Laser Cutting Research

 For the laser cutting research component of this week, I did already have some inspiration saved from just around the internet that fitted the bill, however since my interest is primarily glass I did include things that were waterjet cut- I figure that waterjet cut glass inspiration can translate to laser cut acrylic.

One of my interests is laminating glass- basically gluing sheets of glass on top of each other and polishing them. It gives an effect reminiscent of looking into two mirrors that are facing each other but without the reflection. A student at the Salem Community College which has an extensive glass program scanned their hand, sliced it into individual pieces the thickness of a sheet of glass each, and cut the glass with a waterjet cutter then assembled and glued. This interested me because I had done this with my face manually. I had seen the finished product before but could not find it again unfortunately it might've been in instagram stories.

When you cut glass for stained glass there's a lot of wastage. You basically score and crack it by hand and then grind it down until it fits and you can't really get it exact, plus it is prone to breaking. This artist, James Jean, used laser cutting to exactly cut glass for fusing and therefore could get it extremely thin. Dichromic glass is very expensive and I would be scared to cut it this small, but they get it so exact!

Something that I want to try laser cutting is thinfire paper. It can have sections cut out then be put under glass in a kiln and the parts that are cut out will sink through the cuts in the paper. Here is a random picture of a basic example that I pulled from an image search:

So the outline of the bird would've been cut out of the paper and the glass put on top and fired and therefore melted into the shape. I think that with laser cutting it would be interesting to try cutting multiple layers and stacking them. I couldn't find an example. Possibly the kiln schedules would have to be played with and experimented with.

Brian Gillespie used waterjet cutting to cut these ceramic blocks into patterns to slump glass on. He then assembled them using clear lasercut acrylic fasteners . I think that laser cutting thin fire paper and firing the glass on top could give a similar effect. 

Pandora Deluxe is a company that makes latex fashion that uses laser cutting to get precise details. I know there are more I've seen but I can't remember off the top of my head! When I was young I saw Katy Perry in fun coloured latex dressed and thought they were so cool I didn't even realize they were a fetish thing. Latex is difficult to cut because if you nick it wrong with your cutter it will just tear right across smoothly- think about getting your nail through a disposable rubber glove and it just tearing to shreds. I tried working with it and was disheartened partially through the cutting process. However with a laser cutter you can get really intricate details.

I have seen laser cut acrylic things that I have really enjoyed, but I didn't realize that it was something that I could get involved with and haven't saved any. Now when I search I'm just seeing basic things. Hopefully I will some across some randomly now that big data knows I'm looking for it!

As for digitally fabricated in the broader senses, I would be interested in creating blow molds and press molds for glass. I do not know a lot about how press molds work (if you think of a mass produced glass plate wth a pattern, or vintage carnival glass this is made with a press mold) but blow molds can be created by cnc'ing green wood that is not allowed to dry out (so that it doesn't warp) for instance, Dougherty Glassworks in Vancouver uses digital design to cnc salvaged wood into molds for blowing glasses. 

I think that creating molds in a pattern that tessellates would be interesting.