Saturday 30 November 2013

Refuse to Re-Use - Knitting machine

One of my best finds at the recycling centre was a 1960's french made Singer knitting machine.


With the help of the textiles tutor at college, we managed to put it together and found it works well.
Here are images of my first attempt - any suggestions Belinda ?








Friday 29 November 2013

Refuse to Re-Use - A week in the foundry

I am casting some of my recycling centre finds - the diamente bird box and a two-part wooden lamp stand.
After making silicon moulds of the wooden lamp stand, I have made wax copies of the two parts.
The next stage is to connect runners for the molten bronze to flow down and risers for the gases to escape.
With the runners and risers connected, with the help of hot knives, the next stage is to cover the wax with a mixture of plaster and herculite. The coffee cup at the top will form the entry point for the molten bronze pouring.





Plastic cylinders, ready for the pouring of plaster and grog.



A completed investments for the two parts of the wooden lamp stand.




A more complex mould/wax copy for the bird box - the runner has 4 connections to the box.



And eight connections to the box for the three risers.



The investments are put into an oven for the weekend, upside down for the wax to melt out - the lost wax process. 
Once done the investments can be turned right way up and the bronze poured in - more updates on this on tuesday.







Sunday 17 November 2013

Refuse to Re-Use - steel flattening video

The operators of the "claw machine" were highly skilled as this film shows - they could also strip the motor out of a washing machine.


Saturday 16 November 2013

Refuse to Re-Use - Redistribution stage two

Managed to catch up with those colleagues who couldn't pick up their items on friday.













Friday 15 November 2013

Refuse to Re-Use - Redistribution (last day of show)

I redistributed most of the objects and frames - here are some of the happy recipients