Recently I’ve been working on making the surround which will go around the opening of the bin. I used a thin (about 1.5mm) sheet of basswood which I laser cut to the right shape then painted with 5 coats of matt black spray paint.
I’ve also painted the inside of the bin black to create the impression of more space. It also helps to reinforce the idea of the post box – looking into a sort of blackness – and therefore the idea that food can go in but nothing comes out.
Over the past few days I’ve been working on a few different things – mainly trying to get the actual bin itself finished. The opening was cut out by drilling 6 holes (one near each corner and two in the middle) then roughly jigsawing between these holes – I then used a chisel to remove the remaining wood.
It was then sanded on each surface until smooth.
After that I filled all the small gaps between each of the segments and layers by rubbing in a mixture of bees wax and pine rosin. So the outside is pretty much done now and ready to be oiled using Danish oil.
I’ve decided that I will make some sort of surround to go on the opening as I feel that being able to see the flat edges of the segments is distracting. I may also spray the inside matt black to give the feeling that there’s more space inside – to reinforce the post box idea.
I did a quick mock up of the sort of surround i intend to make using card which I coloured in with black marker. The final will probably be made out of plastic (a non eco-friendly material) which will remind the user of how unsustainable wasting food is.
The two other parts of the project I’ve been trying to finalise are the title and what will be on the plaque below the opening. For the name/title of the project I’ve been thinking something like ‘Thoughtless Food’ (trying to emphasise how little people really consider where their food comes from and what’s gone into producing it) but I still haven’t made the final decision. For the plaque I think it will be a short explanation/summary of the project itself but I’m still unsure wether this will be something the user can take out and keep or if it will be binned along with their food waste.
The next big decisions once the bin has been finished are the ‘one great image’ and the 1 minute video hand ins – more to come on these later.
After gluing each of the fifteen rings together I’ve started gluing the layers one on top of the other. This time, to try and minimise the small gaps between each layer I’ve sanded each of the rings individually and glued them in much smaller amounts (instead of gluing all 15 at once then clamping I’ve been doing it in groups of 3).
The next step was to join the two planks of Walnut together (the piece I bought isn’t wide enough to form the base and top without being cut and glued). After clamping and drawing on these two planks I was advised to use biscuit joints to make sure they were absolutely flush and wouldn’t come apart when I went to turn it on the lathe.
The biscuit joints are basically a small crescent shaped hole each of the bits of wood, a ‘biscuit’ (oval shaped piece of absorbent wood) is placed in one of the holes – when glued this biscuit expands and locks the two pieces together.
The next decision was about the best way to cut the slot where the food waste would enter. After advice from the workshop technicians I decided that it would be best to cut this after the bin has been turned so that the chisel doesn’t get stuck whilst turning.
I’ve also been thinking about wether or not to put a small surround on the slot to add to the overall aesthetic as well as preventing the food waste from spilling onto the outside.
Donald Struthers Honours Project 