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Assignment 3 - Critical Review

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Final Assignment 3 For this review, I have chosen to go with critically assessing the most recent project that we were assigned to do, which was the 1/3 of a fuel tank. Despite proving to be the most challenging piece to form when compared to subsequent projects that we were assigned to do, the fuel tank taught me many varying techniques and in different scales to the previous tasks. Amongst the different forming techniques learnt, I had also learnt patience and perseverance when working with metal in such a way. The end result creating a sense of accomplishment and eagerness to repeat the task in order to improve the quality of the outcome. The process of creating the fuel tank was as follows: -        Digitally generating the fuel tank on RHINO and printing in order to create a template to form the sheet metal around -        Cutting the sheet metal in reasonable proportions -        Marking the metal in such a way that the creases, folds and bends aligned perfectl

Aluminium Fuel Tank

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AIM: The idea of this exercise was to team up into groups whereby we evenly spilt  up the formation of an aluminium  fuel tank to scale using the RHINO digital  modelling software that allowed us to print a concept of the subject at hand to reflect all the curves, crests and lines of the fuel tank. This was  followed  by the formation of a third of the fuel tank using sheet aluminium.  The modelling process involved cutouts of the stencils printed that joined together to form a replica of the fuel tank which was later used as a starting point for the formation of the aluminium. To reduce flimsiness of the 3D model a  hot glue gun for all the junctions and joints of the components to ensure a rigid structure for the formation of the tank. The formation and moulding process was an intricate process that utilised many techniques and equipment to allow for the true representation of this model.  The component assigned to myself involved the bending, moulding, an

The Bowl

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The Bowl: In order to form the bowl as best I could, I used a method with various steps to ensure I achieve consistency in the finish of the bowl and also symmetry in the shape of the bowl. In addition to this, this module illustrated the uses of stretching metal and made me think of the various applications this could be used for in the formation of other pieces of metal. Initially, I had marked out where I was going to cut the metal using a sharpie. Following this, I used a pair of left curving tin snips to cut out the shape. Consequently, through the use of tin snips to cut the edges, it was to no surprise that I had sharp edges on the perimeter of my bowl. To mitigate this I used a metal file to smooth the edges as best I could,for two reasons, 1. for functionality and 2. for ease of formation while I was working with it and to avoid injury. Upon completion of filing the edges, I began to strike the piece with an array of different rubber mallets in order to take the shape

The Reverse Curve

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The Reverse Curve Personally proving to be the most challenging module for me, the torus was an interesting task that helped me understand the challenges associated with achieving symmetry and the importance of symmetry in this task. Despite the number of times I had failed to correctly form the torus, I was able to achieve some sort of shape by using a rubber mallet to strike a piece of timber to achieve the majority of the shape. Upon completion of this, I attempted to use the English wheel to for a bent appearance. In addition to this, I used a metal hammer to strike the edges of the torus, to achieve a somewhat more defined and smoother finish.

The Tin

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The Tin: In an attempt to create a pair of tins that would sit on top of each other to form something in the likes of a pencil tin, unfortunately I was unable to pair up with a class member to create the pair, however in saying this I was able to adopt a method of formation that allowed for a piece of metal to somewhat take the shape of half of the pencil tin. Proving to be a little more difficult tocreate when compared to the blister, the tin was relatively brittle and broke on one occasion. However, by using a mallet to form the edges of the tin and 'wrap' the metal around the timber mould and again, the back end of a rubber screwdriver to smooth out the edges in the corners of the tine, I was able to produce the below.

The Blister

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The Blister: The formation of the blister had proven to be a relatively easier process using the method of formation I had adopted in the process of making the blister. This method included sandwiching a metal piece between two timber moulds. The timber moulds dictated the shape the the blister was going to adopt.  To form the blister I simply used a rubber mallet in the centre to give the blister its shape. Once the Blister had taken shape, I employed the bottom end of a screwdriver with a rubber handle to beat the edges of the blister to allow for better curves around the edge. Once the blister had taken shape, I used the back end of the rubber mallet to form the peak of the blister as this was relatively narrow and allowed for a distinct peak to the blister.