Hi All,Sorta following up from the small woodworking lathe thread (andlearning a nice lathe solution might be a bigger project than Irealised) I'll ask the panel if there might be a better / easier /cheaper way.Our daughter has a school GCSE design project that requires her tomake a 3d model of her design (a perfume bottle .. on a particulartheme).Her design is something that looks like a typical basic flower vase(thin neck curvy waist / bottom) but with the lower end (from thewaist downwards) cutout so it ends up standing of 3 tapering legs(like it had been standing over a ball when it was made).She's requested to do the project at home rather than school becauseshe want's to make a nice job of it.So, my first though was to get her (with suitable tuition, she's goodwith that sort of thing) to turn the basic shape on a wood turninglathe (something I wouldn't mind adding to my workshop tools anyway)then to rough out the shape at the bottom somehow (bandsaw?) thenmaybe finish the rest by hand (glass paper / Dremel etc)..The final object is supposed to be in glass so a nice glossy paint jobshould help that effect.So, can anyone think of an easier / better way of doing this (withtypical d-i-y hand tools and readily available materials preferably)please?All the best and thanks for your time ..T i m

Presumably part of the challenge is to envisage how this might actually be made for production...?I'm not sure *how* it could be made for production, but a couple of thoughts for the prototype:a) section it into horizontal slices (a 3D CAD program should be able to do this) i.e. "contour lines", cut each slice out of clear acetate, glue together. The thinner/more slices, the smoother and more accurate the finish.b) clay should be both turnable (on a potters wheel) for the 'vase' and manipulable for the 'legs'c) blow it in glass, with supervision from a glass-blowerTheatricals use 'sugar glass' for breakable props - not sure how that works, there's a group something like might now.Microwave fudge is manipulable by rubber-gloved hand in the soft state, reusable and, if the project fails, edible.Owain

Making a small vase shape?

Feb 25, 2007 28 Replies

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T i m 19 years ago

Yeah, sounds like another option but I think it might need some sort of CAD / drawing package (as mentioned elsewhere on this thread) to get the 'slices' drawn out.

That in itself would be interesting (for a potential designer and something she'll no doubt be shown how to do at college) but I'll need to find out her timescale's etc.

All the best ..

T i m

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The Natural Philosopher 19 years ago

eke.

More to get scale outlines.

Where a model plane motor performs and where a real life propellor performs are two different things..in particular large props on e.g. WWII planes cannot exceed the speed of sound at the prop tips. Hence they are large, slow and very coarse pitched. Not something you can buy easily.

Electric planes are now so blessed with an excess of power that the weight of a gearbox (or simply using a heavier motor ticking over) at

2000 RPM to get a monster prop swishing around is feasible.

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Tim Lamb 19 years ago

In message , T i m writes

I have done this using polystyrene foam to make an intricate slab pot. It was biscuit fired in an electric kiln with no untoward events.

regards

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T i m 19 years ago

Thanks for the feedback Tim

All the best ..

T i m

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T i m 19 years ago

Jenny approached her DT teacher today and now has a couple of blocks of blue foam. ;-)

So, what to glue them together with that would hold them together firmly, not dissolve the foam and not form a stiff 'ridge' when sanding etc?

All the best .. (and thanks for the heads up on this option) ;-)

T i m

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The Natural Philosopher 19 years ago

PVA, but leave it a LONG time. Another possible is latex water based type adhesive - copydex?

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T i m 19 years ago

Yeah, I hadn't thought of Copydex. It isn't something I would normally use but for fabric / paper (and hopefully foam) it is normally pretty tough.

All the best ..

T i m

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Mike Pepper 19 years ago

It's probably not going to be suitable for this project, but I mention this site that I came across in an article in the Feb 2007 edition PC Pro in order that it can sit in the archive! The site is

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, (their byline: Welcome to eMachineShop - where you can instantly design, price and order your custom parts online!) I've not tried it, but it certainly looks like a website to add to your favourites, (and could maybe be used for manufacturing model propellors too!)

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T i m 19 years ago

I wonder if that would count towards her GCSE DT project though? ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

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