Studio 4 Journal, Week 8

This Week

• New Base
• New Top Sphere Attempt
• Assembly
• Design Refinement

New Base - The previous base was too small to support the weight of the arm without rolling out of the ring. A larger ring of contact was needed, and so I turned a mould to cast in which supports the lamp. I used timber to create the mould, then sealed it with Cabothane and coated it with Vaseline to keen teh cement from bonding to the timber. The bolt helped remove the casting from the mould.

New Top Sphere Attempt - I'm not happy with the way the first top piece turned out, so I figured i should attempt to cast the part using plaster as the mould. The first step was to use the MDF sphere's bottom half to create the domed mold. The plan was to use this dome, place the top part of the MDF sphere in the dome and pour plaster into the empty space where the housing is. Finally, removing the parts and plaster insert from the dome would leave me with the right parts to cast a new top part. The plan fell apart when I could not remove the plaster from the housing section. Otherwise, I think this would have worked.

Assembly - With all the parts finally cast and ready, I drilled the holes  with a masonry bit into both sides of the sphere, mixed some Araldite and assembled the two halves around the arm with threaded rod.

Design Refinement - After consideration and time to brainstorm, I've come up with some alternative solutions. The most pressing issue is balancing the arm. Different materials could solve this. Also a more foxed base solution.

Studio 4 Journal, Week 4

This Week

• MDF Sphere Continued
• Base Turning
• CAD Flat Pattern
• Button Adjustments

MDF Sphere Continued - Again with the sphere... Yes. Its taking some time to get to a finish that is free from dents and such. At this point, its at the stage where I cant see that it is worth spending any more time on it. It has already consumed way too much of that resource.

Base Turning - The base is a simple ring of cement which I have made a test part in foam, then turned up out of timber in order to cast a mould off of. There is a circular housing in the centre for a 3D printed part that will create the more intricate parts that wont be seen when the lamp is assembled.  The choice of 3D printing is simply because of the fact that it is quick and accessible to me, unlike the CNC milling machine at uni. The more I can get done in the break. the better.

CAD Flat Pattern - Working in Solidworks, I've modeled the Alucobond components with consideration to the fact that I will be using the CNC mill to cut the shape. I'm not going to a realistic model, its just a functional model to give me a flat pattern to cut from. Even after i export the flat pattern, I intend to modify it in Illustrator to make the CNC process as quick as possible when the workshop is open again.

Button Adjustments - I've decided that the lamp needs to have a brightness adjustment. There will be a small button at the front of the sphere which will controll the brightness at 8 different levels. I've remastered the original power button cam to fit into the space available in the final design for the arm. Also, created a CAD model of a first attempt for a mounting system for the smaller brightness button. I'll test this out next week.

Studio 4 Journal, Week 3

This Week

• Latex Mould Testing
• MDF Sphere Continued
• 1:1 Scale Model
• Light Source Details

Latex Mould Testing - I had been a little worried about how well the latex will hold the round shape over such a large area. The test involved making a quick mould with a bowling ball which I borrowed from a friend. The ball is a little old and used with some small gouges in it which means I couldn't use it to make my final product with, however is serves well as a test model.

I attempted to support the latex with some soil I have laying about, which in the end I think was a bad idea. I really should have found some sand. Perhaps I will go for a drive down to the beach and borrow some from the earth. The final result was covered in bumps. I also noted that the finish was not as smooth as the ball. I need to coat the latex with some Vaseline next time.

MDF Sphere Continued - Once the sphere had been turned to a ball that I was happy with, I put a load of Estapol over it to try seal the end of the MDF a little before going at it with the high build filler primer. I had a go at sanding it to round as best I could to remove the rings that were left behind by the denser areas where the MDF layers were glued together.

Further along, I had a suggestion from one of my lecturers to use a ring shaped sanding block and roll around the ball to achieve the perfect sphere. I went about cutting out a ring and ended up just using that as a stand. The easiest approach was to cut the abrasive paper in such a way that i could fold it into a cone and roll it around the ball. At this point, I've filled some small gouges and cracks with car bog, sprayed another coat of filler primer and am waiting for it to dry before I sand it down and repeat one last time, just for the best possible finish I can achieve.

The more time I spend on this, the better my final product will be. Investment.

1:1 Scale Model - Though this was in week 1, I figure its an important part in explaining the side of the lamp. Its no small thing, and the design has had a few further modifications since. There is also a lack of the piece of cement that would serve as the base.

The newer version has a slimmer arm with a taper running from the front and back into the centre of the sphere. Also, there is a taper that runs from the top of the lamp, down to the underside.

Light Source Details - Again, this was determined in week 1, but I've made some further changes. I've added a brightness adjustment button that should fit well into the existing design. The old power connector was a little ugly, so I've purchased a cleaner plug that I will be able to hide in the design much more easily. I cut away the top of a little button that was attacked to the dimmer I had purchased, so I could solder on my own button that have a better tactile feel.

There is a short video below showing the function of the electronics.

The next two week are a teaching break, so I wont have access the workshop at Uni. This does however mean I have no restrictions on my time other than eating and sleeping.