For our project, we were assigned the material paper/cardboard and the geometrical manipulation ‘fold’. Our concept for this lamp was inspired by origami and the use of the water bomb technique. The water bomb technique is the basis of numerous types of patters that can be used to make geometric manipulations within a surface. We also wanted to work with the idea of manipulation based on user requirements as well as light studies to help filter soft light through.

For our materials, we used two different thicknesses of cardboard within our lamp design.

MATERIAL LIST:

• Cartulina Marron 3h. Weight, 40 gr. Measures, 50 x 65 cm
• Fedrigoni Negro/Negro. Weight, 700 gr. Measures 70 x 100 cm

CUTTING PARAMETERS FOR “Cartulina Marron 3h”:

• Speed = 100
• Power = 5

ENGRAVING PARAMETERS FOR “Cartulina Marron 3h”:

• Speed = 97
• Power = 16

CUTTING PARAMETERS FOR “Fedrigoni Negro/Negro”:

• Speed = 100
• Power = 85

ENGRAVING PARAMETERS FOR “Fedrigoni Negro/Negro”:

• Speed = 100
• Power = 50

RECOMMENDATIONS:

For the Cartulina (thin cardboard) it’s necessary to use a wooden base, because we soon learned that the paper was too thin to hold on its own. The thicker cardboard was much easier to cut; it doesn’t need a wooden base.

We also tried multiple times and with different techniques to engrave on both sides of the paper, but that proved to require too precise a job for the machine to complete. We recommend working in one side only.

The inspiration for this exercise came from the undulating scaled surface of fish skin. The geometry of the panel breaks from the repetitive nature of real fish scales by the introduction of a point of distortion. This point of distortion is further emphasized by using particular milling strategies.

In order to achieve the desired form, two milling finishings were used. The first strategy used was a parallel finishing. The tool diameter was 12mm ball mill with stepover control as 35% of the tool diameter. The spindle speed was set to 8077 and the cutting speed assigned was 15.24. The total time taken for this strategy was 70 minutes. The second finishing was a radial finish using the same 12mm dia ball mill tool with stepover control as 150% of the tool diameter. The cutting speed assigned was 15.24. The entire mat took 40 minutes to mill with this finishing.

The concept behind this investigation was to design a joint that was capable of a number of different motions; rolling, rotation, and expanding. These motions are further articulated when these individual units are connected to create a linear system. Each unit has a rotation limit of 355 degrees, which creates an interesting spiral effect once the system is fully expanded. As the units begin to rotate out, they consequentially expand in length by only 3 millimeters before the unit reaches its maximum expansion limit.

The joints are printed as a connected system and vary in terms of certain parameters. The differences in the arm widths allow for the connection between the joints have varying articulations. As the width of the openings get thicker, the joining of the two units becomes less visible, and at a certain point, becomes flush with the arm. As the width of the opening gets thinner, the connection between the two units becomes more visible and more flexible in terms of disassembly. The second parameter is the variation within the arm length, which creates a secondary visual motion through the implied undulating edges.