I have just returned from giving a lecture at the 2011 National Conference on Cast Iron Art. I am still working on uploading the full powerpoint presentation from the lecture, but as a teaser here is the reference list that was most requested:
We are getting ready for an iron pour and finals are coming so look for the images from the powerpoint after May 15th.
So I was pre-med for awhile and I keep following how 3D printing is affecting other fields besides art. This video is very interesting and worth spending some time with:
If you don’t have luck playing the video, try this link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney.html
At Solheim Lab in Washington, we have been printing many, many molds and having great fun casting glass (more posts on that subject later). It seems that our kilns have been going non-stop over the past week (what an exciting time in our lab).
Today’s post is a new development that came as a result of observing the glass molds after the casting process. The molds were quite robust after firing. We tested fired PVOH (hydroperm) past 2200 F (1200 C) succesfully. Thus it seemed that PVOH might be able to take glaze! Wow!
We test fired a few bars with glaze and the results were positive (although they were very porous). Laura West suggested showing something cool (not just your standard test bars).
[showtime]
We present a simple bowl with glaze and and some dark blue crystal glaze sprinkles. We took care of the porosity issue by infusing with colloidal silica before glazing.
With all of our excitement, we sent an email to Michael Eden in England with a simple question “Hey Michael, have you ever heard of anyone glazing plaster?”. The answer “Yes, me!”
{Copyright Michael Eden}
“I infused one of the commercial printing plasters with a proprietary refractory infiltrate (from Axiatec) that allows it to be heated to 1500C (2730F). The material is too absorbent for glaze, so I coated with vitreous slip, fired it to 1000 C, then dipped it into our lovely lead glaze, stained with copper oxide. Then fired to 1085 (1985F)
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
After our success, with glass casting in VOHP plaster (USG Hydroperm), we had a discussion in the Open3DP lab about “What’s next?”. The students in the lab are working on their final two class projects, one of which involves printing molding masters. They use the masters to create plaster molds for slip casting. It seemed like a natural thing to try 3D printing of slip casting molds.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
We printed a simple two part mold for our test pot – SW Pot. The resulting molds looked just fine but how would they perform? We tested the mold pair with low fire slip (also known as talc-body slip). It seems that the printed molds performed at least as well as traditionally created plaster molds.
It seems that our students will be producing slip casting molds a new way in the future.
Last week, DHUB in Barcelona was a gracious host of Mark Ganter and Professor Dr. Salvador Borrós of Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull. The event (“Materiality”) was the part of a series of lectures presented by the Fabrication Laboratory: Full Print3D. Salvador’s presentation was an overview of the material science/material engineering issues in the arena of additive manufacturing. Mark’s lecture detailed the events of the Solheim RP lab over the last year.
DHub has an amazing presentation of additive manufacturing artifacts from around the world. Please consider checking it out.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Here’s a quick overview of the work of Mark Ganter, Duane Storti, and Meghan Trainor.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
My name is Charlie Wyman and I am currently a graduate student at the University of Washington in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to beginning my studies at the University of Washington, I received my B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Whitman College, and upon graduating I spent several months designing and fabricating metal sculptures from copper and steel. This quarter I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work in the Solheim RP Lab under the guidance of Prof. Mark Ganter.
Recently, under the direction of Prof. Ganter and Prof. Laura West, I have been experimenting with “kiln casting glass” directly into printed molds. The primary material that has been used thus far is hydroperm, a material that is ready to use out of the bag. For the first few tests, I used a standard glass firing schedule and System 96 glass, which is more viscous that typical casting glass. I also used an open-faced mold of a mask I designed as the test mold.
Preliminary results have shown promise, but we still have some details to work out. We initially had some problems with mold burn-in and devitrification, but I believe this was due to discrepancies in the firing schedule. These issues have been significantly reduced.
Future tests will include varying the firing schedule and temperatures to minimize the frosty surface, spots, and devitrification, and to determine at what point mold burn-in occurs. I will also experiment with different types of glass and mixing other materials with the hydroperm.
