Material Documentation - Sanya Thakrar FST 102

Material Documentation

-      Sanya Thakrar (FST 102)

Through this course we got plenty of information about materials.

Joineries are the points at which two different materials come in contact for example the joint between the stem and a branch. We had to find Joineries in Nature and a few man-made ones as well, measure the length and the different angles and study those joineries. There are only 39 joineries in Nature.

 

Different objects are used with different materials to attach them together like nails, screws, Fevicol adhesives etc. Sometimes adhesives are not required. One could use the weaving method or fix pieces together with particular cutouts that fix into each other.

We used straw and made a bridge that could hold the weight of more than 5 kgs.  Discussion and research made us realize that just holding straws together in a bunch is not the only way and not the strongest way to make a strong bridge. Making particular joineries in different angles increases the strength of the overall material to accomplish its objective. Making different angled joineries balances and distributes the weight of the object placed and thus the material becomes stronger.

 

We not only learnt how to make sculptures out of clay but also understood what needs to be done with the clay to make a good structure.  Throwing the clay repeatedly removes the gas in the clay and makes it better to use. Molding becomes easier and the structure stays strong.

We learnt the procedure for making molds. We used Plaster of Paris and heated wax to make the molds. We learnt the interesting procedures of making exact halves of the object, the channels to be made for the flow of metal, how the space is filled up and dried to make the final metal object.

 

 

 

We were taught about the different materials. We discussed about Wood, the different kinds of wood, where it is used, how to recognize different kinds of wood, compared the qualities of the different kinds; Metal and alloys, and its properties and uses; and also Glass and its uses.

As wood was available, we used that to make joineries in them without using adhesives. Different cut outs that fit into each other act as a good method for joining materials together. We learnt that even this method is difficult to perform because if even a single mistake is made in the measurement, the joint will not be formed.

 

This course gave us plenty of basic information required to know about the different materials used around the world.  Knowing the properties and the methods of using every material is helpful to make not only products but also pieces of art.  Even though we expected a lot of hands on work, we realized that the discussions were equally important as that general knowledge is required before we used the materials. We understood that knowing more about the material acts as an advantage and helps us make better products, which are also stronger and efficient. Learning the properties helps to decide logically and intelligently which material should be used, when one is making a product.

 

 

Material Documentation - Sanya Thakrar FST 102

Narendra, 

I had sent two mails and both consisted my name in the email and the documentation that i had attached.

I have attached it again.

Thank You,

Sanya Thakrar

FST 102

Fwd: documentation-Savyasachi

Material is matter that we use to make objects for a purpose. The aim of our materials class was to experiment and explore different materials and learn a few tools that would help us later. We started with recognizing different natural joints. Joints in trees, plants, flowers. The idea was to understand different joints that we could use while working with different materials ourselves. We came across a lot of joints that we could use while working with different material though we have not tried any of them yet. I would love to work upon creating joints with different materials since it involves experimenting and playing with material.

Another project that we worked upon was to understand the strength of different materials. We worked with straw and made a bridge that could hold 8 kilo's of weight. It was an interesting process, developing different structures that we thought could take the weight, making those structures and finally coming up with one, which worked. We also understood how we should use the properties of a particular material to our advantage. For example, we understood that the straw could take more weight if it stays cylindrical and not flat.

For a day we worked with clay and practiced different methods like rolling clay, flattening to make a base and creating small sculptures with rolled threads of clay. It was a good exercise to practice molding clay.

Our final project was mold making with plaster and wax. Through this we learnt how most sculptures were made and also different ways of creating molds. We came across a lot of issues during this process, the plaster wouldn't dry, it had cracks, the object couldn't be removed from the mold and tackling all of these problems we learnt a lot about mold making through this course.

I have understood that to work with material, it's important to identify its strengths and to experiment as much as possible. Through this course we used various material except for wood and metal since the workshop space was not available. I would like to work with wood and metal in depth to understand those materials and their relationships with other material which we used during this course.

