Space and Materiality New Design for 3-D Version of Parabolic Project (2nd Attempt)

My previous iteration of my 3-D design for my 2-D parabolic project (involving the design that looked like a starfighter) was, obviously, unprofessional, and a failure on my part due to it being rushed. The copper wire was jagged and uneven- not straight, and the styrofoam was poorly cut. However, despite my setbacks, I did not give up for this past week and was helped by my professor to create a revised, much cleaner second version of my intended parabolic project. He told me to simplify and to create a fragment of it since my initial 2-D drawing looked to be too ambitious and would take too long for me to create.

  • I ended up having the idea of taking two thin planks of wood, drilling even spaced holes in them before setting them up at a right angle, and threading thin strands of steel wire through these holes akin to a parabolic curve, creating a nice, elegant model.
  • Throughout class, I went to the Making Center and got an assistant to help me learn how to drill holes evenly on both planks of wood after measuring the distances of each hole to an inch (I had the idea of stacking both planks of wood on top of each other before clamping them to cut my time by half and get done with the process more efficiently).
  • After drilling these holes, I obtained some woodshop glue from the front desk and took a small wooden cube, and glued both planks of wood at a right angle.
  • Then my assistant, to secure the frame of what would eventually come out to be 3-D design, drilled two bolts on the faces of the cube with the planks on top of them to secure them and prevent them from falling off.
  • Using steel wire I was given by my professor, I straightened each bent or jagged wire by clamping each wire onto a table side clamp, attaching the other end into my power drill and letting the drill run for a little bit.
  • After straightening several wires, I threaded them all through each hole of the two planks, forming diagonal straight lines that gave the illusion of a parabolic curve upon intersection. I used pliers to cut any unnecessary wire and bent the little that was left poking out of each hole downwards to keep the wire from falling out.
  • Following this, my professor suggested that to increase the model’s elegance, for me to use a soldering iron (or a lighter and wire) to weld the threaded wires together where they intersected so that then the frame could be taken off in order to leave a beautiful wire sculpture without a need for a frame, which I did partially prior to this weekend, as shown in the final photo I took below.

Below are pictures of my process at the Making Center:

Woodshop Glue and Initial Frame

Power Drill

Pliers plus cut and bent wire for frame

Completed Wire Parabola inside Wooden Frame after Threading

Soldering Iron plus Soldered Areas of Completed Wire Sculpture and Wooden Frame

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