Broken Sky at Flourish
Broken sky shines a changing, colorful glow upward to the heavens, while drop-shaped wood flows down to misty metal rings floating on layered purple felt. The shape resembles a cloud delivering strange weather, or maybe a chalice of the gods overflowing with ether. When you notice the sky is broken, turn this piece on and do a little healing.
This piece will be for sale in the upcoming Root Division Flourish event on Thursday, March 12. https://rootdivision.org/flourish/
New Piece: Termitarium
https://www.extrasleepy.com/work#/termitarium/
Slice up a pest-eaten piece of wood, embed a gradient of LED light in the center, and you might end up with something like this illuminated sculpture. Termitarium features wooden levels fragmented with CNC-chewed tunnels, creating a map-like pattern that catches light in unexpected ways. Two LED sources, projected at each other, gradually change color to create a Turrell-like gradient throughout a frosted glass tube in the center of the piece. Each diffusing layer is painted a different pastel color, giving the piece a colorful sculptural presence when off, and adding to the reflected color variation when on. The cast concrete base sits on thin felt, while a pierced river rock weighs the light blue power cord in place—adding another natural sculptural feature. Slide the slightly hidden switch, and be reminded that natural deterioration often provides the most compelling visuals.
Winter work
Flouret Obscura is a set of wall-hanging air plant holders made of painted 3D-printed plastics and CNC wood. When hung, they can be oriented in two directions to support a medium-sized plant. Show here together; these are three individual pieces. The three were created for an art auction to support the Transgender Law Center.
Panel 004 is a wall-hanging painted cherry framework with various 3D-printed forms that fiddle between organic and mechanical.
Wordbub is about remembering that someone is always thinking about you. This magnetized circuit board lights eight times per hour. If you happen to see the lights glow, you'll be reminded of the individual who gave you the piece. Beautiful right? It utilizes the deep sleep of an ATtiny microcontroller to last multiple months on a single coin cell.
New Pieces Spring 2024
Moon Sample
More about Moon Sample: https://www.extrasleepy.com/#/moon-sample/
Sable Block
More about Sable Block: https://www.extrasleepy.com/#/stable-block
Time to skill up!
Starting this January I'll be teaching metal shop, for the first time, to 9th-grade students. Gotta skill-up. Here's my CNC-plasma / MIG welding warm-up project.
New Piece: King of Fruits
King of Fruits, inspired by the Southeast Asian durian, is a handheld sculpture that illuminates bulging protrusions with a calm and changing array of LED colors. Loved and loathed for its smell and taste, this polarizing fruit is often referred to as the "King of Fruits." This abstraction of the durian maintains the crown-like cap and replaces the odor with a glow. King of Fruits is rechargeable and portable, lasting six or more hours on a recharge.
The wood base is milled with the Bantam Tools desktop mill, and the controller is coded with CircuitPython. The main shape is modeled using Grasshopper and Rhino 3D.
New Piece! Hot Coil
Hot Coil, a palm-size light-emitting sculpture, is rechargeable and portable. Every 15 to 20 minutes a circuitPython controller randomly fades RGB LEDs through a range of warm colors.
The piece can operate plugged to a USB outlet or untethered for about three hours per 15 min recharge.
Materials: CNC-cut & hand finished walnut and acrylic, microcontroller, addressable LEDs, rechargeable battery
Dimensions: 4”w x 4”h x 4”d
Tinytown
Tinytown, a palm-size light-emitting sculpture, is rechargeable and portable. A circuitPython controller randomly and continually fades individual RGB LEDs through a range of warm colors.
The piece can operate plugged to a USB outlet or untethered for more than 5 hours per recharge.
Dimensions: 2.5”w x 2.5”h x 2.5”d
See more: http://www.extrasleepy.com/#/tinytown/
Sharing Work on the Bantam Tools Livestream
https://www.bantamtools.com/engineering-from-home/digital-fabrication-virtual-meetup
NEW PIECE: Chonky!
CNC-cut cherry and walnut, 3D-printed lens, Acrylic, Microcontroller, Addressable LEDs, Rechargeable battery
Chonky, a light-emitting sculpture, is symmetrically lumpy, rechargeable, and portable. A translucent 3D-printed lens press sits on atop a gradient of hand-finished wood and orange acrylic. A circuitPython controller changes the RGB LEDs about every 20 minutes.
The piece can operate plugged to a USB outlet or untethered for 4 hours per recharge.
Dimensions: 4.5”w x 4.25”h x 4.5”d
NEW PIECE: Honey
Honey is a small rechargeable freestanding LED lamp. A CNC-cut, translucent, 3D-printed lens press fits into a wood ring which is held up by an array of small legs. As the name suggests, the shape is reminiscent of a cartoon representation of a honey bee hive. An Arduino controls the randomly changing RGB LEDs which transition, in 15-minute intervals, through an array of warm and cool tones.
CNC-cut beechwood, 3D printed lens, Acrylic, Arduino, Addressable LEDs, Rechargeable battery
Dimensions: 6”w x 6”h x 6”d
Thanks @kildall for the AutoDesk Instructables residency tour!
A few images from my visit to the dream shops at AutoDesk Instructables! My friend Scott Kildall is doing amazing work there!
5 axis CNC router
Waterjet
Beautiful Lathe
Metal Laser Cutter
Horizontal Band Saw
A League of Laser Cutters and 3D printers
Nice Organization System!
Controllable Giant Eyes
11-Axis Milling Machine?
Another Great Summer Class: Digital Fabrication!
In the 2nd week of CCA's summer formations program, a small group of students from CCA and beyond worked on generative architectural studies using Rhino and Grasshopper. Each project was designed to tile together to create a larger collaborative pattern. Each tile used a different digital fabrication process including: laser cutting, CNC routing and 3D printing. Thanks to Adam Marcus for all the guidance.
Keith and Kiki lay out the group's piece on Friday afternoon.
Cutting curved paths with the CNC router.
Breaking a solid form into 100 or more laser-cut slotted pieces.
My end of the week project collection.NCC