FINAL

The final outcome.

CLIP

These are some images of the process involved in the creation of the plastic clips. These clips are critical to the final outcomes function.

LATHE

I have decide on a method that requires a lot of work. I have decide to manually lathe each pin from aluminium rod. What i found amazing about the lathe was the precision you can achieve. The process is long and each pin took about 45 minutes to make.

J-CAST PINS

After the failed attempt at wax casting the pins i decided to turn to j-cast which is kinda like plastic. I casted the brass master pin in RTV (LATEX) in order to create a mould for the j-cast. The j-cast went ok ish its a good material to work with because you can colour it. The j-cast is quite fragile so i have decided to lathe the pins from aluminium.

WAX MOULDING

I aim to use the brass master pin in the final design however i also want to create aluminium pins too. I use the brass pin to create a rubber mould that would allow me to cast wax multiples for firing in the kiln. The wax is melted out and replaced with molten aluminium. Big problem however the wax models are really fragile and keep breaking.

I need to find a better method.

BRASS MASTER PIN

I posted earlier about my attempts at milling a brass pin to re-enforce the plastic clips. This idea was inspired by the brooch pin used on kilts. It is a simple solution that i want to incorporate into my final design.

METAL CLIP

This is an early prototype for the clips that re-enforce the plastic clip. I used spring steel to allow for flexibility and to allow the metal clip to maintain its form.