For this final project in our Materials class in Spring 2023, we were paired up into partners and tasked with creating three copies of a 3D letter to create a poster saying "Industrial Design"
We proposed concepts for three different letters: "U," "A," and "G." The "U" concept was for the scoop of the letter to jut out and become a planter and to make it out of clay. The second proposal was to create a hinged pyramid structure that opens for the letter "A," and it would be laser cut on the metal cutter in Sherman Hall. The concept for the "G" had a similar wrought iron inspiration, and the original goal was to cast iron to create this form.
Our professor assigned us the letter "G" and proposed an easier method to create the metal "G" we wanted. He suggested a metal mesh of horizonal and vertical wire bent into the profiles we needed to create the 3D form. These wires would sit in a pegboard-like backing and the shape would be welded together.
We mapped out the line shapes we needed and printed them onto paper so that we could hold the wire up to them for reference. By bending the wire between two screws in a piece of wood, we were able to create the complex shapes needed. The back plates were cut on the bandsaw and refined with an angle grinder. Then we stuck the wires into place and welded the grid together!
Here are two of the three final letters we created! Overall they turned out amazing! It was scary learning to weld but it wasn't too difficult in the end. The letter we kept now sits on our hearth over the fireplace and makes for a pretty METAL decoration!
