautiful, they’re useful. The furniture pieces are intended to remind the importance of recylcing by capturing the beauty of raw manufacturing process.

Different from the previous precedents, this furniture piece was intended to work with what was immediately found on site. Remy and Veenhuizen was working in the workshop for children at Caen, France and the children found caps of milkbottles and milkbottles made up of polyethelene plastisc. Using the minimal resources that they have on site which was a little oven and a small woodworkship workshop, the artists melted the plastics and was added continously onto the timber mould to create a bench.

The designer melted and fused plastic bags together and moulded them in a compression mould to create solid blocks. He, then uses conventional wood working tools such as the lathe to produce them into the final product. I like how the designer chooses to do furnitures besides homewares because it showcases the potential of transforming flimsy and weak material such as plastic bags into strudy and structural objects.

I really liked how the artists uses what was already been given and turning waste into something practical and functional. It may not be as beautiful or resolved as furnitures out there but with the short amount of time and resources given, it is considered to be impressive.

I also like how the process is shown through the layering of the material after cutting, sanding and carving.

Reference:

Reference: http://www.carterzufelt.com/#/seniorproject/

http://www.remyveenhuizen.nl/node/89 Images:

http://www.remyveenhuizen.nl/node/89

Images and Videos: http://www.carterzufelt.com/#/seniorproject/

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M AT E R IA L EXPLOR AT ION

PR EC EDENT STUDIES

Pl ast ics

Pre ci ous Pl ast i c

From the research, I became intrigue with recycling plastics and the potential to create a furniture out of plastic waste that is easily accessible everywhere. Plastics is known to be one of the biggest waste since 2010. According to a study done in 2010, around 8 million tonnes of plastic went into the ocean that year. The international study calculated that 192 nations produced a total of 275 million tonnes of plastic waste.1 Furthermore, plastics can take over 1,000 years to break down and has been causing damages to the natural environment.

Precious Plastic is a company founded by Dave Hakkens who made his own machines for recycling plastic to make new products locally and published the blueprint of the designs online so others around the world can easily build their own machines and recycle plastics themselves.

Recycled Plastic Bowl- The Art of Weapon

So I began doing research on the types of plastics which I can recycle safely and easily without producing any toxic fumes or liquid and learning from Müll, I have chosen to work with polyehtlene plastics because they are easily accessible and used by many products.

The machines by Dave Hakkens include a plastic shredder, extruder, injection moulder and rotation moulder, which are all based on industrial machines but modified to be less complex and more flexible.

HDPE (High density Polyethelene) is a type of hard plastic that has a low-melting point of 175deg celcius and can be found used for milk jugs, shampoo bottles and bottle lids. HDPE is a type of thermoplastic, which means they become soft when heated and thus can be moulded and formed into shapes and form.

From this precedent, I began to understand how the plastics needed to be treated in order to be fused and form together. This also shows that recycling plastics can be useful to produce everyday objects and potentially a furniture.

In response to Melbourne being one of the cities with the biggest coffee culture, milk bottles are one of the biggest waste. Although they get collected and recycled to create new products, they’re often not being made into a beautiful object or art piece.

CNC HDPE - The Art of Weapon

Using different moulding methods such as injection mould, extrusion moulding and compression moulding, different types of finishes and products can be produced in a mass production manner.

Block of recycled HDPE Precious Plastics

References: https://preciousplastic.com/en/

1. ABC News, “Plastic and how it affects our oceans”, http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-02-27/plastic-and-plastic-waste-explained/8301316

Images: https://preciousplastic.com/en/

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M AT E R IA L EXPERIM EN TAT ION Fusing Protot y p e 1-5

These inital material prototype tests was done to see how HDPE would fuse together and the factors affecting the end results. Prototype 1 was done to see how the plastic would fuse and cooled together by itself under no extra assistance. I cut some milk bottles and process them into smaller cuts and melted them at 175deg in the oven. The plastic warped and cooled rapidly once I took it out of the oven. And the plastic was stuck to the baking paper. After that, I tried to run the second melted plastic under cold water to study the outcome. They warped a lot more and the plastic was a not fused together properly. After doing some research on HDPE and the way people has been experimenting with it, I did prototype 3 by melting the plastic directly on a non-stick pan and transporting them into a timber mould box to compress them together as they cool. The plastic was a lot stronger and had quite a smooth surface. For prototype 4, I tried to add some blue coloured bot-

tle lids to the white milk bottles plastic, and folded, stretched and teased them to test out the outcome. It created some nice and interesting pattern but the plastic was not very strong. After gaining a better understanding with protoype 3 and 4, I wanted to get the two different coloured plastics to fuse together better so I folded them as they were cooling and it did not work because they cooled down too quickly as I was trying to fold them together. Although I transported the plastic into the mould to be pressed but because they were already cooled down, it did not work. From these initial experiments, I have learnt a few characteristics of HDPE. 1) A non-stick pan/mould is required 2) It needs to be compressed and cooled down slowly to prevent warping 3) When it is melted, it turns into a goo like texture 4) It can be reheated in the oven and be resuse again.

Prototype 2

Prototype 1

Prototype 3

Prototype 4

Prototype 5

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Mou lding and C ompressing Protot y p e 6-9

Learning from previous week, I began to understand better with how the material can be moulded and treated better.

Prototype 6

I decided to cut prototype 5 with a bandsaw and see how it is like beyond the surface and to my surprise, it is really nice and well fused together and interesting pattern is revealed as well. Moving onto prototype 7, I wanted to try and see if I could mould the plastic in different shapes and form, So i melted some plastic and rolled it around a timber dowel while it is still molten and kept rolling the dowel until it is fully cooled. The prototype came out quite successful.

Prototype 7

I wanted to further test the moudability of the plastic and decided to pressed into a male and female mould. The prototype came out quite successful. Learning from prototype 6, I wanted to create a bigger blank sheet and see if I could cut and sand it down to a nicer finish. After sanding down the surface of the sheet, a beautfiul pattern is revealed with the mixing of the colours. It almost resembles marble and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a layers of transparency to it. The material is really strong and structural as well.

Prototype 9

Prototype 8

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Folding to cre ate p atter n Protot y p e 10

I tried to create a larger piece but it was too hard to get them to a flat piece because of the way they were lay out in the oven initially. But the randomness create more interesting pattern in the plastics as they fused together

Cut the piece on a band saw and tried to test different thinknesses and ways to join them together to create larger piece

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St r ips to cre ate R ippling E f fe c t Protot y p e 11

2nd trial - this time layering the plastics more systematically and compressed more Piece turns out much better. Best way to get the to nicely fused together. But losing the marble look in the plastics.

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PR E C EDEN T ST U DIES Mou lding Met ho ds

Injection Moulding

Extrusion Moulding

A widely used technique to mould thermoplastic and it is similar to the casting technique used to form metal components. Powdered or granula form plastic is put in a hopper and a screw thread turns forcing the plastic material through a heater, melting it. When all the materials has melted the screw thread then acts as a ram and forces the plastic into mould, where it cools and solidifies.

The extrusion has a similar process to injection moulding. Extrusion can only be used for simple shapes and the end product generally has a poor quality finish.

The disadvantage of this method is that the metal mould is very expensive to be set up to give a really precise and accurate product. Blow Moulding

Compression Moulding

Blow moulding is used to manufacture bottles and containers with very thin walls. Firstly, tubes of plastic needed to be made and the tube of molten plastic is extruded between the two halves of a mould. Before the plastic cools the two halves of the mould are squeezed together and air is blown into the centre of the material through a blow pin. This forces the plastic out forming the shape of the mould.

Compression moulding requires a top and bottom mould where pressure is applied to force molten plastic to the shape of the mould. This method is the most suitable to create a furniture as the product can be varied and controlled better in terms of thickness, shape and form.

The disadvantages of this method is that it produces poor surface finish and can only produce really thin walled objects which is not suitable for a furniture.

Images and information are from: http://www.the-warren.org/GCSERevision/engineering/plastic%20forming.htm

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PR E C EDEN T ST U DIES Split Mou ld Sy stem

After doing research on different moulding techniques for plastic, I think the most suitable one is compression moulding which requires a split mould, male and female mould applying pressure on molten plastic to form plastic to the form of the design. So I started looking at ways to build a split mould and techniques to create furniture or objects.

The Basso Shelf System by Thoman Feichtner is made up of fibre cement that has excellent performance of weathering resistance, little weight and rigidity. The furniture is moulded using a split system mould that allows a modular system to be formed. Only using the same simple mould, the furniture piece was able to be mass produced. Since each one was hand made, slight imperfections and differentiation are the characteristics that made each piece unique. Since the material can be formed easily over the mould, small details such as the ridge are designed to present its flexble properties. Keeping the design rather minimal, the material and process became the main concept of the furniture. I would like to carry this notion into my furniture piece.

Keeping in mind a few notes from earlier weeks, I needed an intermediate mould that allow the plastics to be melted on before transporting it onto the mould. I would like to be able to get access to a solid metal block to make a mould from but it is too expensive and difficult to get it precise and accurate. Thus, I have to result to a timber mould which can be easily cut with the CNC machine. It was also crucial to keep the timber mould warm during the compression process to allow the plastic to cool down slowly, and thus i was looking at ways to cover the timber mould in metal and perhaps use the heat gun to heat the surface hot.

Image 1 Ceramic Tiles Moulding System Image 2: Bent Plywood Veneer Mould - Gary Weeks

“https://au.pinterest.com/pin/523613894165776308/” “https://au.pinterest.com/pin/523613894165777669/”

Basso shelf system by Thomas Feichtner

“http://www.themethodcase.com/basso-by-thomas-feichtne/”

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Joints and B end

Pl aster Mou l d

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Protot yp e 1 3

Using the band saw, I began cutting grooves in the pieces and wedged joint them. Using a heat gun to melt the ends of the plastics, they started to fuse together but because no compression was applied to where the heat was applied, the area starts to wrinkle as they cool. Because of the aesthetics created by the plastics being quite similar to marble, I decided to explore the properties that is harder for marble to achieve. Thus, I decided to experiment with curving and bending. Using a heat gun, I tried to bend over a metal tray. It was quite difficult to bend because the heat provided was not evenly spread out. The thickness of the mateial was too thin for the span and thus the middle piece was showing sign of cracking. We were meant to have rough sketches of what our final furniture could be but I was still experimenting with different moulding methods to create the best outcome.

Learning from week 8, I needed to mould thicker plastic sheet to be more structural. Thinking that I can potentially use plaster as a mould to compressed plastics sheets to shape when it is molten, I made a two-parts mould following the shape of the clay I moulded. However, without taking consideration of the drying of plaster completely, a lot of moisture starts to release when I put it in the oven. This causes the temperature in the oven to be inconsistent and the plastic will not melt in between the mould.

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Met a l Mou ld

Met a l and Ti mb er Mou l d

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Learning from the week 6-9, I really wanted to showcase the beauty of the material by getting it to a nice and smooth finish. I needed a mould that is able to allow the plastic to melt on and its heat and able to cool is down uniformly. So I decided to remelt the plastic from prototype 14 on an aluminium sheet in the oven together and transporting that onto a timber mould once it has all melted. I also placed another sheet of heated aluniumiun sheet on top of the molten plastic so that both sides will be smooth and not the timber mould. Given the material is able to mould and shape into form while it is still molten, I quickly made a two part mould to test its capability of taking the shape of the mould. Because the plastic was a lot bigger than the sheet and mould, once the plastic is compressed, some started to ooze out of the mould and some parts of the aluminium sheet was embeded in the plastic. I had to cut the plastic back to remove the aluminium sheet. Learning from this, I should take into consideration to make my mould bigger than the plastic to avoid getting any stuck to the sheet.

Having to have failed using the plaster mould, I have to do a quick test over a baking tray to see if the thick sheet of plastic would slump and form over the tray. After one succcesful attempt, i placed another molten sheet on top of the cooled sheet to test if they will fused together, provided more thickness and structure to the prototype. I should have place the second layer below the coloured layer so the colours can be see from the outside. Nonetheless, the prototype was very strong and witheld itself when I stood on it.

The plastic came out a bit wrinkly because I did not tighten the clamps as the plastic cools over time.

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Protot y p e 16

I remelted the piece again and moulded it using the same method but this time I tighten the clamps every 10 mins for the first half an hour while the plastic cools down. After 2 hours, the plastic turned out to be really smooth and followed the shape of the mould. However, because the compression force was applied non-uniformly accross the mould, the plastic thickness varied quite a lot. But it is still really strong and structurally stable even at the thinnest point of the sheet.

