The same products keep coming up in my efforts to make the ultimate decorative practical object d' art. I don't want much, but I do want something that can sustain weathering, withstand some impacts, be relatively small or light and be able to be made from photographic images without having to use heavy equipment, lasers and die cutting devices. Handmade cool stuff is what I am working on.
The latest addition to my arsenal is a urethane that I am not convinced is all it is made up to be, or that can be all that epoxy is, but the ease of handling of this urethane is worth testing. My initial testing shows that thinner layers of the use of this urethane instead of the thick poured methods that I have been using. This would mean that the time I save from the ease of use of a one part material, would then be used by putting on multiple layers and waiting for them to dry. To me, thicker is better as it provides depth and strength in shape and form and the thicker something is then the longer it would take to break down. This urethane may be appropriate for putting on top of things and not being the thing as I had hoped.
Accepting the layering concept as a practical fact forces me to think of my substrate or base for the urethane and verify the bonding between layers as the strengthening of the final product. I coated a patch of canvas with the snakeskin urethane and surprisingly it did not curl and wrinkle as would be normal with acrylic gesso. One of the benefits of using epoxy is that it does not act like water-based mediums when I am using it on canvas and paper, so I do not have to deal with the after effects of wrinkling and shape distortions. Epoxy and urethane all my substrates to remain dimensionally stable, which allows me to move to the next step of actually bonding or printing something onto paper and canvas without having to stretch it or bond it first to something stable.
I did not like the way the Snakeskin urethane handled the pigments when I tried to print it, but I did like the way the Tortoise Shell urethane handled the pigments and I was able to make a printable paste that seemed to render a decent print. I did not use a good screen, so part of the printing inconsistency could have been from the screen clarity, or lack thereof. In a mold the Tortoise shell urethane cracked, so what works well for printing may not work well for casting. If I can bring canvas back into the fold as a substrate with the flexible urethane and print with the Tortoise shell urethane on top of the canvas, then I have a good working substrate and printable surface to use for a working surface.
The problem is that canvas isn't elegant when it comes to making things and the texture isn't something that I want to hide. The benefit of printing on canvas is that it is pretty much the same as printing on t-shirts and it matches my skills. My next step will be to see what the canvas can bond to and the two most likely subjects are sticker paper and magnet sheets. The difference here is that I don't have to apply the canvas to the substrate first to make it work. By being able to use a substrate without adhering it first to a base, then I can work on items and later apply them to a base, given the canvas itself could also be a substrate.
Can the canvas be the exterior surface and the final product without just being a piece of canvas? Canvas bumper stickers? Canvas magnets? Canvas shingles? I have already made some of these and they don't seem as finished as a poured epoxy piece. Also I worry about the natural deterioration of canvas as an organic material and if the exterior is compromised the interior may weaken faster than plastic polymers, metallic substrates or even wood. Finally, then bond of the canvas to something else is what will make or break canvas as a product. Will it become one with a substrate, or will it simply be an additional item on top of the substrate that can be ripped off?
I've wasted enough time writing for the first coat of urethane to dry, I'll go apply another coat.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Life is simple, if you follow the rules.
There may be an easier way to do the things I am trying to do. If I purchased the right products for the right job and then followed the instructions, then I may actually be able to finish something and call it complete. It's just not that easy to follow the rules when you aren't completely sure what you want to make. Every time I get close to having a clear idea of the final product, there is some fact about the materials or the texture that make me want to start over.
In this case I am working with printing and coating previously coated magnet sheets. I am pretty sure the coating is PVC or a type of vinyl coating. The coating itself may be printable with special inks and you can definitely put a sticker on it and cut it out, but that doesn't really mean it would be of exterior quality and be able to survive any significant weathering. I have even considered the idea of magnetic shingles, but the coatings on the magnets, or PVC, may deform at 120 degrees F. A roof, especially a metal roof may indeed hit that temperature in the middle of summer. A coating that reflects the heat, could reduce some of the effects of the heat, but a higher temperature resistant material would be required. I don't think standard coated magnet sheets are capable of that type of heat absorption without breaking down. This even brings up the issue of what are the magnet particles themselves being suspended in and most likely that is a vinyl too.
