3D
Printing meets Bronze casting; Blending old technology with new
I
arrived to learn(pepetual state), a few years ago , to my current
placement, for my primary Degree. What attracted me here was the
foundry; Iron, Bronze & Aluminium are all cast here on Jobswell
Campus , Carmarthen School of Art. My first year in college was
spent on crutches due to a riding accident( broken femur). This
slowed my foundry progress, so I started to become interested in 3D
printing, via Zbrush (Pixalogic). With computers so instinctively
alien to me this was slow. However I kept my oar in the water and
managed , with lots of guidance, to produce a 3D twice life size
British army Helmet, as part of my Degree Show The shape was
established and the lettering cut out noting areas/ countries where
Loss of life of British Armed service personell,since W.W.2. I even
had a QR code!! With two and a half years between then and now, I am
dusting down and up dating my computer skills, with Fab. Input from
Mandy and my classmates, especially; Tom, Debbie and Dave!!
As an
update to this re-emergence of skils I am on Friday tomorrow,
goasting a class where old technology meets new.
Let
me explain briefly;
. A
free 3D sculpted image is picked up on the net
.
This is downloaded to college computers
. It
is printed on their small 3D printer with a particular plastic.
.
This plastic shape is then given runners and risers as is traditional
in lost wax.
. The
traditional sandcasting process is followed
. The
Majic of the local context (C Cr) is that we use bronze ignots and
melt them in our furnace in college alongside the cast Iron process, which I will describe in a bit more detail later.
. The
First test piece was created at the end of October..... the
result...... PERFECT melt out, perhaps even better than
wax........EXCITING TIMES
I will keep you posted after Fridays lesson as I want to make this an important part of my PROFESSIONAL SKILL BASE
Interesting, keep going...
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