Savyasachi

Material : Aditi

Material -Dhara Sheth

SEMESTER 2 – GENERIC SKILLS

MATERIALS

FACILITATOR – NARENDRA RAGHUNATHAN

OVERVIEW & REFLECTION

The journey through out this course has been thought provoking and stimulating with a series of ups and downs. Achieving success was always followed by failures. However, that did not affect our motivation or team spirit.

Initially the notions of ‘joinery,’ ‘form,’ and ‘mass’ beclouded me a lot. I could not digest the fact that balance plays an essential role in the joineries of nature and how balance has a functional value of its own.  

In one of our classes, Narendra stated, “One should use the right material with the right joinery/technology/mechanism and angles in the right way at the right time.” This encouraged me a lot and answered most of my uncertainties about the constraints present in any material (color demand, cost, durability etc.)

He also addressed the functionalities of a material (comfortable, convenience, distressful, sustainable, supportive, user - friendly etc.) conjoining with some noteworthy facts (positives and negatives) about different materials such as (metal, wood, glass and cloth.)

Our first course-work was to ‘build a structure with the weakest material that could hold a weight of five kilograms.’ Materials to be used were straw and all pins. Our experience from the research to the discussions to the making to the trial was just commendable. I was enlightened about the basic structures and arrangements of different types of bridges. The foundation (base) of our bridge design was supposed to be weaved as a mat. It was a difficult task, as the straws would dis-joint several times. Nevertheless, a strong supplement of the all pins helped us weave the mat with finesse and skill. Also Narendra being an expert, he advised us in opting for a much less time-consuming method of weaving.

Working rather playing with clay would better describe my experience with it. Learnt the art of beating clay, as to remove the gas present and how water consistency could be maintained with keeping the clay dry. The most surprising part was that even an eye could catch the finest disproportion present. Re-doing my sculpture for the sake of making the first one too skinny that it couldn’t even be scuffed off the table was a time - consuming decision. Yet, the final outcome did turn out to be better and creative than the first try.

Never knew that natural joineries did exist in wood. Always thought that nailing was the only way in which two pieces of wood could be joined to produce complex items. The characteristics of wooden joints - strength, flexibility, toughness, appearance, etc. - derive from the properties of the joining materials and from how they are used in the joints. Therefore, different joinery techniques are used to meet differing requirements. Experimenting four joineries out of six, did well pay off the patience and hard work behind the cutting and smoothening of the wood.  

Finally, working with Plaster of Paris was something very firsthand as it had an element of wax molding as well. Going at least halfway through the casting process (until the making of the wax molds) was decent as well as confusing as I mistook the hollow wax mold to a solid one. I was easily able to construct the POP molds in the start as I had worked with it earlier. Functioning with POP did include a lot of strain to the hands. The casting process, which Narendra focused on, needed a lot more time than a day. So we couldn’t complete the entire process.

Overall it was a great involvement - working with different materials and acknowledging each of their respective properties. Learnt that understanding the fundamentals of any material is equally important.

                                                                        DHARA SHETH

                                                                               FSP 101

Material - Urvika Chhabra

MATERIALS     

Every object in this world is made up OF something.  This curiosity of understanding the material of an object and how they are joint naturally or man made led me to take up this course “Materials”.

This course helped me to understand how anything and everything in this world has certain joinery. The concept of learning joineries in nature through photography, sketches and live measurement gave me a clear understanding of the angles of every joinery possible in nature and what effects does it have on that object.

It was interesting to know how certain objects cannot have a different material than what is required.  This helped me understand the constraint of every material in terms of its stretching limit, color, moisture content, quality, availability, cost effectiveness, and its life. This also gave a clear understanding of different types of joineries such as – detachable, oscillating, movable, vertically moving, steady or in the form of a pulley.

