We started printing clay vases a few moths ago, with a pressure extruder. Clay is a good material because it can be mixed again after the first printing, can be reused, can be finished after the printing and, as we said, it gives a commercial value and a concrete use to the printed pieces.
The pressure extruder didn’t consent to stop the flow, so we created another one: it works with a cochlea, and has the same retraction, interruption and the same control in laying down small ammount of material, of the PLA printing.
We’re preparing ourselves to go to Paris, that’s why we thought to print the emperor bust with new clay extruder, which arrives till 0,35 mm.First results were hilarious for us, but during the week we understood that they were just the starting point for a quick evolution. You can see in pictures underlying the difference between the first print and the last one. Between those there are just a few days of distance and a lot of work.
Napoleon used to say “Every day you loose is a chance of misfortune for the future”. He was famous for being quick, he was always in motion, even when it seemed to be vain. Playing in advance was one of his main quality and we feel we have it. The pressure extruder that we brought to Argillà was a real news but we didn’t stop and we’re going to Paris with the new one.
In the picture you can see the first print of the imperor’s head, in which the mixture was too fluid and remained attached to the needle. Despite of this, the laurel crown was closed and we were happy about the results. The second picture is the last print. After improving the extruder and the mixture we reached incredibly precise results. Between the first and the last one there has been a week.
It is clear that everybody, with a scanner that costs a few hundred euros and WASP system is able to realize clay busts (or anything else) in a few hours. The process we finished is a real chance of occupation, a concrete opportunity of work.
Enthusiasm stays haigh, just like curiosity and sense of challenge.
Stay tuned!
Zzzz
Here you have some pictures and videos:
