SPACE AND MATERIALS I COURSE DOCUMENTATION Chingkhomba Chingtham U.G. III Semester Exhibition Design 2012 Course faculty: Sangita Shroff Rahul Singh
Contents Week 1 1. Product 1: Miniature Bamboo Tray ....................................... 1 2. Product 2: Simple Bamboo Lamp ......................................... 4
Week 2 3. Weaving bamboo ................................................................. 9
Week 3 4. Final product: Tetrahedral Lamp ........................................... 15
WEEK 1 Product 1: Bamboo Tray
1
The product that was made on the first day was a bamboo tray where the bamboo was made in to slats and then put together with dowels and fevicol. The tray was made in a smaller scale.
1
PROCESS
1
1. The kind of bamboo chosen for making the tray is a hollow bamboo of a medium to large diameter where the walls are not very thick. The bamboo must also have lesser water content. The bamboo is cut using a hacksaw to get pieces of bamboo of desired length. 2. The bamboo is then cut along the diameter to get strips of bamboo of desired width. For the purpose of making the tray, three different widths of bamboo strips are required. One for the for the frame of the whole tray, another smaller strip for the middle surface and one for supporting these small strips from the bottom. 3. All the strips obtained are then sanded on the sanding machine to give it a better surface quality. The ends are also sanded so that all the similar strips are of a same length.
2
3
2
4. The bottom frame of the tray is made first by arranging four bamboo slats in a rectangle. Fevicol is applied on the joints of the four pieces. 5. The smaller slats for the main surface are then arranged regularly on the frame and they are joined to the frame using fevicol. To ensure that the sides are even, a support in the form of a flat long piece of wood is used. This piece of wood is placed parallel to one of the sides of the frame and the small slats are aligned on it.
4
5
6. The other side of the tray which is irregular is sanded to make them even. 7. After both the sides are even, the bigger slats can be glued on. After gluing on the sides, a vice can be used to keep it in place. 8. Once the Sides are fixed firmly the handles are the next parts to be stuck. The are stuck on both ends of the tray between the protruding portions of the sides.
3
WEEK 1 Product 2: Simple Bamboo Lamp
2
The bamboo lamp is a more complex and larger product that was made following the bamboo tray. Making the lamp consisted of more methods of working with bamboo such as dowelling and bending bamboo with heat.
4
PROCESS
1
1. First, the rings for the shade of the lamp is made. For this long slats of bamboo are made of the desired length which should be equal to the circumference of the rings. Since the bamboo is to be bent later, it is crucial that the slats are made absolutely flat or the bamboo will start to crack. 2. For bending the bamboo with heat, an LPG blowtorch is used. The the flame of the blowtorch is directed around a large area on the slats around which the bamboo is to be bent. 3. After applying heat, the bamboo is bent manually and held in that position for a few minutes. Then the bamboo is suddenly cooled by putting it in water. This ensures that the bamboo stays bent in its position.
2
3
5
4. Next, the main pole of the lamp is to be made. For this, a long straight bamboo pole is chosen. Since the pole is to have a three-pronged stand, the pole is divided into three equal parts and markings are made. On these markings, 30 mm holes are drilled. This is to ensure that parts of the bamboo can be removed without splitting it fully. 5. Using a chisel, parts of the bamboo under the holes are carved out.
4
5
6. Bending the three legs of the stand is the next step in the process. For this, a large radius metal pipe is used as a support and each leg of the stand is bent one after the other.
6
6
7. After being bent as required, the stand is put on the ground to check the level. If the stand is not standing straight up, then adjustments are made by bending the legs more or by cutting a small part off the legs. 8. Once it is ensured that the lamp is standing straight, the burnt surface of the legs are cleaned by scraping it with a dow. The legs can be sanded afterwards to give it a smoother and more appealing finish. 9. Now that the stand is made, the next part of the lamp that is to be made is the shade. We’ve already made the bamboo rings for the shade, so on the two rings, markings are made first with a pencil of where each of the slats will fit on the ring. This also makes it easy when drilling holes.
