Post 10 – Update On Final Project

As we progress through the semester, I have been working hard at keeping up to speed with my Brutalist Lamp. Getting to a comfortable point to start fabrication is quite difficult for me because there are so many moving parts. I have secured the wood and the light bulb but I will need to get PVC, screws, caulk, rebar, wire, concrete, a mixer, a trowel, and a tarp. Clearly there are a lot of things that need to come together for this project so ensuring my list is complete the first time is integral.

Here you can see the box and how simple the mold is. The height of this overall structure is about 26″ and has an 8″ x 8″ base. Overall, I will need about two 80 pound bags of concrete with a sand aggregate additive. With these base dimensions and the given density of concrete I was able to calculate the weight at just about 150 pounds!

Above you can see how I want the finished concrete result to be. To get this smooth finish you must utilize a trowel and ensure that your concrete does not have any big rock pieces mixed in. I plan to rent most of this equipment at the home depot and I hope it will all be relatively cheap. In addition, I found out you can rent a vertical drill with a bit attachment that will mix concrete to the consistency you choose.

The main issues with the fabrication of this lamp will be relying on weather and finding a proper place to actually cure the mold. I have a few friends that offered their backyard and I need to ensure I can easily move the lamp if any unexpected rain comes in. Potentially leaving the concrete in a garage to cure could work as well, im not very sure how much temperature controls this process. As far as back-up plans go, if my hand held mixer does not work out I will utilize this mixer that I can confirm will be at the home depot. I plan to start my entire manufacturing / pour process next weekend due to the nice weather window. In addition, I think I will have to rent all of the tools for the job for one day and if I mess anything up, I will just rent it again.

Another potential difficulty I can see for this entire process is vacuuming the sand out of the mold once the concrete is set. I am worried that the rock voids in my mold will fill up with the rather dense casting sand and be not removable. If this happens I could use some chisels to solve my problem.