There are uv cured inks that go through an ink jet printer that are made for printing designs on magnet sheets and rolls, but that would be too easy. Full color images of any design I want, just printed on demand, c'mon already. Much too easy. First off, I don't trust it for long term exterior exposure. These types of printing techniques are only as good as the thickness of the material and by the very nature of the printing techniques the print layer cannot be very thick and it is on a special coating which can also breakdown and release from the substrate. Thicker and stronger bonds are necessary and of course I am a screen printer, so I don't want to be out of a job. Screen printing the right inks directly onto a magnet sheet should provide a thicker more durable type of coating that can survive outside. The big question is whether it should be compatible with the PVC coating or printed directly on the magnets themselves.
My conceptual magnet shingle project is based on the magnets attracting themselves to a metallic surface, or coated surface that will work like a piece of metal and provide enough pull to keep the magnet down in a good storm. To keep the magnets from lifting off each other I think printing one half of the top surface of the magnet with a coating and allowing the other half to work with the magnet placed on top of it to hold them together is a good design technique. This provides guidelines for assembling a matrix of shingles and allows the maximum pull to come one magnet to the other.
Currently I am testing a urethane coating appropriately called Snakeskin with the hopes that it will bond to the pvc coating on the magnet. My first attempts to print with this stuff were unsuccessful, but that could be for a number of reasons besides it just simply not going through a screen. I like this materials because it is supposed to be uv resistant, flexible and it is a one-part liquid that can handle pigments. It is supposed to be able to bond to itself, which means it can be layered or even used as a glue to connect items to a substrate. I coated the top of a magnet, some canvas, a piece of acetate and a vinyl sticker. We'll see if Snakeskin is as thick as I want it to be; thick like a snake.
In this case I am working with printing and coating previously coated magnet sheets. I am pretty sure the coating is PVC or a type of vinyl coating. The coating itself may be printable with special inks and you can definitely put a sticker on it and cut it out, but that doesn't really mean it would be of exterior quality and be able to survive any significant weathering. I have even considered the idea of magnetic shingles, but the coatings on the magnets, or PVC, may deform at 120 degrees F. A roof, especially a metal roof may indeed hit that temperature in the middle of summer. A coating that reflects the heat, could reduce some of the effects of the heat, but a higher temperature resistant material would be required. I don't think standard coated magnet sheets are capable of that type of heat absorption without breaking down. This even brings up the issue of what are the magnet particles themselves being suspended in and most likely that is a vinyl too.
There are uv cured inks that go through an ink jet printer that are made for printing designs on magnet sheets and rolls, but that would be too easy. Full color images of any design I want, just printed on demand, c'mon already. Much too easy. First off, I don't trust it for long term exterior exposure. These types of printing techniques are only as good as the thickness of the material and by the very nature of the printing techniques the print layer cannot be very thick and it is on a special coating which can also breakdown and release from the substrate. Thicker and stronger bonds are necessary and of course I am a screen printer, so I don't want to be out of a job. Screen printing the right inks directly onto a magnet sheet should provide a thicker more durable type of coating that can survive outside. The big question is whether it should be compatible with the PVC coating or printed directly on the magnets themselves.
My conceptual magnet shingle project is based on the magnets attracting themselves to a metallic surface, or coated surface that will work like a piece of metal and provide enough pull to keep the magnet down in a good storm. To keep the magnets from lifting off each other I think printing one half of the top surface of the magnet with a coating and allowing the other half to work with the magnet placed on top of it to hold them together is a good design technique. This provides guidelines for assembling a matrix of shingles and allows the maximum pull to come one magnet to the other.
