BEIL0014- Digital Making: Interdisciplinary Skin: Mouse

The next assignment is creating a metal skin of an interdisciplinary template. We were allowed to be in groups and share our first templates with students from other disciplines and let them choose which one they think is the most interesting to make (more like easy and less exhausting).We chose an architectural computing guy's template which is a computer mouse.

So, he suggested we use a more rigid material for the template (because he used cardboard and regrets it) and use the stacking method to get more details of the form (because he used the waffling method and regrets it). He gave us a copy of his 3D Make model so we could change the settings to our preferred material and construction technique.

Basically, just follow the steps from the previous assignment.

1. Modify settings from 3D Make. (I chose the same material and method: 3mm plywood through stacking method)
2. Modify settings on Illustrator. Make sure to change the line color and line stroke.
3. Laser cut.
4. Start hitting the metal sheet!

For my sheet, I now used the 1mm thick aluminum (which is actually just a scrap metal we found on the lab)

The first approach is to mark the center of the circular sheet and draw circular patterns based on the form of the mouse. This marks the areas that you need to hit in order to initially create a bowl form. (Doing this first will save you a lot of time and strength because it's gonna be easier to shape the sheet later on) Using the wooden mallets, you can start hitting the marked areas in alternating clockwise and anti-clockwise motion as you go outward. Once you reach the outermost part of the sheet, you can use the plastic mallets (these are heavier) to shrink and curve the edges.

Once the sheet is close to a bowl form, you can lay it on the 3D template to help you get the curves and other details. In my case, I laid it on the 3D template and tried shaping it as closely as possible using my hands (cos I'm strong like that).

Once I got the basic form, I started hitting it using the finer bossing mallets really gently to avoid too much dents since the form won't allow me to use the English wheel on the more angled edges. (You can tape it on place to make your life easier)