7
8
9
7
10. To join the slats and the two bamboo rings, dowels are used so holes need to be drilled on the slats and the rings. The holes are drilled into the bamboo rings right on the markings that were made earlier. To make drilling easier, a wood block can be used to support the ring as shown in the picture. 11. Similarly the bamboo slats are also drilled, with a wooden block for support.
10
11
12. The two rings are then joined together with the slats using dowels. Araldite is used to make the dowelled joints stronger. 13. The support for the shade is in the form of four bamboo rods dowelled into the main bamboo stand. 14. The shade is placed onto the four supports and it is kept in place by means of small bamboo dowels jutting out from these supports. 15. The bulb holder is placed directly onto the main bamboo stand and the wiring is passed through it. Holes are drilled for the wire if there are any knots.
8
WEEK 2 Weaving Almost the whole of the second week was spent in learning a few of the different methods of creating surfaces and forms through weaving bamboo. Through this week we were made familiar with the bamboos, how to choose them and the
3 process of preparing the strips. The artisans were limited to teaching us three basic types of weaving with bamboo, the plain weave, a weave referred to by weavers as a ‘3/1 twill’ and also a weaving method to form baskets.
9
Preparing the strips 1. Just like all bamboo products, the first and most important step is to choose the right kind of bamboo. Weaving requires a flexible bamboo with high tensile strength. These conditions are satisfied by young green bamboos which have high humidity. 2. For the purpose of weaving, the green bamboo need to be made into thin strips. Doing this requires experience and practice.
3
4
3. The whole length of the bamboo is split into four parts. The end of the bamboo is split first using a tool that resembles an axe. 4. Once it is split sufficiently enough to get a good grip, then the rest of the bamboo is split by keeping one half pinned to the ground with your feet and pulling the other half up with your hands.
5
5. From the four long pieces of split bamboo, the thin strips can now be made.
10
6. To give the strips a smoother and shinier finish, they are sandwiched between a ‘dow’ and a support surface and polished on both the sides until they are perfectly smooth and shiny.
6
The plain weave 7. The first weave technique is the plain weave. It is a very basic and simple weave in which the warp (all the vertical strips) and the weft (all the horizontal strips) are aligned so that they form a simple crisscross pattern.
8
8. Each weft strip crosses the warp strips by going over one, then under the next, and so on. The next weft strip goes under the warp threads that its neighbor went over, and vice versa. 9. This weave is used mostly to create large surfaces. The spacing between the strips can be modulated so that they form a pattern.
11
The twill weave 10. The twill weave is a more complex weave. It is almost the same as a plain weave except that every new weft strip is offset by one or more warp strips. This creates the highly distinguishable diagonal pattern. 11. The weave that the artisans started with is what is called a 3/3 twill weave, which means that the weft and the warp strips go under and over three crossing strips.
10
11
12. The weave is started by running a warp strip under three weft strips and then over three weft strips and so on. The next warp strip goes over the first weft strip, then under the next three weft strips and so on. Then the next warp strip goes over the first two weft strips, then under the next three and so on. This process is repeated to get the twill weave. 13. Because the twill weave is a balanced weave, it is very strong and tight. Precaution is needed to ensure that all the strips are weaved tightly or it will lose its appeal.
12
Weaving baskets 14. Weaving baskets, as the artisans did, is a form of plain weaving, the difference being that the warp strips progress outward radially and the weaving by the weft strips is done radially. The warp strips decide the form of the weave and the warp strips reinforce the form. For theses reasons, the warp strips are thicker and wider compared to the weft strips.
