Material Catalogue: Artefact project

25 October 2019

Surface Generation: Wires

Steel Wire:

• Keeps form when wrapped tight
• Wrapping is hard even with pliers
• Loses shape in 3 dimensional wrapping
• Extremely useful for replacing hardware – wire wrapped lid pivoting along thicker copper wire forms a hinge

Silver wire:

• Useful for filling in smaller areas where wrapping steel wire isnt possible
• Expensive
• Adds interesting shine to surface

Copper Wire 3mm dia:

• Extremely rigid, keeps 3 dimensional shape
• can be bent with tools but doesnt give sharp angles
• Adds interesting colour tone to wire form

Nickel Alloy:

• Extremely soft and easily usable considering strength
• useful for smaller areas (fixing latch)

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Mould making materials:*

Silicon Putty (Amazing casting products) :

• Very rigid, cannot accommodate any soft materials
• Expensive
• Even mixing is difficult within extremely short setting time

Alginate 1:2 (Alginart):

• Reasonably priced
• Retains and drips water
• Not good for plastic moulding
• Bubbles and texture

2 Part silicon mix (Barnes):

• Easy mixing
• Manageable setting time
• least messy
• expensive
• failed only during spiral casting

*Need to study impact of each on environment

Casting materials:

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Air drying clay:

• Easy to use
• Reasonably priced
• Not good for casting moulds for glossy finished prototypes – bits of clay remain on mould and transfer onto next moulding medium

Oven Baked Clay:

• Allows glossy surfaces
• Keeps shape without baking (Partial air drying)
• Expensive

Resin:

• Toxic fumes
• Surface irregularities on mould make it lose transparency
• Captures details
• Hard, durable
• Can be dyed with specific dyes

Candle wax:

• Difficult to cast, yet dipping and layering is possible
• Surface irregularities can be melted away
• Sets much quicker than resin
• Allows colouring with dye
• Comparatively cheaper
• Not durable for a commercial product, good for a depictive prototype

Weaving Materials:

• Nuts form interesting compositions while allowing negative space for plants to creep through
• Varying forms of steel wire – no dynamic contrast with steel wire on vertical cage
• Wire mesh – interesting surface, many sharp edges
• Resistors add colour and enhance geometric composition
• Contrasting twisted wires – add texture and interest

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Handles: Acrylic rod and bar

• Easily transformable into desired curving shape
• Thicker rods can overheat forming bubbles on surface
• Can be cut using Jewellers saw
• Sixe – 5mm dia – not ergonomically responsive