Critical Reflection

 Critical Reflection

During the whole semester working in the lab, basically, I am satisfied with my chosen object relating to architecture and my interdisciplinary skin which also related to my subject. Those two projects are tough but the process is enjoyable, especially for the second project which not only increased my metal shaping skill but also encouraged me to make more friends. I think at the early stage we all meet the same problem on metal shaping and at the end we all solved it  very well and enjoy this special experience together. This course shows the importance of the communication for each project, everybody improved through the conversation and learn something from others. This course also provides a new method in designing objects and spaces, it is a new way of designing, different, cheaper and faster for future designers and builders.

One of my favorite SANNA's work in Switzerland called Rolex Learning Center applied the same idea we did through the course which is using digital making to build the template first then pour the concrete on top of the template. This is a very good case study to look at.

As an architectural student, normally, we just draw the plans and sections on the paper, only have few chance to build a building in the future or maybe through the whole life, so it is great to learn different things especially the things that we can actually feel it and made it by our hand. Looking back at this course now, I am really glad I chose to study it, although it is called Digital Making, we spend most of the time on 'Hand Making' and I have learnt a range of skills in working with aluminium which is a totally new and strange material for me. This particular experience will definitely help me a lot in the future career life.

Thanks for everyone's help through the whole semester 

Tutorial 2-Brick

PHASE 1- DIGITAL MAKING and PHASE 2 – LASER CUTTING is pretty much the same as the tutorial 1

TIPS: For the LASER CUTTING, try 'Interlock slices' construction method instead of 'stacked slices' for saving materials, but it might also compromise the stability of the template 



PHASE 3 – METAL SHAPING

Step 1- Cutting the metal sheet

1. Using the Guillotine to cut the aluminium sheet and get a proper size for the template. In my case, I used 20x20cm sheet

2. Use the large shear or the aviation snip to cut the metal off

Step 2- Shaping the metal sheet

1. Use the sandbag and Bossing Mallet to hit the marks on the sheet, because the sandbag can be adjusted, so adjust it in a good shape to support the metal sheet

2. Find a flat surface and overturn the metal, use the Barrel Mallet showed above to hit the peripheral towards the center in order to narrow the hole. Keep doing this, then the gap between will become smaller than previous

BEFORE-LARGE GAP

AFTER-SMALL GAP

3.Hold the metal in the position against the tapered T-Dolly showed above, then hit the metal to refine the depth. Find any sharp tool if you can to apply the same method

4. Because the middle part suppose to bend inward, so use anything you can find to support the side part. This is the way I found to support it and use the Bossing Mallet to hit it

5. Refine the edge and surface by using small hammer

Tutorial 1- Glue Bottle

PHASE 1- DIGITAL MAKING

Preparation:

-A Chosen object

-Smartphone or Camera

-Computer and Internet

Step 1- 123D Catch
1. Choose a good object to model. (in my case a glue bottle)

2. Download 123D Catch Make on your smartphone and start a new capture
3. Take as many pictures of your chosen object in different angles until the wheel bar at the bottom right is completed in blue color

TIPS:

-Do not choose a transparent or reflected object like glass bottle and make sure the object is still when you    taking photos

 -Place your object under a good lighting condition  

4. Start processing the photos and wait for the 3D model to be generated
5. Check your model and save it once you are satisfied

NOTE. Sometimes this process does not work, I assume that is because the poor network connection, so do it under a good network connection if you do not want to wait for hours and it is still finalizing!!!

6. Log in your Adobe account and upload it then open the PC version 123D Catch and download your model
7.Clean your model by Using the lasso tool(yellow arrow) to clean the background(red area) in order to generate a good model for next phase

Step 2- 123D Make
1. Download 123D Make on your desktop and open the object file of your 3D model

2. Choose “Radial Slices” as the construction method

3. Change the Manufacturing Settings of your object on the left panel of your screen(1).  Choose the following settings for my model(2):

          Units: mm
          Width: 600
          Length: 300
          Thickness: 3.4mm

      

NOTE. Because I am using the 3mm plywood for laser cutting and there is friction between them when you put the slices together, so better to slightly increase the thickness

4. On the left panel of the screen, select “Get Plans”. A pop-up panel would appear at the bottom part of the screen
5. Save it as a PDF file and choose the millimeter as the unit

     

PHASE 2 – LASER CUTTING

Preparation:

-Adobe Illustrator on your PC

-3mm plywood sheets

-Laser cutting machines

Step 1- Adobe Illustrator
1. Open the PDF file saved before on Adobe Illustrator

2. Use RGB colour format. You can set this on the menu by using: ‘File’ > ‘Document Colour Mode’ > ‘RGB Colour’.  

NOTE: if you imported your drawing from another program, check it’s still using the RGB model

3. On the top panel of the screen, change the stroke to 0.001 for every lines in your PDF file

4. Change the color in Red [Cutting] (R: 255, G: 0, B: 0), Blue [Engraving] (R: 0, G: 0, B: 255)

5. On the File Menu, select “Save As” and save it as an illustrator (.ai) file

Step 2-Laser Cutter
1. Open the laser cutter and lay your plywood sheet
2. Turn the power on
3. Turn the filtration system on before you laser cutting
4. On the Fab Lab computers, open your file on Adobe Illustrator
5. Print it and select the VLS printer
6.  On the bottom right side of the taskbar, open the VLS Printer
7. Make sure that the laser focus sits inside of the plywood sheet by toggling on the focus tool

NOTE: make sure your plywood sits straight on the laser cutters by using the pins from the lab

8. Change the printer settings of the material. Choose proper settings for the natural wood-medium grade in a slightly higher thickness than your material in case the material cannot get cut through

9. Click the button to start laser cutting

10. Put the pieces together like the picture below to get the template for metal shaping

PHASE 3 – METAL SHAPING

Preparation:

1 mm thick 5005 aluminium sheet

3D template
Mark pen

Step 1- Cutting the metal sheet
1. Using the Guillotine to cut the aluminium sheet and get a proper size for the template

2. use the mark pen to roughly draw the shape of your model 

3. Cut off the irrelevant area by using this large shear

4. Use the aviation snip to modify the edge

Step 2- Shaping the metal sheet
1. Use the slip rollers to curve the sheet according to the contours of the 3D template

The idea is to get a curve close to the body of the  template as much as possible, then modify the edge to get a adhesive sheet

2. Check the sheet with your model to see which area need to be modified

3. Use the English wheel to smooth the surface before bending the shoulder part, the English wheel can also extend the length of the sheet in case it's shorter than the template

4. Once you get the basic form, start shaping the detail curves on the T-dolly. Just be patient for the shoulder part


5. Repeat steps above until you have a perfect one! Lol    O(∩_∩)O