Currently I am testing a urethane coating appropriately called Snakeskin with the hopes that it will bond to the pvc coating on the magnet. My first attempts to print with this stuff were unsuccessful, but that could be for a number of reasons besides it just simply not going through a screen. I like this materials because it is supposed to be uv resistant, flexible and it is a one-part liquid that can handle pigments. It is supposed to be able to bond to itself, which means it can be layered or even used as a glue to connect items to a substrate. I coated the top of a magnet, some canvas, a piece of acetate and a vinyl sticker. We'll see if Snakeskin is as thick as I want it to be; thick like a snake.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Still Saturday, Still Testing - Urethane one-part pigment friendly
I rounded up the usual suspects for a bunch of test today, including some carbon fiber backed epoxy castings. The way the fiber laid out on the epoxy was smooth and I didn't want to cover the carbon fiber with pigmented epoxy, so I tried using clear epoxy. The finish wasn't as smooth as I had hoped, but a batch I tried later holds promise to provide a gently curved clear backing that will protect the carbon fiber and smooth the back of the small pieces that I had in the mold. The idea is to make lettering that can have a hole drilled into it like jewelry, so the backing is important since it may be against skin.
Other test included trying to print with a one part urethane that can clean up with water. Not great results, so I ended up embedding the mixture into the screen. I have two different types of this urethane and the harder one called "Tortoise Shell", more stiff, worked better than the softer one called, "Snakeskin". I did a variety of quick test with steel pigment to see if it will bond to different surfaces. It did not appear to wrinkly some paper based materials, but I don't think I got enough material through the screen to tell for sure. I am also trying to adhere it to a pvc coating on some magnetic sheet material.
The other test was to use the Tortoise shell urethane mixed with filler and atomized steel with a silicon mold of a Mayan calendar. The first layer in the mold was painted in like a gel coat. I left it alone for 2-3 hours and when I came back it was cracking, which isn't a good sign for thick layers of this urethane. I then mixed a batch of the more flexible urethane, the Snakeskin stuff, and poured a rather thick layer behind the gel coat layer. I am hopeful that the two types of urethane will bond with each other and that the thicker more flexible material will be less likely to crack when and if it dries. This is pretty thick layering, 1/8" to 3/16", so I have no idea how long this will take to dry if it does. I did not use any release, so I am also hopeful that it will separate from the silicon mold.
Other test included trying to print with a one part urethane that can clean up with water. Not great results, so I ended up embedding the mixture into the screen. I have two different types of this urethane and the harder one called "Tortoise Shell", more stiff, worked better than the softer one called, "Snakeskin". I did a variety of quick test with steel pigment to see if it will bond to different surfaces. It did not appear to wrinkly some paper based materials, but I don't think I got enough material through the screen to tell for sure. I am also trying to adhere it to a pvc coating on some magnetic sheet material.
The other test was to use the Tortoise shell urethane mixed with filler and atomized steel with a silicon mold of a Mayan calendar. The first layer in the mold was painted in like a gel coat. I left it alone for 2-3 hours and when I came back it was cracking, which isn't a good sign for thick layers of this urethane. I then mixed a batch of the more flexible urethane, the Snakeskin stuff, and poured a rather thick layer behind the gel coat layer. I am hopeful that the two types of urethane will bond with each other and that the thicker more flexible material will be less likely to crack when and if it dries. This is pretty thick layering, 1/8" to 3/16", so I have no idea how long this will take to dry if it does. I did not use any release, so I am also hopeful that it will separate from the silicon mold.
I tested some metallic layering of iron oxide and...
I made a quick mix of iron oxide black pigment into some water-based ink and put a small mixture on some pvc magnet material and on the back of some magnet material. The mixture was attracted to a magnet, or vice versa, and to see just how strong the attraction was I put a little on a piece of paper. The magnetic force of a small amount of iron oxide in contact with magnet was enough to suspend a 30 mil magnet upside down through the paper.
