Ben Michel

The last task of assignment one enabled us to learn how to fabricate an aluminium blister. Using a wooden template, a sheet of aluminium was positioned in place with screws and a set of clamps to ensure the sheet was as still as possible. Once all of these materials were in place, the manufacturing process could begin. Heeding advice from a fellow classmate, I slowly created an indentation in the aluminium using soft and gentle blows in order to avoid any cracking. I was able to best undertake this using a wooden hammer, as this absorbed more energy from the blows and had a softer surface. Once I found the depth of my blister to be satisfactory, I began to work on the circumference of the shape. Using a wooden shaft to allow me to access the narrow and awkward spaces, I slowly worked my way around the shape striking with gentle blows to create more depth along the rim. After removing the wooden template, I began softening out the wrinkles within the aluminium using a dolly and ha...

In week 4, the class was introduced to the procedure on how to make the aluminium tray. To begin with, a flat sheet of metal was provided and a wooden template for the tray assisted with the manufacturing procedure. I teamed up with Thomas Surmon, and the two of us completed the tray in about 2 hours. The procedure was challenging - hitting the aluminium to curve around the template proved difficult because once you approached the corners, they would easily fold and bend out of shape. If the corners were hit with too much force, the shape of the whole tray would become distorted again and the process would have to be repeated. Continuous cutting of the corners to reduce its size proved to be the most efficient way to achieve the desired effect. Once the corners were shaped correctly, we could begin finishing off procedures which involved manipulating the straight edges further, flattening out wrinkles with a dolly, and lastly filing the edges to create a comfortable smoothness. ...