061_construction_brass structure

Instruments required

Butane torch + butane

Silver paste solder (hard)

Silver wire solder

Flux

Soldering brick

Tweezers/pliers

Jewellers mitre box and saw

Butane torch

soldering brick and silver paste solder

first attempt at soldering the box for the finger= fail

Above is my attempt to solder the box to go around the finger. The issue with cutting separate pieces for each plane is that it is difficult to solder each one without melting the previous solder applied. Advice from a friend suggested that bending the outer box and soldering only the inner pieces would solve this problem. 

soldering the wing piece

Above is an photo from the soldering process for the wing piece. The difficulty with this pieces was the same as the above - parts kept on falling off whenever a new solder was applied due to the heat. I also realised that soldering rods together using the paste solder was neat and effective- however soldering a brass plane to a rod/another plane was difficult as an even distribution of heat was required and the paste solder was not melting easily. The method was then altered such that small pieces were soldered together using the paste solder - but larger pieces where less heat was required were soldered using the silver wire solder. 

Structural components

The wing

Ring

Runners and structure

Soldering components together

Nearly finished structure

Polishing

Due to some of the difficulties soldering the pieces, much of the brass was marked by fire scale/oxidisation. I attempted to use pickle (below) to remove the fire scale after sanding with a fine emery paper. The pickle was moderately successful. I also tried Brasso to further polish the metal, however I found it also had little effect. 

060_construction_wing component

The wing component inspiration

chicken feathers

strands of hair

epidermis - layers/sensory component/movement

Construction

As part of my project involves making tiny holes in pieces of brass - I went out and bought a pin vise from Hobby Co. These are useful in making holes smaller than what a drill press might be capable of, and is also highly transportable as it is only the size of a pen.

Pin vise from Hobby Co

I tested it out using the biggest and smallest drill bits provided (0.0135" to 0.0635")

Drilling

Biggest drill bit

Biggest and smallest drill bit available

Threading

050_kinetic output_the object

With inspiration from Dunko Yoon's kinetic rings, this form seeks to create physical movement in response to an input via a sensor.

Gold indicates brass, grey indicates felt. The cotton string is found threaded through the holes on the pieces of brass on the right.

The object is to be worn on the hand, so that the person themselves experiences the analogue physically. The box to the right is worn around the index and ring finger, and the felt to the left is strapped on to the wrist. 

The string leading away from the wrist strap is the wiring connected up to the neckpiece worn by the person. Between the wrist strap and the tube on runners is flexinol. Between the tube and the brass planes is cotton string.

The mechanism works such that when a current is sent down the wire, the flexinol contracts and pulls the tube. This tube then pulls the cotton string and the brass planes flips up like a see-saw. The purpose of this movement, as well as the thread that will be hanging from the plane, is that it mimics an animals skin/hair reaction to someone close to them - such as when hairs stand up on your neck when you "feel" someone behind you. 

The piece will have cotton threads threaded through tiny holes in the brass - a reference to hairs standing on end/hairs/skin structure/epidermis/wings. The intent is to try keep the structure as light/simple as possible.

The main problem I am finding in the design of this is how to keep the nitinol from touching the brass, as I am worried the brass will overheat or short the circuit. I've attempted to solve this by having a brass tube insulated with felt that is placed on runners. The string that pulls on my "wing" is simple cotton thread and is connected to the insulated tube. The nitinol also connects to this tube, so that when it contracts, it pulls the tube and cotton thread. 

044_0.012_flexinol test

I decided to incorporate flexinol into my analogue as the metal is able to produce movement without the use of a motor. This may result in an unexpected kinetic output for my final product. 

After realising that the 0.005 nitinol was potentially being burnt out, I ordered 3 lengths of 0.012 flexinol from Little Bird Electronics.

When connected in circuit with the KEMO light barrier, I noticed that the movement was much more pronounced and that there was no burning smell when current was applied to the metal alloy.

043_materiality_cotton string

When I first researched a lightweight material to incorporate into my analogue, my first thoughts were using paper:

Paper Jewellery

Paper Jewellery by Ana Hagopian

Olga Noronha Incarcerated Bodies by Olga Noronha

I thought that a suitable lightweight/organic material I could use could be paper twine as seen in some of the above photos. However upon researching I could not easily find any suppliers. I made the decision to use white cotton string, as the hanging string was light and delicate enough to be lifted by the flexinol, and depending on how it was placed, could resemble hair or even feathers. 

 

042_materiality_brass

Shopping

Today I went to Hobby Co and AJS in the Dymocks building and bought:

A mitre box set to cut brass, and a pin vice to make tiny holes without using a drill press

Thin brass strips and a hollow tube

The reason for the hollow tube is that I think I might be able to thread cotton thread or fishing line through the hole to assist in the moving parts. I bought the lightest brass available as lifting something heavy with the nitinol might be problematic.

Soldering Brass

041_materiality_felt

I chose felt as one of the materials to be included in my analogue due to its heat resistant qualities and ability to retain form. The felt I used ended up being a sample supplied by Warwick Fabrics to a work colleague. The sample was from the Augustus collection in "Wolf", as below. 

As the felt body/neck piece would be holding all the electronics, I researched the extent of the forms it could make, and how it has been used before. Below are some images I found on my research that I may use as inspiration. 

Anne Kyrro Quinn

Anne Kyrro Quinn

Anne Kyrro Quinn

Anne Kyrro Quinn

Candice Herne

Daniel Widrig

Robert Morris

Fiona Duthie

Yohji Yamamoto