CNC and Bioplastic Progress

CNC and Bioplastic Progress - Ezra

November 19, 2024

Water Research, Bioplastics, and CNC milling Corian

Part 1: Bioplastic and CNC

I am now in the production phase, making larger piece of bioplastics to heat form to CNC milled molds. The bioplastics for part 1 all involve plants from my mom's garden. My plan is to plant sprouts in the bioplastics once they have been heat formed to the molds. To reduce material waste, the molds themselves can also be used as planters.

Before heat flattening the bioplastics are warped significantly. This is due to the water evaporating inconsistently across the material as it dries. Applying heat from the heat gun can flatten the material.

After flattening

Flowers in the mixture

Hops, flowers, stems, cooking bioplastic

I only have one silicone baking sheet so, I have been partially drying the bioplastic on the mat and then transferring it to a drying rack as soon as it becomes somewhat cohesive.

The result is a textured bioplastic

The Molds

I have created depth maps of different water photos in photoshop. The following models have been created by manipulating the point sampling settings and image dimensions in Grasshopper. This photo is of a wave crashing into a shoreline in Italy.

Part 2: Bioplastic and Laser Cutter

For the second part, I am still creating the design. I plan to create a contour linework piece using a photo of water and then laser scoring the linework onto bioplastics. Here, Spirulina will be the active ingredient in the bioplastics and I plan to layer them. I also will have a mix of transparencies to imitate algae in water.

Part 3: CNC Milling

For this component, 5 tactile 8"x8" corian squares will be milled on the CNC machine. Taking this photo of shadows on sand taken in Zion Utah, a series of models were created. I kept the depth the same in each model and adjusted the points sampled for each iteration. The intended result is that the smoothest piece is as though you are looking at sand through water and the most textured piece is as if the water evaporated and you are left with only the sand behind. The transition between the two end states is gradual.

Exploration with Corian material on the CNC machine was successful although it kicks up a lot of dust/material flakes. With the white material it felt like I was in a snowstorm.