Compact Mirror - Progress 3/6

I dropped the compact mirror project off to A.Werner Silversmith's last week to be plated. I should be getting it back sometime this week. I am so excited to see this project almost complete. Here are some shots of the progress I made over the last few weeks on the project;

I cast insulation material for the electronics, made a large dent in the bottom piece, made a "stake" out of a spoon to remove the dent, removed the dent as best I could, sandblasted the inside, polished the outside....

IMA - Final Project Part 3

Here are some more images from the construction of the project I made for Interactive and Multimedia Art. I used this 1/8" x 3/4" copper stock to make the "buttons" for the project. They are all wired up to an Arduino. I ended up running a ground plane of steel just below each copper strip too. I built a foam stand for the TV to rest on.  

IMA Final Project - Part 2

I am manipulating a few images of water that I recorded out at Atwater Beach last week for my final project in Interactive and Multimedia Art. I've been doing some writing about the work, so I'll just post that here too (below)... I'm not sold on the video presentation yet - so I'm not posting any video documentation until that's better under my control. To see the work live, check out Arts Tech Night at Kenilworth Square East on Wednesday, December 16 from 6PM - 9PM. 

Bound by Periphery is an interactive art object that explores aspects of peripheral awareness through human presence and touch. Upon approaching the object, the viewer’s presence and proximity are sensed; this reveals a moving image on a screen resting face up on the gallery floor. By crouching down and physically exploring the frame of the video, the imagery begins to change; the water imagery becomes clear, colors increase in saturation and the sound of waves and wind becomes evident. Through presence and an acute awareness of the boundaries of the object, the viewers experience becomes more dynamic and descriptive. In this way, Bound by Periphery explores various states of being contained and containing physically through objects as a metaphor for the mind. A container holds a screen, holding a sequence of video frames, playing over time. While screens can contain an endless amount of data, this object is restrained to the frame of the video. The video frame only allows us to experience what is in view, limiting our field of vision, but upon exploration of the periphery, the focus becomes clearer and transforms. By placing emphasis on the physical presence of the body on the edge of the object, the viewer is offered an incentive to explore, to relieve themselves of tunnel vision, to soften focus and play.

Compact Progress - Capacitive Touch Sensativity & Other Buttons

Compact Progress - Hinge Wires

So, I did it... I cut through the hinge. It doesn't look too bad! I'd like to think I knew this would work all along, but... Well you know I didn't mean to save this for the end.

Once I finish cleaning up the tubes, I think I'll solder together the magnet holders and start getting those inset into the opening and file out a little fingernail grip.

All is good.

I marked with a sharpie the part that is "unseen" when you move the compact hinge, in hopes to conceal the hole for the cords. 

I used a ball bur to "center punch" where I'd be drilling. 

The hole shows just slightly... not sure if I should square this out, or leave it rounded... thinking on it for a bit. 

Compact Progress - Internal Hardware Holder

For my compact, I am using (2x) 24 count LED Neopixel Ring from Adafruit, a Gemma microcontroler, and a LiPo Battery.

I took measurements off of each of these items and designed an internal hardware holder for inside both sides of the compact. The bottom has a more complicated holder because it is in charge of the battery and the microcontroller, while the top is simply holding one ring.

TOP of BOTTOM - neopixels & gemma

BOTTOM of BOTTOM - lipo & gemma

TOP - neopixels

Compact Progress - Laser Cut Acrylic Insets

I laser cut some acrylic to inset into the compact to diffuse the light of the neopixels. I got the top lid measurement perfect, it fits snug and needs the suction cup to remove it, but the bottom is a little off. I will cut a revised inset for that section. I might switch to a thicker acrylic, but for now I'm going to stick with the two layer approach and sandblast one of the layers for softer light. 

Compact Project - Progress Part 2

 I still have to clean up quite a bit of the exterior and patch a few pits in my solder joints before the piece is finished, but I'll save that until after I solder on the hinge - just in case more pits occur during that process.

Test hinge 1 - I am going to make another test hinge today with a design revision. 

  - Filing, making sure everything lines up - looks like I just missed one spot on my last big seam.

I ordered some rod from McMaster Carr today because the tubing I have isn't quite thick enough. Frankie is going to help me make thicker walled tubing out of the rod when it comes on Thursday.

Compact Project - Progress - 'smithin' is hard

I've made some significant progress on the construction of my compact mirror-like project... While it's been nice to flex my metalsmithing muscle - my actual muscles are definitely feeling it after two days of going hard at the bench. So, I took the day off of metalsmithing today to finish a few other things and hang out with my dad since he was in town. Here are some pictures from the last couple days...

Safety is not taking a selfie. 

Yes, I realize I should have done this first - but why not really test that smith-muscle and make it ten times harder and do it second ;). 

I've got to make the second one of these rims for the inset acrylic and then add a bottom flange-like thing so I can micro bold down the acrylic. 

I've also been working on a practice hinge - it's crooked, but its proving worth it (had to melt something today).  

TBC...