My brief research indicated that magnets may lose 1% of their power over a ten year period of time and that magnets would require a coating to survive outside. I layered some magnet pieces and as thin shingles they seem to have the ability to cover a space and layer appropriately to hold themselves down on a metallic surface and be able to provide a shield to the subsurface they are on. My next step is going to be to coat some screens using atomized steel in a thin mixture of epoxy and create a test surface that would imitate sheet steel. Steel is commonly used for roofs with inexpensive sheet metal construction, so this is not unreasonable, but the metals are typically galvanized or coated to keep them from rusting. Sheet metal construction of buildings is typically done for low cost structures like work sheds and storage facilities. I assumed that mobile homes were made of aluminum, but it is possible that sheet metal is used for those types of structures too, without shingles.
To think of putting shingles on metal buildings is a redundant concept since metal is strong enough to withstand most forms of weathering. Still, it is a theoretical concept that I am working with and not practical reality. The only reason I am considering metal is because it is a surface that magnets will bond to and theoretically I can make a thinner version of a metallic surface with a cold cast layer of epoxy and steel particles versus buying sheet metal. This type of coating would also be lighter than sheet steel, before the magnets are applied as shingles. Designs can be applied inside the coated surface and the exterior could be covered with epoxy coated magnets. The epoxy layering may also make the structure less vulnerable to lightning, although wind could be an issue for the magnetic shingles.
My brief research indicated that magnets may lose 1% of their power over a ten year period of time and that magnets would require a coating to survive outside. I layered some magnet pieces and as thin shingles they seem to have the ability to cover a space and layer appropriately to hold themselves down on a metallic surface and be able to provide a shield to the subsurface they are on. My next step is going to be to coat some screens using atomized steel in a thin mixture of epoxy and create a test surface that would imitate sheet steel. Steel is commonly used for roofs with inexpensive sheet metal construction, so this is not unreasonable, but the metals are typically galvanized or coated to keep them from rusting. Sheet metal construction of buildings is typically done for low cost structures like work sheds and storage facilities. I assumed that mobile homes were made of aluminum, but it is possible that sheet metal is used for those types of structures too, without shingles.
To think of putting shingles on metal buildings is a redundant concept since metal is strong enough to withstand most forms of weathering. Still, it is a theoretical concept that I am working with and not practical reality. The only reason I am considering metal is because it is a surface that magnets will bond to and theoretically I can make a thinner version of a metallic surface with a cold cast layer of epoxy and steel particles versus buying sheet metal. This type of coating would also be lighter than sheet steel, before the magnets are applied as shingles. Designs can be applied inside the coated surface and the exterior could be covered with epoxy coated magnets. The epoxy layering may also make the structure less vulnerable to lightning, although wind could be an issue for the magnetic shingles.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Magnetic Shingles are my next concern - The Holy Grail
Who doesn't want to do stuff, but not work. Shingling a house is one of the toughest jobs on earth, but what if your shingles were magnetic and they just stuck down to your steel roof, or properly coated metallic roof, huh? This could work in combination with my epoxy shingle idea. Take an sheet of magnets, which I have priced for reasonable wholesale consumption at around less than $1 per square foot and apply a coating of epoxy with the proper pigments to resist weathering and voila, you have a weatherproof magentic shingle that will attach itself. My layout for the printing is subject to change, but if the right overlaps are calculated then the printing would only have to be on one-half the magnet sheets in order to allow the suction properties of the magnet itself to do it's job. The printing can be decorative if necessary, but for testing purposes I am only going to be concerned with the suction strength of the magnet and the bonding properties of the epoxy, then the weathering factors can be taken into account.
Connecting magnetic shingles to a roof can be done by coating the roof with a light steel sheeting or paint that is heavily pigmented with steel. There is always the potential for rust, but we can deal with that later. The real deal is that anybody and literally throw up a roof and have it stick with Magnet Shingles, which may have to be renamed to MAGIC SHINGLES.
Connecting magnetic shingles to a roof can be done by coating the roof with a light steel sheeting or paint that is heavily pigmented with steel. There is always the potential for rust, but we can deal with that later. The real deal is that anybody and literally throw up a roof and have it stick with Magnet Shingles, which may have to be renamed to MAGIC SHINGLES.
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