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Sori Yanagi - Elephant Stool

Glass Chair attributed to Louis Dierra

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DE SIG N EXPLOR AT ION

DESIGN EX PLOR ATION

Pre ce dent Studies

Sketches

Kueng Caputo . stool for Michelangelo

Arne Jacobsen, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Prepopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; dining chair

After achieving good results with prototype 16, I started to look at precedents that celebrate curves and surfaces. I wanted to work with curved form because of the nature of the plastic, which can be moulded and compressed to take the form of the mould. And also, it captures the essence of the plastics, which not many materials are able to do. Furthermore, the moulded plastic ressembles the look of marble and this idea of turning waste material into something beautiful is what I wanted to achieve for my final furniture.

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Physic a l Sketch Mo dels

Prototype 1

Prototype 5

Prototype 8

I began to sketch and model some physical scale models using plasticine and aluminium foil.

Prototype 2

Prototype 6 Prototype 8 Prototype 3

Prototype 4

Prototype 8

Prototype 7

One of the major consideration that I needed to take into account was the size of furnace that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m able to use. The largest furnace that I found was in the VCA (900mm x 800mm) but due to limited access, I had to opt for a smaller furnace in the Chemical Engineering Department which is sized at 400mmx600mm. Because of the size limitation, I have to consider the form and size of my furniture. Out of all the models, prototype 8 is chosen because it showcases the most surface area and giving the plastic more attention. It also captures the mouldability of the plastic by having a 3 dimensional fold, the rib also allow a table top to be put on.

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Protot y p e 17

I decided to test out the rib feature of the decided form to see if the plastic would be able to be moulded in a 3-dimensional mould. I reconfigured the mould in prototype 15 by adding the rib component to it for the test. I began by making a blank sheet out of milk bottles, melting and compressing them in a box mould in between hot aluminium sheet. After making a blank sheet, I remelted the piece on aluniminium sheets with a gap in between allowing the rib to be pressed into. During the process of melting, the two pieces of aluminium sheets started to move because the plastic shrinks as it melts. Because I had to pull the aluminium sheet apart to git on the mould, this causes the plastic to go thin. Thus, as a result, some parts of the plastic cracked. Nevertheless, the test is still a success in terms of getting the rib. I just need to make sure that the thickness of the plastic is controlled by not stretching it too much or I need to increase the thickness of the plastic at the area where it needs to be stretched more.

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DE SIG N DEV ELOPM EN T 3 D Sketch Mo dels

Radius: 250mm Opening: 27 % of the circle

Radius: 200mm Opening: 18% of the circle

Radius: 200mm Opening: 27% of the circle

Height: 350mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 40mm Depth of rib: 40mm

Height: 400mm Start of rib: 325mm Rib size: 30mm Depth of rib: 30mm

Height: 400mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 45mm Depth of rib: 25mm

Length of plastic needed: 1142mm Length/2: 571mm

Length of plastic needed: 944mm Length/2: 472mm

Length of plastic needed: 840mm Length/2: 420mm

Radius: 250mm Opening: 33% of the circle

Radius: 200mm Opening:27% of the circle

Height: 350mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 40mm Depth of rib: 40mm

Height: 400mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 35mm Depth of rib: 45mm

Length of plastic needed: 1041mm Length/2: 520mm

Length of plastic needed: 840mm Length/2: 420mm

Radius: 200mm Opening: 27% of the circle Height: 350mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 45mm Depth of rib: 25mm Length of plastic needed: 840mm Length/2: 420mm

Radius: 250mm Opening: 8% of circle

Radius: 200mm Opening: 12% of the circle

Height: 350mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 40mm Depth of rib: 40mm

Height: 400mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 35mm Depth of rib: 45mm

Length of plastic needed: 1068mm Length/2: 534mm

Length of plastic needed: 1013mm Length/2: 506.5mm

Radius: 200mm Opening: 33% of the circle

Radius: 200mm Opening: 27% of the circle

Height: 350mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 40mm Depth of rib: 40mm

Height: 375mm Start of rib: 300mm Rib size: 45mm Depth of rib: 25mm

Length of plastic needed: 840 mm Length/2: 420mm

Length of plastic needed: 840mm Length/2: 420mm

Using Rhino and Grasshopper, different iterations were modeled to test proprotions and also to calculate the size of plastic sheet needed to cover the circumference of the shape. Because of the size of furnace I am limited to (600mm x 400mm), the design of the furniture needed to be done in parts that can be joined together. The overall length needed to cover half of the form cannot exceed 600mm and the height of the furniture cannot exceed 400mm.