In the beginning of the course I was puzzled up as to how matter, mass, weight, volume differentiated from one another but later through self-experimentation, trials and errors I got a better understanding of the concepts.

The first assignment of using the weakest material (straws and pins) to build a bridge that could take the weight of a 5kg object scared me a bit but later after trials and errors and understanding how a straw could be joint in several ways and which part of the straw would take more weight and how different structures could be made using straws just kept on giving me more confidence to keep trying. I started with the straw mat (the base) and during the course of it we had to re-do it more than 5 times because every time we tried to attach the straws it would come out. Even the pins could not hold it for long. This hands on exercise with several trials and errors finally led to a perfect mat and we learnt different techniques to weave it. It wasn’t just about learning the weaving but also about saving time.

We also learnt about how every design should be:

·      Least stressful

·     Functional

·     Comfortable

·     Convenient

·     Balanced

·     Economically sustaining and supportive

This led to knowing different characteristics of materials like cloth, wood, clay and glass and the primary motive of joineries, which is connecting strength and stability.

The most important part of joinery is how it is going to be joint. This led to knowing different adhesives used. For e.g.:

·     Fevi bond

·     Flex bond

·     Resin (chemical based)

·     UV rays glue used in furniture

·     Welding (arc, fuse, gases like helium and argon, laser, spark) etc.

To conclude, I learnt how function is important in every form, the positives and negatives of every material and how constraints are built in different joinery and the ways to join.

                                                           Urvika Chhabra

Resending of Documentation- Sharanya Ramesh

Sharanya Ramesh

FSP 101

Material Course- Aditya shankar

Working with Materials - Pooja Ullalkar

                                                  

After long semesters of how to conduct field and getting to know people and places I finally got an opportunity to choose something that had hands on work. In the beginning I was really looking forward to working with various materials but this course has not only thought me that but also of how to stretch the materials to its limits and use it to its fullest.

We learnt about various joineries throughout this course, knowledge of which will help us in the future of our design career, as till date my major mind block was using either feviquick or m-seal. Also the information gained during the process of working with materials and research was a lucrative niche. Getting to know properties of materials will help us use that particular material judiciously in our designs. I found wood a very interesting, as wood itself categorizes into soft, hard, aromatic, age of the tree etc. every inch of the same wood is also differently priced. I wish I could have worked a little more with wood though and also get an insight to the workshop.

The other materials we worked with were straws +pins, clay, POP, wax etc.

Straws and pins was a very challenging task, we worked as a class, every one had their own ideas , since the class was pretty co-operative we proceeded with the trial and error method  every idea possible. Finally as a class we were almost successful with making the bridge structure support the weight limit. If we had the time I am sure we would have worked on it a bit more and made it better. It was an intimidating task for all but satisfied by our outcome. I personally learnt that even the weakest structure if given a correct form can prove to be the strongest. Materials are very tricky; we need to spend just enough time to understand them well.

The next material we worked with was clay. It was a messy and fun material but at the same time a tough material to work with. It is not very easy to give it a form. A strong base is required. Also what my learning's are with clay is that whenever we are adding another layer of clay to the previous , only smudging water is not sufficient we need to make sure that there are no air bubbles or gaps as later the art piece / form may tend to crack. This was my first time ever with clay. My first model was a small, somewhat distorted devils portrait from face to the neck region. Looking at how precise mr. Narendra and a few of my colleagues were at it it encouraged me to work with the material even more. I then came up with a portrait of a random roman looking face, which I felt was an improvement to the previous form.

We also worked with POP and the first two times mould making  was a disaster but finally I came up with a much sturdy one comparatively. The whole process of how casting is done was explained well and we also got to experiment a part of it on Narendras expense of wax. A

Next was working with wood to create the five basic joinaries , seemed easy but cutting through the dainty yet tough pieces of wood was literally breath taking (cause every cut we had to hold our breath) and hard .

I only wish that the course was a little longer and we got more time to spend and explore a few more materials.

Thank you.