14
15. Weaving a basket starts off with three long warp strips that are placed evenly radially with their midpoint at the same place. Two weft strips are woven around these warp strips in such a manner that one weft strip goes over one warp strip while the other goes under the same warp strip. At the same time, after crossing a warp strip, the weft strips interchange, i.e. the weft strip that was over the other goes under while the other one comes over. This makes the weft strips go in spiral motion and strengthens the weave even more.
13
16. Once a substantial amount of weaving is done to support the warp strips, another layer of warp strips is added over the old one and weaving can continue as before. As the radius of the form created increases, the distance between the warp strips go on increasing so the added layer of warp strips increases the density of warp strips and makes the whole weave more sturdy. 17. Another way to compensate for the reduced density is to increase the number of weft strips. As many as three weft strips can be used at a time. Here, every weft strip goes over three and under three with an offset of one every consecutive weft strip, while going in a spiral motion. Doing so makes the weave very tight and makes the final form very sturdy.
16
17
16
18. The weave is finished off by tucking in the ends of the warp strips inside under one of the weft strips.
14
WEEK 3 Final Product: Tetrahedral Lamp The development of the concept of the tetrahedral lamp started by the end of the second week and the construction of the lamp took 4 days. While constructing the lamp, many obstacles were encountered
4
which were not thought of during the conceptualization. This lamp combined all that we had learnt in the previous weeks and was also a great learning experience in itself.
15
PROCESS
3
Making the frame 1. The first step is to pick the right kind of bamboo for the purpose of making a lamp. The frame has to be strong and heavy so solid bamboo with a diameter of about 2 in. is used. 2. After the bamboo is picked and cut to desired length, it is then smoothened and straightened by bending it using heat. 3. The three bamboo poles that make up the frame are then put together and tied temporarily with a rope. After it has been tied, the poles are then placed in the correct angle using the help of a drawing that is placed on the ground. 4. Once the poles have been put to the correct angles, the triangular slats for holding the bamboo poles in place are the next parts to be made. With the help of drawings, the bamboo slats can be bent using heat through the correct angles. The ends of the slats are joined together using dowels and araldite.
4
16
5. The triangular slats are then fixed to their respective locations on the three bamboo poles using dowels. The main bamboo poles are also chamfered to make the triangular slats fit more smoothly. Once the slats are fitted the rope that was previously used to hold the poles in place can now be removed.
5
6. To make the frame even stronger, the three poles are also joined together using dowels. There are three dowels that join each bamboo pole to the two adjacent bamboo poles.
6
17
Carving the groove 7. One addition to the frame is a groove for the wiring to pass through in a concealed manner and does not hang loose. To do this, the path of the groove is marked on the bamboo pole with a chisel. 8. A drill is used to make these markings deeper and make it into a groove. The drill is held almost parallel to the bamboo pole being drilled. This ensures that the groove is not too deep and that it is smooth.
8
9
9. To finish the groove and to make it even smoother, it is sanded with sand paper. 10. The wiring fits in perfectly to the groove and keeps it hidden from view, making the lamp look much sleeker.
10
18
Making the bulb holder 11. Similar to the legs of the first lamp, the bulb holder is also a bamboo stub with three prongs bent outward. So just like the first lamp, holes are drilled and the parts under the holes are removed. This leaves three prongs that need to be bent outward. This is achieved by using heat. 12. Once the prongs of the holder are bent to the right angle, they can be fixed to the frame using dowels. Care is to be taken when making the bulb holder level and proper markings are to be made to ensure level stays perfect even after dowelling. Once levelled, the extra bits of the ends of the holder can be removed and it can be dowelled onto the frame. 13. The wiring is made to run underneath one of the prongs and right into the groove on the frame.
11
12
13
19
Weaving the shade and base 14. The weave used on the lamp is a very loose plain weave. The density of the weave is kept loose to allow for the light to exit. At the same time this weave give an interesting quality of light. 15. The angle of the weave is selected as such that after a whole round of going around the lamp, the warp strips become the weft strips and vice versa.
14
16
16. The weave is finished off by tucking it under the triangular slats.
20