wolff
New Member
There are a few sizes of the Ennis House textile blocks I've come across, from the full 16" down to an 8" plaque, and a 4" version (one side of a votive holder) for sale; but none scaled down closer to 6" - which is what I wanted - for the bottom and back of a display case for a BR Blaster.
DOING IT THE HARD WAY: With no full size casting or the design's dimensions, I found a good photo of a block and scaled it down to about 6" - so I could set four blocks in a 12"x12" square. After (countless hours of ) studying that photo of the full size block and putting the ruler to the Xeroxed copy (and figuring that the original pattern-makers would've used standard wood sizes to build the model) 1/2" worked out for the wide lines, 1/4" or 1/8" for others. I refused to drive myself too crazy and not go to 1/16th inch breakdowns.
The heights of the pieces worked out to 1/4", 1/2", 1/8" - also; and by measuring the shadows I was able to figure the vertical increments and corresponding height changes... It sounds really dumb, now that I'm writing it out; :confused but it all worked out...
Assembly was moderately stroke-inducing. It was then sealed with a few coats of fresh NC lacquer that I made up.
When I discovered that my urethane mold rubber was no good :cry I decided to check there were no undercuts - so I poured a quickie using some algin; then made a cast with plaster of paris and a touch of Durham's. Result? Aside from all the air bubbles in the mold, and the boogers in the cast, there were no undercuts - the model looks like it'll work!
There are many blocks at the Ennis House (don't remember if any were in BR) with the center and two inner diagonals cut out - which I think'll look cool back-lit - so I'll prolly make one with the cut-outs too.
NEXT STEPS: Originally, I figured to do a metal-look with aluminum powder in the resin, and maybe see how a copper, or even bronze verison would look (or perhaps a tasteful combo of copper/aluminum???). The mold rubber and resin order from Reynold's is on the way, and with the down-time I took the plaster casting and roughed it up but good to give it that aged, "Mayan" vibe. It looks...darn acceptable, which gives me yet another choice for finishes.
If there is interest, I'll post photos of the "Mayan" plaster casting, and pics plus text for the upcoming casting session(s)!
Questions and comments are welcome - for the record, this is the first wooden, (and now plaster!), model/pattern I've made for casting. I've done maybe a half dozen rubber molds/resin castings - total - in my life.
regards,
brad wolff
DOING IT THE HARD WAY: With no full size casting or the design's dimensions, I found a good photo of a block and scaled it down to about 6" - so I could set four blocks in a 12"x12" square. After (countless hours of ) studying that photo of the full size block and putting the ruler to the Xeroxed copy (and figuring that the original pattern-makers would've used standard wood sizes to build the model) 1/2" worked out for the wide lines, 1/4" or 1/8" for others. I refused to drive myself too crazy and not go to 1/16th inch breakdowns.
The heights of the pieces worked out to 1/4", 1/2", 1/8" - also; and by measuring the shadows I was able to figure the vertical increments and corresponding height changes... It sounds really dumb, now that I'm writing it out; :confused but it all worked out...
Assembly was moderately stroke-inducing. It was then sealed with a few coats of fresh NC lacquer that I made up.
When I discovered that my urethane mold rubber was no good :cry I decided to check there were no undercuts - so I poured a quickie using some algin; then made a cast with plaster of paris and a touch of Durham's. Result? Aside from all the air bubbles in the mold, and the boogers in the cast, there were no undercuts - the model looks like it'll work!
There are many blocks at the Ennis House (don't remember if any were in BR) with the center and two inner diagonals cut out - which I think'll look cool back-lit - so I'll prolly make one with the cut-outs too.
NEXT STEPS: Originally, I figured to do a metal-look with aluminum powder in the resin, and maybe see how a copper, or even bronze verison would look (or perhaps a tasteful combo of copper/aluminum???). The mold rubber and resin order from Reynold's is on the way, and with the down-time I took the plaster casting and roughed it up but good to give it that aged, "Mayan" vibe. It looks...darn acceptable, which gives me yet another choice for finishes.
If there is interest, I'll post photos of the "Mayan" plaster casting, and pics plus text for the upcoming casting session(s)!
Questions and comments are welcome - for the record, this is the first wooden, (and now plaster!), model/pattern I've made for casting. I've done maybe a half dozen rubber molds/resin castings - total - in my life.
regards,
brad wolff
