Paper/Leaf Mache revisited

I decided to check in on the paper mache mess that I had created with leaves and paper.

 

  Here you can see that the paper mache has retained its form of  the balloon mold.

 

A closeup shows that The leaves have dried out and started to decompose, changing colour.

This is a good example of a temporal use of material. Constructing something for the use of it over a small time as it will inevitably decay back into the ground and into nothing.

Coke and Toothpaste revisited.

After a little over a week I have checked on the metals that were submerged in coke, toothpaste, and a mixture of them. I had them removed from the liquid and resting in a plastic container where they would ideally dry and corode in the air.

Here are the results.

Boiled in coke and then mixed with toothpaste.

This experiment displayed little results, there was a wee bit of slime on the underside of the spring and some discolouration of the strange piece on the left, nothing I would call corosion.

Boiled in coke and then removed and left to dry.

 As the coke has dried some of the residue was left behind, the underside of much of the metal was coated in a dark brown slime that had accumulated. On the hook like shape there was some corrosive effects.

Mixed into toothpaste and then diluted with water.

This concoction was interesting as the toothpaste residue is clearly left over. There was a fair bit of corrosion throughout most pieces, especially the small staples and the large screw. The large screw had some green stuff start to grow on it, this would be as a result of the sugar in the toothpaste.
Mostly I just found new ways to dry toothpaste.


I am not too fond of exploring chemical properties, so for now I will leave it at that.

Melted Plastic

Some more home experiments with melting plastic which I have found at the beach. I created a cubicmold for the melted plastic. The first layer was made using plastic ropes and worked very well and was formed as a solid square a the base of the square mold.

My second batch I must have rushed and used the wrong plastic for because it burnt into a black blob and in my frustration and confusion I threw it into the mold all the same and joined it with the perfect bottom piece.

Once cooled down I could see that I had a lump of charcoal attached to a beutifully coloured block.
I experimented with the block all the same, taking to it with a hacksaw and the drill press. I could see centre of the block

A hacksaw cut a cross section in the block.

I was interested in the makeup of the centre of the plastic blocks.

A closeup of the holes and coloured surface, showing off the coloured marbling.

With more controlled experimentation, without using poor grade plastics I will be able to get some larger blocks of nicely marbled plastics.

Guitar Picks.

For my 22nd Birthday I was treated to a magnificent gift that turns your old creditcards or any plastic less than 2mm thick into the shape of a guitar pick. With a bit of a sand on the edges its as good as a new one and you can play and make music as if using any other plectrum.

My new pick cutter.

Initially I went over the top, making as many as I could as quickly as I could.
But after the novelty started to wear off I began to think of other uses for it.
I tried out leather but the leather was too thick to fit in the cutter.
I tried out possum skin, it cut the shape out (mostly) but was too soft to use. I thought boiling it might work similar to boiled leather, but the possum just curled up into a useless blob.

Some bought picks and many cut out picks, some leather picks.

Using the shape of a pick to draw around I used a piece of leather and cut it out using a craft knife. Still too soft to use I tried boiling it. It worked somewhat, but warped and shrunk the original shape. My next idea was to boil the leather first, keeping it as one flat piece, and then to cut out the pick shape. This worked well and sounds great as a muted pick when used with an accoustic guitar.

Leather Picks.

Leather pick looks right at home.

This was a nice experiment for a useful item made by plastic and leather, it is an interesting way of recylcing your old cards and leather scraps once more before throwing them out.

Rasping

Out of the blue I had a piece of wood hanging about, that I had intended to do something with.
I grabbed a few rasps and a wire brush.

I believe this to be a piece of quila. I grabbed it and attacked it a little bit.

A wire brush roughed up the wood.

 A fine rasp took off a layer of the wood.

 A rougher rasp tore off the top layer.

 The rounded side of the rasp dug into side and made grooves in to the wood a similar shape to a finger grooved handhold.

 Future uses of the rounded rasp on wood could be creating a handle for an object.

Texture

 Friday I discovered a new tool and how to use it. The Dremel. This is a tool with a similar mechanism to a drill but a different function. Instead of making holes in things it is used for etching and creating texture. My trusty scraps of wood were made into a textural experiment and without fail they produced some visually pleasing results.

Then, over the weekend I went to beervana; an awesome festival about all things beer. Aside from sampling a few and then a few more drinks I kept an eye out for anything relating to materials. What intruiged me was the wristbands that we each were issued as we entered and then discarded once we left. These are ideal for their purpose of money transfer but after they are used apparantly get thrown away. How could I recycle them?

 The white plastic chip contains a copper ring that contains a small amount of data.

The small amount of copper wire could hold potential for creating a single larger object. Or something reactive.

Coke and Toothpaste

This weeks task is so far the one I looked forward to least. I am not confident in dealing with chemicals, I see them as dangerous and unnatural, I even sometimes call perfumes and liquid soaps poisons.

One idea that appealed to me however was relating chemical change back to high school science and also to food.

Topical at the moment as ever is the presence of acidity in coke products. Particularly in regards to children's dental hygiene.

A brief visit to the supermarket and I had purchased two contradictory products; Coke, and toothpaste.

By pouring coke into a pot and boiling it the water was able to evaporate out and increase the acidity .

A close look at some metal pieces boiling in coke.

A Bubbling cavity maker. 

After boiling it for a while I split it into two mixtures, each with half of the metal in them, one I left as it was, the other, I mixed in some toothpaste. I thought it might bubble as it neutralized with the coke, but it may have neutralized in a more subtle less reactive way.

I also applied some basic toothpaste to some metal screws and other bits,

Made for cleaning our teeth, what will it do to metal?

I left the toothpaste metal for a couple hours, then I added some boiling water to heat and dilute the toothepaste, and also more fully coat the steel.

I am to check the results as the week goes on.