Difference in scale - 2L bottle would hold an ideal amount of juice/water for several people (family/dinner party,
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Prototyping 3
Difference in scale - 2L bottle would hold an ideal amount of juice/water for several people (family/dinner party,
Prototyping 2
Use the sketch as a template - even easier to sketch straight onto the blue foam.
Trim a space for the bottle - does the bottle actually need its own 'holder', like in the previous concept? The bottle looks ok resting against the surface.
Removed the centre of the handle to make two 'prongs'. Just a quick idea I wanted to mock up, the handle is less comfy like this.
This model has had the least finishingof them all. There is something different about the this form, in a good way - the spout and handle pointing in the same direction creates a nice shape, develop this further.
Prototyping
The sketch gives a good idea of dimensions and scale - the drawing does however look like a 500ml bottle instead of the 2L one in the prototypes below.
The shape is roughed out quickly from blue foam, the edges can be sanded properly afterwards.
Checking the required diameter for the 'donut' holder at the top - 2L bottle is the largest size that my my idea would accomodate. If it fits, everything fits.
When the object is tilted forward to pour, the holder prevents the bottle from pulling on the thread slotted into the base.
Water decanter
At about 8 weeks to go, I needed to make a decision: Persevere with the flywheel press guillotine OR run with the idea that had been in the back of my head for a while.
Decision made: Jug/decanter
Rough sketches showing some basic forms. The add-on option requires less material than a jug, however it is likely the jug is more stable that the add-on.
A mix of the two - keep the add-on feel, users have to screw the bottle into this device BUT, the design adopts the larger footprint of a jug.
A little too large, though the arc curve is much nicer than the straighter curves - find a happy medium.
The join of the handle and the holder needs to be cleaner - looks like it's stuck on at the moment. Also watch how long the footprint of the base is getting, if the width doesnt grow with it, the object is likely to topple to its side.
A reasonably resolved form, there are still a few points that need working. The object is a little too big, not the width or the length but just the overall size - maybe simplify.
Smooth the design out with prototyping!
Decision made: Jug/decanter
Rough sketches showing some basic forms. The add-on option requires less material than a jug, however it is likely the jug is more stable that the add-on.
A mix of the two - keep the add-on feel, users have to screw the bottle into this device BUT, the design adopts the larger footprint of a jug.
A little too large, though the arc curve is much nicer than the straighter curves - find a happy medium.
The join of the handle and the holder needs to be cleaner - looks like it's stuck on at the moment. Also watch how long the footprint of the base is getting, if the width doesnt grow with it, the object is likely to topple to its side.
A reasonably resolved form, there are still a few points that need working. The object is a little too big, not the width or the length but just the overall size - maybe simplify.
Smooth the design out with prototyping!
guillotine re-think
Maybe I was being a little hasty, maybe I was going about the flywheel press the wrong way.
I was trying to think of something after I made the blade profile and cut the bottle - chances are I won't find a good second-life function that way. I need to design the function and form first, then make the blade to match.
Straight-cut blade - can cut across but also make zigzag
Shuttlecock-like shape, or use the natural shape of the bottle to make a quick whisk
Think about the shape carefully because if affects the outcome of the design
Too 'crafty' - look at the small/large-scale opportunities for business/selling. Twee items like this might sell in small craft/giftshops but the big fish eludes second-life objects like this.
Maybe I use the flywheel and then add something else to make the actual object. Don't limit yourself by thinking the manufacture ends with the flywheel press!
Look at the negative, the leftover material - maybe that is the useful piece - the part with the thread OR the part with the bottom.
Thread - can screw into something else (like bottle brush)
Base - functional as a storage device (people have made flower vases from these parts)
Sketch of the guillotine, showing how multiple bottles would fit into the same gap.
Window boxes for flowers - similar to the re-blowmolded milk cartons. This idea would require the window box to be built, from scrap wood?
Some good sketches and some concepts that would obviously need developing, but I still can't get excited about the flywheel press. I dont see the outcome and I think its time to change course for good. But some good material - look at adding something to the plastic bottle to make it more valuable, rather than cutting it, etc.
I was trying to think of something after I made the blade profile and cut the bottle - chances are I won't find a good second-life function that way. I need to design the function and form first, then make the blade to match.
Straight-cut blade - can cut across but also make zigzag
Shuttlecock-like shape, or use the natural shape of the bottle to make a quick whisk
Think about the shape carefully because if affects the outcome of the design
Too 'crafty' - look at the small/large-scale opportunities for business/selling. Twee items like this might sell in small craft/giftshops but the big fish eludes second-life objects like this.
Maybe I use the flywheel and then add something else to make the actual object. Don't limit yourself by thinking the manufacture ends with the flywheel press!