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D esig n Iterat ions

Option 1 -Round ridge on the outside with glass top sitting on top

Option 4 -Square ridge on the inside with gkass slotted in, - 100mm top surround

Option 2 -Same as option 1 except without top surround

Option 5 - Square ridge on the inside with gkass slotted in, - Minimal top surround

One of the dilemma I had was whether to form the rib on the outer surface of the design, allowing the glass to slot in rather than sitting above the rib after looking at prototype 16. However, I find this approach eliminated the pure form of the design and take the eyes away from the curve surface which is the main area that showcases the material.

Option 3 -Square ridge on the inside with glass top sitting on top

I also tested out a few iterations where holes are cut out from the form but again, it removes the pure form of the simple design.

Option 6 -Curved ridge on inside with glass slot in.

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DE SIG N DEV ELOPM EN T F i na l D es i g n O utcome

I began to alter the rib into more of the curved indent to softened the design and also to minimise the number of 90degree bend. Learning from prototype 16, it is difficult for the plastic to be moulded in straight bends as it stretches the material too much. Wanting to add another shelf at the bottom, I introduced another indent at the bottom. I also felt like it was too simple and wanted to add more characteristic to the design.

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F I NA L F U R N I T URE PRODU CT ION PRO CESS WE E K 11-16

Acknowledgement to Shawn Koh for producing the videos and images during the moulding process. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This work was performed in part at the Materials Characterisation and Fabrication Platform (MCFP) at the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF)â&#x20AC;?.

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R ESOU RCES In s e arch of a l arge f ur na ce

C hem i c a l and Bi omol e c u l ar Eng i ne er i ng D ep ar t ment , Uni Melb

One of the biggest concern with the final furniture piece is to be able to find a bigger furnace to melt the plastics in. Although there is a big kiln sized at 900x800x1200mm at the Victorian College of Arts, the availability of the kiln was not fixed due to a fondry class running during the semester. So I had to opt for the smaller furnace in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department on campus which is sized at 400x600x300mm. The size of the furnace is a lot smaller but it is enough to make half of the restricted size set for the subject which was 1mx1mx1m. The furnace is run by gas and needed about half an hour to reach the desired temperature of 175deg celcius. After a few experiements, I have learnt that the furnace acts similar to a kiln and thus the temperature will keep exceeding the maximum set temperature by 15-20deg celcius. It was critical to constantly watch over the temperature and making sure that it does not exceed 190deg so that the plastic does not burn. I had to keep opening the door of the furnace to allow the furnace to cool down and also adjust the amount of gas going into the furnace.

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A lumin iu m Tray and Timb er Mou ld B ox Cnc Mi l ling

The first thing I need is an aluminium tray and timber box to make a large blank sheet of plastic. The furnace in the Chemistry Lab has a bottom tray that prevents the box to be any larger than 300mm in width. I could have propped it above the tray but I was scared that the plastic would get too close to pipeline. Using the CNC machine, the aluminium box was cut out using the 4.76mm drill bit for profiling and the new v-mill drill bit for engraving. Timber box and top were made to hold the tray and to compress the plastic once melted.

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DE SIG N DEV ELOPM EN T Hand Sketches

I began to think about the moulding system and how I could get it build and assembled based on the tools and machines available in the workshop and FabLab. I had to keep in mind how the plastic would react and form to the mould as gets compressed and cooled. Moving from aluminium mould to timber mould, sketches were made to take into account of the process and resources needed. Learning from previous prototype, it is crucial to make sure that the aluminium mould does not move around too much it is transported to the timber mould to be compressed. I also had to consider the size of the aluminium mould that needs to fit in the furnace.

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T I M BE R & A LUM IN IUM MOU L D CNC Mi l ling

17mm non-structural Ply

Top Mould - Laminated Ply

12mm non-structural Ply

Aluminium sheets

Using Rhino, I modeled the male and female timber mould made up of laminated plywood for the final design . Using both 2-axis and 3-axis engraving, each layer was cut out and was glued together. However, a piece was missed out from the cut and had to be filled in with blocks. The process of glu-ing the pieces together involves hammering some small nails to secure the pieces together so that they do not slide around while other pieces are glued at the same time.

Bottom Mould

0.6mm aluminium

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Mou ld Ass embly

The aluminium sheets that holds the plastic is also cut using the CNC machine. However, the aluminium sheet was slightly too big for the mould and the CNC queue was too long to cut another piece out. So I had to sand down the mould so it can fit into the mould.

