Testing out some acrylic, wood and leather.  

Assisting with the rehanging of this aluminum fabricated sculpture with gallery tech. Sculpture has many more years on display.

A lot of sanding before a new coat of paint.  Not always available, but having a crane makes the installation a lot easier. 

Working with our CNC Plasma Torch table and designs

Visiting "Smooth-On's retail store Reynolds Advanced Materials to pick up supplies and review their cold-casting products  

The ACRE program supports faculty and student research conducted over a winter interim break or summer break.  This project explored the history of metal casting with one of the oldest metal casting furnace designs; a Cupola furnace.  

Students explore basic welding processes, i.e. Arc and MIG welding, plasma cutting and oxyacetylene cutting. 

Volunteering at Hopewell to restart their metal casting demonstrations that were silenced four years ago.  Demonstrations include historical recreation of sand mold making with historical narration. Metal furnace is fueled by onsite charcoal that other volunteering generate.  

During the day, the pour focused on scratch blocks that community members of all ages that they designed.  By night, larger molds were poured with a performative end!

Our new Halot printers are a welcome change to our old Objet24 printer, which was far too expensive to run.  The test design went from a vector graphic to a relief print in under 2 hours.  A silicon rubber mold was later made so wax positives could employed in the ceramic shell process for our upcoming "Arts on Fire" in June.

After the designs are carved into the bonded sand model.  A graphite coating is applied and subsequently burned off before casting.  Students then finish the casting with a "patina" or antique finish to enhance the design.

Annual Iron Pour and GoggleWorks Art Center with sculpture students from Albright.  We end each pour with a bit of fireworks.

During the Interim Winter session, we conducted research on a 10-step process from preparing the materials and anodizing them. To seal the surface, a brilliant (commercial) dye was employed.

Small electronics, video mapping and 3D printing...aside from laser etching and metal casting some of the 3D print.

Once the ceramic shell was set up, three different types of 3D prints were tested (PLA and ABS Fused Filament and resin.  The burnout process required a longer time compared to wax.  

Casting b 

A test mold was made that incorporated ABS (light blue), PLA (dark blue) and resin (white) 3D prints.  The Resin print yielded some issues upon burnout. Taking longer to burnout, the resin print generated some cracks in the shell. This could be from the type of resin formula or that three different materials were trying to be burnt out from a single mold.  

As the sand mold process didn't retain the desired detail.  Silicon rubber molds and wax became the logical next step.  A rubber mold was created for each of the 12 objects intended to be cast in bronze.

Offering summer STEM/STEAM workshops for regional high school students.  Students created patterns in styrofoam and cast a permanent copy of it in aluminum.  Students also assisted in the casting of their molds. 

The great thing about Vinamold is that it can be remelted over and over again.  The only issue is that the pattern/object needs to withstand roughly 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The detail is quite impressive!

Outside of identifying the areas of manufacturing, the next step was to see which mold making/casting process would work for each group of objects.

Ceramic shell foundry that melts stainless, aluminum steel and copper based alloys.  It was great to see their process and note ways to adapt it to an educational setting.

Keeping a 6' - 7' spacing between workstations and dedicated tools for each student.

Groups in the area started helping out the medical profession as masks were not only in high demand but worn for extended hours at a time.   The bottom images are what they called "ear savers," which helped redirect the elastic band away from the ear, which would pinch the skin. 

Art Major, Faith hosted a second private reception for her family as she completed her educational career. 

Seniors show off their hard work from the semester.  Aside from print, other formats were graphic novel and video.

A Smooth On Rep came to our sculpture class to demonstrate their products. Take away for the students, was a quick castings of their finger in urethane resin.  

We start our day by talking about safety in the scrap yard and how to identify weldable metals.

Awards ceremony for the Annual Student Art Exhibition.

Here, students who have never welded before walk out with a welded piece in two hours.

A cheaper alternative to rubber and polymers, but you only get one shot.  Once the positive is cast, the mold has to be destroyed to remove the castings; hence the title "waste mold." .  The red dye on the face of the mold is a reference for how close you are to the cast positive. 

Sample of senior exhibition outcomes and support materials.  Student work ranged from sculpture, photography, graphic design and new media.

Student built "RepRap" self-replicating 3D printer with the ability to print (extrude) three different filaments. Based on an earlier version another class build. 

Click here to add text.

This wood kiln was reimagined an old updraft Alpine gas kiln.  A large firebox and chimney were added to the sides of the kiln with a tall stainless steel stack.  The firing typically lasts around 19 hours with students and community members all contributing.  Introduction of soda came towards the end of the firing cycle.