Look at the negative, the leftover material - maybe that is the useful piece - the part with the thread OR the part with the bottom.
Thread - can screw into something else (like bottle brush)
Base - functional as a storage device (people have made flower vases from these parts)
Sketch of the guillotine, showing how multiple bottles would fit into the same gap.
Window boxes for flowers - similar to the re-blowmolded milk cartons. This idea would require the window box to be built, from scrap wood?
Some good sketches and some concepts that would obviously need developing, but I still can't get excited about the flywheel press. I dont see the outcome and I think its time to change course for good. But some good material - look at adding something to the plastic bottle to make it more valuable, rather than cutting it, etc.
Monday, 7 June 2010
guillotine part 2
The first prototype for the plastic bottle guillotine. The slightly random shape should give me a variety of cuts - using the negative and the positive parts of the bottle once cut. This blade can also be rotated at an angle to produce a different cut.
Using the fly wheel press I attempted to stamp the shape in to the plastic bottle, though I hit a snag - because the plastic bottle is not very strong when the liquid has been emptied, and the force of the flywheel press is so great, the plastic bottles are pretty much flattened, and losing the cylindrical shape is not good.
As you can see above, I tried filling the bottle as best I could to prevent the fly wheel simply crushing the form. Using a block of wood and then a hard rubber length on top of this seemed to work reasonably well, though the cutting blade only made contact with a few inches of the bottle, requiring me to rotate the bottle each time I made a cut.
Also, trying to hold the blade steady when spinning the fly wheel can be difficult and dangerous - its pretty much a "hands-off once you start" bit of workshop kit. Gill, the workshop technician so me a simple way of solving the problem - placing a very heavy weight on top of the blade!
I thought of ways to fill the bottle out, make it slightly stronger, and I was curious when Jon mentioned expanding foam. After spraying a release agent in to the bottle, I poured in the two chemicals seperately, put the cap on and shook them together. The two chemicals need access to oxygen to really kick off so I opened the cap after they were mixed and then waited until the foam was near the top of the bottle and quickly screwed the cap back on.
However, trial and error needs to occur in some cases (this stuff didn't come off my hands for over a week - note to self: wear gloves).
Showing basic 'casts' of plastic bottles using exmpanding foam. The amount of 'hardener' used was slightly different in each one - the right-hand one was slightly tacky and the one on the left had to much air between the foam.
This one was a bit off-course but I had a good time experimenting, it also showed a different manufacturing process that could be applied to plastic bottles - one of the main project goals.
The bottle filled with foam did seem to hold it's shape slightly better than the ones wih out, though after the cutting process, the foam wouldn't budge.
I retried the foam with more release agent sprayed in to the bottle and yet again, once cut, the foam would not leave the bottle.
At this point I felt it was time to change course to a more reliable manufacturing process - the flywheel bottle press was too tricky to try an replicate a cutting shape. Also the bottle's integrity was lost when subject to the crushing flywheel.
Back to the drawing board...
guillotine
The previous guillotine post gave me an idea to make a similar cutting device for plastic bottles. 20 bottles with the exact same cut will look much better than 20 bottles cut randomly. Obviously it also depends on the function in mind - the shoe brush I made had random cuts and slices on the bottle, though this worked because it was able to get all the muck from the nooks and crannies. But in general, uniformity looks better.
I used a file to get a basic sharp edge on the cut sheets of steel. I would these blades later on the workshop grinder.
Lining up for the chop: the base unit would need to fit a variety of bottles, maybe even 2L bottles also. The part where the 'head' would rest could either be made adjustable or just large enough to fit the evian and lucozade bottles.
Equipment for the guillotine.
I used a file to get a basic sharp edge on the cut sheets of steel. I would these blades later on the workshop grinder.
Lining up for the chop: the base unit would need to fit a variety of bottles, maybe even 2L bottles also. The part where the 'head' would rest could either be made adjustable or just large enough to fit the evian and lucozade bottles.
The hole drilled should fit most bottles. This will allow me to make the same series of cuts to a range of differently-sized bottles.
The key to the whole process - the blade. I shaped this using the sheet bender, I then had to trace the outline of the blade profile onto a block of wood and cut it in half along the line. Then, using some strong glue, I sandwiched the blade using the two halves of wood. A few nails from the nail gun secured it for sure and then I was ready to start cutting...
The key to the whole process - the blade. I shaped this using the sheet bender, I then had to trace the outline of the blade profile onto a block of wood and cut it in half along the line. Then, using some strong glue, I sandwiched the blade using the two halves of wood. A few nails from the nail gun secured it for sure and then I was ready to start cutting...
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