Category Archives: Projects

Fused Glass Attempt # 1

The first thing I tried with my new kiln was some glass fusing. Tools To cut glass I needed some new tools: Toyo Glass cutter and cutting oil (appears to be just a very low viscosity mineral oil). Metal running pliers. Glass I had bought a “student pack” of glass manufactured by Bullseye Glass Co.Continue reading “Fused Glass Attempt # 1”

Cyanotype Attempt #2

I tried the Cyanotype process again. I used the same method as before, with the following improvements: I had sponge brushes to paint the fluid on the paper consistently. I made sure not to leave any “pools” on the paper. I sandwiched things between my two new A4 glass sheets to fix any focus issues.Continue reading “Cyanotype Attempt #2”

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum Wallisii) Pollen

My Peace Lily has flowered and is scattering pollen everywhere. I think might even be giving me mild hayfever. Clearly the only thing to do is investigate! I happen to have this microscope slide equipment in the cupboard. So I put some pollen on a slide and mounted the cover glass (I spread the pollenContinue reading “Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum Wallisii) Pollen”

Cyanotype Attempt #1

A Cyanotype is an early photographic method which yields a characteristic Prussian Blue image. It is literally how you make a “blueprint”. I’ve done this before on a small scale, but I’d forgotten the exact quantities required. Luckily, NileRed has a reasonably comprehensive video on the subject, so please do watch that! Basically, you mixContinue reading “Cyanotype Attempt #1”

Epoxy Resin Casting Attempt #3

I wasn’t going to post another of these attempts as I’d hoped to be actually doing something with it now, but as it turned out, the red owl was a failure. It never cured properly: I figured out I’d simply not been careful enough measuring the quantities, so it remained really bendy. I had toContinue reading “Epoxy Resin Casting Attempt #3”

Making Skeletonised Leaves

I decided I wanted to try making some skeletonised leaves. So I did some Googling and decided to try this approach. We went out in the evening and gathered some leaves from the local Shrubbery. Totally not suspicious 🙂 I bought some Sodium Hydroxide and a cheap steel pot from ebay. Note: it must notContinue reading “Making Skeletonised Leaves”

Knitting Machine: Needle Router Working!

Check this out! I’ve actually had the main design on the whiteboard for a few weeks, but I wanted to play with other things for a bit: This is v2.1 of the needle router. I don’t think showing the intermediate v2.0 is very interesting: the changes were important, but minor. Anyway, let’s compare the designsContinue reading “Knitting Machine: Needle Router Working!”

Making a Copper Leaf and Perspex Lampshade

This is a slightly older project, but since I’m waiting for the new knitting machine design to print, I thought I’d write it up. One of our standard lamps needed a new shade, so I decided to make one! Ingredients 2mm + 3mm transparent Perspex (from Edinburgh Hacklab) Copper Leaf (from Ebay) “Size” (gilding adhesive)Continue reading “Making a Copper Leaf and Perspex Lampshade”