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Protot y p e 18

To test the mould, I decided to remelt some of the off cuts of the plastic. Using some scraps aluminium foil, I cut out some pieces to line the timber mould. Once the plastics are all melted, they moved to the timber to be compressed. Because the mould was not clamped uniformly, the mould broke when one side was clamped too hard, causing deformation in the plastic. The aluminium was also stuck to the plastic because of the shift in the mould. It was quite a successfull test in terms of the shape of the curve but the smoothness of the surface needs a lot more improvement. The plastic cooled too quickly along the curved area and was wrinkly because it was in direct contact with the timber.

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Fina l Mou ld

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Pro cess i ng Pl ast i c B ott l es

The ridge and rib of the timber mould needed to be line with material and that be heated up prior to compression. Aluminium foil tape that can withstand heat up to 120 degrees celcius was used and 3 layers was applied to the timber mould. Heat gun will be used to heat the foil before moulding.

Plastic milk, shampoo and soap bottles collected from cafes and friends were processed by cutting them up into smaller pieces ready to be melted.

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M AT E RIA L PRODU CT ION Bl an k She et 1

As I was not used to the big furnace, I spent a day trying to get the plastic to fused together nicely. Instead of adding plastic continously as they melt, I made the mistake of cooling and remelting them over and over again to get to the thickness I needed. I kept remelting the first sheet so that the colours would blend together nicely. I was faced with the issue of melting in a 1:1 scale because the plastic cooled quicker than the time I can work with it. Plastics were added continously in the process and after 4 rounds of melting and cooling, the sheet finally got to the thickness of 10-15mm.

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After testing the first sheet, I decided to make a bigger tray despite knowing the chances of burning the plastic is higher (close to the gas pipe). While waiting for the new CNC cut tray, I melted another smaller piece to I can use them together to form a larger sheet in the larger box. In the process of melting, I had to fuse the pieces together by pressing and rolling them using a rolling pin to remove any air bubbles in between. As predicted, one side of the piece was burnt but thankfully it was only on the surface. I managed to sand off the burn and the sanding actually revealed more of the nicer patterns embeded in the material.

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Protot y p e 19

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REFL EC TION & DE SIGN DEV E LOP ME NT Ne w Mou l d

Issues encountered in the process of moulding the first piece: 1) Alminium sheet was propped up too high, causing the plastics to stretched a lot more than expected, causing areas around rib to crack 2) Plastic was stuck to bottom tray, the time used to remove plastic off tray was too much and the plastic cooled while removing. 3) Alminium sheet expanded and could not fit in the mould smoothly, causing top mould to not fit properly to bottom mould and was stuck together. Aluminium sheet was stuck to the plastic as well 4) Aliminium sheet shape was not efficient 5) Not calculating and allowing enough amount of plastic needed to cover both the curves. Mistake in week 10. 6) Really burnt on one side

Top mould

Alminium sheet

Success in first moulding: 1) Surface looks great and fused nicely - fire blanket was added between timber and aluminium allowing heat to be retained longer. 2) Thickness along surface was controlled because of uniform compressed forced from the the machine.

Alminium sheet

Ways to resolve issues encountered: 1) Lay plastic flat on tray, and line baking paper below so it doesnt stuck to aluminium tray. Baking paper can be teared and sanded off easily if gets stuck in plastic after cooling 2) Reconfigure aluminium sheet mould. Simplified and allow more clearance. 3) Reconfigure timber mould to remove bottom curve in design. 4) Recut aluminium sheet to perform better for moulding 5) Lower temprature in furnace, takes longer to melt but will minimize burn.

Bottom mould

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F I NA L M ATERIA L PRODU CT ION Bl an k She et 2 and 3

Second blank sheet took a lot quicker as I understood the process more. Less burn as well because of lower temperature in furnace. Instead of using more plastic, I decided to reuse the piece that I used for the first moulding test. I cut off the burnt area and reuse what is good. Using the interface foam pad, I managed to sand off the burnt surface as well. New plastics were then added continously to the molten piece to remould into a new blank sheet. Because it took such a long time for the piece to get melted down again, the top surface got really burnt and needed to be sanded down a lot more.

