Summerized

Speedo Clock

Last year, I designed this clock, cut out of acrylic with the laser cutter. It's comprised of shapes created by layering an image of a guy wearing a Speedo, and creates kind of an abstract, baroque form. I was really excited about the way it came together, and was looking forward to further experiments with patterns created from body shapes, and the way the clear acrylic interacts with light.

Unfortunately, the fumes from cutting plastic made me really sick, and I was out of commission for quite a while. This was a real disappointment, as I had lots of other acrylic projects in the hopper.

Recently, I changed direction with some new ideas, and started cutting some paperboard for another project. Unfortunately, the fumes from other people's projects (others cut plastics in the same facility) made me a little sick when I went in. I'm not really sure what to do next, as I work pretty iteratively, so mail order laser stuff seems like it wouldn't work as well for my projects.

Tap Plastics again

I needed more plastic to practice gluing, so I stopped by Tap Plastics scrap bin. Though I haven't started gluing anything dimensional together yet, it seems like it will be difficult. The salespeople at Tap suggested using a jig; they actually build their own, and sold me this one. It seems there is a real art to gluing acrylic together. I also bought some silicone sealant, for possible future use. I left with a plastic contact high.

Laser cutting and gluing experiments

I have some project ideas that involve laser cutting and gluing pieces of acrylic; some of which would be like "laser marquetry." But I need to learn a few skills and methods before going forward with the projects. One thing I'm trying to learn is how to glue pieces of see-through acrylic to each other, so that they look neat, and don't have bubbles between them. My friend Marcia showed me how to use Weld-On 4 with a little dropper bottle to do this.

Trying it at home, my results are not as good. This is probably because I'm working on an extremely dusty slab of cement by our basement and the pieces are getting dirty as I work on them.

My first experiment involved trying to glue transparent red pieces of acrylic (star and hexagon) into the corresponding shapes that I cut out of a black piece of acrylic. I tried to confine the glue to just the edges, so the red acrylic would remain unmarred, but the Weld-On is kind of hard to control and watery. The results are really unattractive. Both pieces of acrylic are marred by the glue, and there are little gaps between the pieces of acrylic, which are made more an attractive by the globs of glue lodged in there. I don't think this method will work.

My second experiment involved gluing some interlocking acrylic shapes (and transparent red, milky white, and black) onto a thin piece of transparent acrylic. This method is more promising. The only problem is that there are still some bubbles between the pieces of acrylic - you can only see these on the red pieces because they're transparent. But I'm thinking that this method could work well if I was working in a less dusty environment

Clock Parts

I completed the cutting of the other clock components a couple weeks ago, and will assemble and photograph the clock shortly. This material is so luminous.

Sharks with Lasers

At long last, I made it back to TechShop. Jason accompanied me to a refresher course on the laser cutter a couple weeks ago. And last week I started cutting on some transparent acrylic for a current project – a clock. It took a while to get the hang of the machine's eccentricities (mostly how to import files into Corel Draw, which you must use to "print" on the cutter). After some trial and error with files and with levels of power and speed, I manage to get one piece cut and etched nicely. The level of detail is really incredible – the etched lines are clean and nuanced, and the perforations and cut edges capture all the detail I wanted. It's a great tool. Next time I'll cut and etch the two other transparent acrylic pieces that make up the dial, and hopefully have time to start cutting and etching the hands too.

Geek Chic: Bay Area Maker Faire

So we went to the Maker Faire last weekend, for the first time. I'd meant to go last year, but it coincided with the New York furniture fair. Maker Faire is an interesting confluence of various types of enthusiasts -- people who build intricate replicas of old Naval ships, iPhone hackers, utili-kilt wearers, knitters, costumed players of a life-size game of Mousetrap, and, of course, steampunks. In some ways, this is about as different from the furniture fair crowd as possible. It's kind of like the biggest science fair you've ever seen.

A steampunk motorcycle tooted its steam powered horn.

Giant 10' tall tesla coils, revving up to create big crackly bolts of lightening between them were impressive and made me feel an animal urge to run away.

Tesla coil 3/3, originally uploaded by Jef Poskanzer.

And the Coke and Mentos guys were amazing. They created a large elaborate fountain out of several hundred bottles of Diet Coke, and it was stunning to watch in person. Little kids were frolicking in the Coke.

The TechShop people had a large section at the Faire. And the whole experience make me want to get back into tinkering with power tools again. Freelance has kept me a bit frenetic the last few months, but I hope to find time soon.

Fog, more lasing, and a CNC embroidery class

Jason and I walked along SF's Crissy Field for the first time last weekend; it was nice to be by the water.

And last week I met up with Hung to talk about refining the salt and pepper again. I was thinking of going back to something like my first, simpler design, as the machine I've been prototyping on isn't the highest resolution, and simpler designs work better with it. But now I have an opportunity to print it on a higher resolution machine, so we'll try the detailed version again, with some alterations. They should print differently on a higher resolution machine. Right now, too much seasoning pours out the lids, so we'll try smaller holes.

The higher resolution machines will be very useful for other projects, so there are lots of exciting possibilities.

Last week I also used the laser cutter to cut an initial design for a holiday card. The design turned out to be a little too convoluted in it's current form, unfortunately. But the level of detail you can get is just amazing.

And I cut out some Sliceform files, downloaded from a website. Sliceforms are paper representations of mathematical models, and they're pretty fascinating visually and conceptually. Several years ago, I bought a Sliceform book by John Sharp, and am finally trying the models out.

After cutting the pieces out of paperboard, I attempted to put the models together. Unfortunately, the files were created for thinner paper, and the paperboard doesn't really work them. I'll have to try again with regular paper. This is my less than perfect result:

Also, Kaho and I took a CNC embroidery class last weekend. The sewing machine will automatically sew your design -- you don't even have to touch it once it's set up. It'll sew a design based on any vector file -- you can basically sew any graphic image in multiple colors. Lots of great possibilities there too.

Laser Etching on Round Surfaces

I finally got back over to TechShop this evening, for another laser class. And I really need to get in habit of taking pictures -- forgot again tonight.

Anyway, we learned how to put a special attachment into the lasercutter, which supports a cylindrical object, and spins it as it etches. Our sample project was just etching some letters onto a beer bottle, but I can see a lot of potential for interesting projects.

Next up is refining my salt and pepper. I may learn to vacuum form, and try to form the parts that way.

Laser Cutter

I did my first project on the laser cutter. It was very simple -- cutting shapes out of paperboard to form wall patterns for Jason's office. The logo I designed for Skydeck, his startup, consists of four colored "leaves" which can form various patterns when they're combined in different ways. So I was cutting out some of these leaves.

The laser cutting was very easy, as paperboard is so thin.

I'll post pictures later.

Vinyl Cutting Class

Kaho and I took a vinyl cutting class with Heather; we enjoyed it.

We learned how to cut vinyl, very precisely. You can use any kind of vector file with the machine, and cut intricate designs. The machine has a tiny blade that changes direction rapidly as it cuts. Everyone cut their name out.

You're essentially creating a sticker. The vinyl has a sticky back, and peels off a backing. I'm guessing this is how they make the typography used so frequently in museum exhibits.

On a different topic, Hung had my second 3D prototype for the salt and pepper. Some problems have been solved -- the shaker is thicker, and has a more appropriate heft. And the increased level of detail on the lid is good, except the surface of it is jaggy and would require a lot of sanding to smooth I think. We tried applying acetone, which didn't smooth it enough -- but that's why the top surface is shiny. The lid fits onto the base too tightly this time, as we'd added a bead of material to help hold it in place (it was too loose last time). There are still more issues to solve...