Clear cast base

 Here is the base of the lamp that I cast out of clear cast resin.

I used shiny plastic containers as moulds. I used them because they are cheap and it saves me the hastle of making my own moulds. I will now change the laser cut parts that will fit into the base. This method is beneficial as changing the laser cut parts to suit is easy compared to changing the clear cast resin parts and moulds.

One to one drawings

This is a 1 to 1 drawing of my lamp design. 

This process of drawing full scale is effective at determining a style for the design which is otherwise hard to achieve when drawing at a small scale. I have decided to make my lamp fully mechanical stylised. A design that follows one style, in this case mechanical/ machine, will look more resolved and give the design more purpose.

Lamp - prototype 1

The finished product looks quite good and is well resolved, including a high level of detail. The white body is 4.5 mm acrylic, the base is layered mdf board and lamp shade carved from foam. 

 I wasn't sure how well the gears would work when modelling them on CAD. I found that when the parts were laser cut, the parts that resulted were not exactly the same measurements as on CAD. This made the gears slightly unmeshed and clunky. I should be able to counteract this by offsetting the measurements outwards.

The lamp head was made from high density foam, carved on a turntable to achieve it sphericalness.


The lamp has a working tech pack. The light is a five watt LED, it seems powerful enough...








In this prototype I used bolts and nuts to fasten everything together. In the final model I will use custom lathed pieces. This will help me achieve accuracy and will look more professional.

The lamp swivels on the base using a primitive bearing mechanism, made entirely from laser cut materials. It worked well and allowed the lamp to move freely 360 degrees.

I still do not know where to put the chord, in the base, ore use an external switch...

Making of cantilever 4

 I made the aluminium parts of the cantilever from 3 mm thick plate. I drilled and shaped the cut-outs with a drill press and file.










I used heavy steel blocks to keep the aluminium in place for pouring the molds. Once the clear cast resin was poured, i slotted the aluminium parts in place.

 The result of the above is seen here. A clear cast version of the wooden block made in the previous post. The surface is wavy and would need to be sanded and polished to form a perfect glass-like surface.

 The final cantilever- made from clear cast resin and aluminium.

I think it is going to break in the middle section, as this is were the largest amount of pressure is...

Making moulds for cantilever 4

To make a mold, I first need to make a shape to mold over. The shape of course will have to be the pieces that make up my cantilever.

This piece will rest against the bar of the jig. I cut and drilled the wood until it was the shape i wanted. Then I sprayed it in paint to seal it up.

These are the materials I need in order to make the mold,
- glycerol
- acrylic paint
- soapy water & brush
- silicone
- heat gun

The glycerol (5 parts per 100) and acrylic paint (1 part per 100) help to set the acylic evenly and quickly, acting as a catalyst. I coated the wooden part in soapy water (to stop the silicone sticking to the wood) and dried it out with the heat gun.

I poured some of the acrylic-glycerol-silicone mixture into a half cut milk container, added the wooden part and then poured in the rest of the mixture.

Cantilever 2

Acrylic

Testing

 I made sure there was a consistent thickness throughout the whole of the cantilever, to make sure there were no specific weak points.

I did not focus so much on looks at this point...

The cantilever failed by shearing across the front section. As revealed by Dan, the laser cutting process heats and weakens the acrylic. The areas with lots of condensed cutting will be the weakest.






 Class comparison

The cantilever weighed 47 grams and supported 4600 grams of weight. This gave a ratio of 97.9. The weight, load carried and ratio were about average compared to the class.










Cardboard

Testing

 Similar to the first cardboard cantilever, I have gone for a corrugated cardboard technique. This one was laser cut from 1 mm cardboard, making it quite accurate compared to the first cantilever.

This time the corregations flowed horizontally as the load and pull on the cantilever runs horizontally.

As the first cantilever buckled along the front jig pole are, I have made this the thickest area with the most condensed corrugations.

In this photo you can see how a three plate system was used to maintain strength and allow the scale to be attached.

I also smeared a layer of hot glue across the outside of the cantilever to form a glue- cardboard hybrid, for strength.

 Failure

Like the first cardboard cantilever, it failed by buckling at the front jig pole. The only way I could strengthen this area is by adding two layers of corrugated cardboard...

Class comparison

With a weight of 136 grams and the ability to support 13600 grams, it has a strength to weight ration of 100. This scored a comfortable first place amongst the class, second place scoring 73.

Cantilever 1

 Design

The general concept for this cantilever was to include corregations. I believed this would give strength without adding a lot of weight.

Two panels on either side held the corregations and gave a side profile. Hot glue held everything together. I added a lot of hot glue for strength.




Each hot glue bead was strategically placed along the cardboard.

Side profile- with slots to fit into the jig and add scale.


Testing / Failure

As you can see just in front of the bar, there is some creasing and bending of the cardboard. The failure is due to the corregations being vertical when the force is running horizontal through the cantilever.










Class comparison

The cantilever weighed 125 grams and supported 2400 grams of weight. This gave a strength to weight ratio of 19.2, placing me 1st in the class. I was surprised by how well it worked.