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F I NA L MOU L DING PRO CESS

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After resolving the few issues, the results came out a lot better. The first mould has some defects; a small part of the ridge was missing, the surface was not smooth because the aluminium sheet was caught to the plastic. Thus, with the second mould which turned out really nice, I was being more careful, making sure the plastic was completely covering over the ridge and also placing the aluminium sheet more carefully. The two moulds were uneven and I had to level it manually, cutting it down on the band saw and file it down. I also cleaned off the edges, trying to make the two moulds as symmetrical as possible. Learning from this process, inconsistency is inevitable because it is difficult to predict the behaviour of the material during the moulding process. A lot of manual work needed to be done after but the beauty lies in the imperfection and it also showcases the materialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s properties.

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DE SIG N DEV ELOPM EN T Adjust able le veling fe et

To get the table to be levelled, adjustable leveling feets needed to be installed. The inital idea of inserting insert nuts directly into the plastic that allows the feet to be screwed in does not work because the plastic was too thin. Screwing in the nuts was causing crack and deformation to the plastic. So, the legs needed to be attached to the surface of the plastic instead. Steps getting legs attached to plastic: 1) Cutting brass plate to 50mm long with a hacksaw so that enough to fit two screws and able to get enough thread in 2) Finishing and cleaning brass plate with metal file and sandpaper 3) Drilling 5mm holes and countersink to get a flush finish 4) Drill and tap holes to fit m6 threaded legs. 5) Marking where legs should be fitted and making sure they are squared 6) Pre-drill holes in plastic to fit screw in brass plates 7) Screw in brass plates 8) Insert legs Things to be changed for exhibition: 1) exchange screws to brass for a minimal finish 2) change insert legs to brass 3) finish all brass fittings with clear varnish to protect from tarnishing

Insert nut cracked plastic

Insert nut causing deformation

Brass plate screwed onto surface test

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AS SEM BLY PRO CESS Fusing

To join the two pieces together, I have decided to fuse them together using plastic to showcase the proerties of the material even more. I prepared a thin sheet of plastic and pre-melted in the oven before attaching to the flange of one side. Using a heatgun to slightly melt the surface of the flange, the melted fusing piece was easily stuck on to the piece. Same process was done to the other half and was joined together to its final form. The fusing was strong but needed to be finish off by adding more plastics to fill in the gaps and sanding off the rough edges. I also patched up the missing part of the ridge with more plastic by fusing some off cuts to it. Because of time limitation, 400mm diameter perspex top was used temporarily and silicon rubber stopper was used to stop the perspex from sliding. For the exhibition, 5mm glass top will be made and brass connection will be added.

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R EF LEC TION

Despite not being able to complete the finishing touches such as cleaning off the edges, installation of final fitting and filling in gaps and cracks, the final piece still functioned as a table which showcases the beauty of recycled plastics. One mistake I made was not putting enough considerations in the planning and calculation of the amount of plastic needed to be moulded into the final piece form, which required a lot of time to resolve the issues I faced in week 15. The process of rapid testing and quick resolving skills were critical in the development of the final outcome. Because plastic is such as unpredictable material, transforming from waste into solid material, a lot of finishing touches needed to be done. One thing that I really learnt is that it is important to quickly test prototypes in 1:1 scale in order to gain better understanding on how the material would react under those circumstances. Factors such as heating time, cooling time and urnace temperature are hard to predict and causes variations in the final outcome. Furthermore, experimenting with material such as plastic, more work was needed to be done preparing the material and finishing off the end product. As for the design agenda, I believe that I had been able to carry through the objectives in transforming recylcing material to create a beautiful piece of furni-

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ture. With the aid of fabrication tools such as the CNC mill, I was able to quickly produce aluminium sheets for the mould in a precise and quick way. CNC was also critical in producing the mould for the double curvature design precisely. Given a bit more time for further development, I would have moulded another plastic sheet to shape to replace the defected one and the whole form could have been more consistent. i would also control the temperature of the furnace more carefully as to not burn the plastic as much. Overall, I am really pleased and happy that I was able to do the material justice and really showcasing the potential of it. Given the amount of time and experience I had with moulding plastics, I am happy that I was able to carry through what I intended from the start of this subject. The learning process of experimenting with new materials has helped me to push myself further in thinking about the potential of waste material being used not just in producing objects but in architecture as well. I would like take this opportunity to thank the Chemical and Molecular Engineering Department in Univeristy of Melbourne for allowing me to run exeperiments in their lab.

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