We’ve begun work on the PyroCardium sculpture, making a 6-foot-tall version with 1 Watt red LEDs to appear at False Profit Alchemy on April 26 at Cell Space. On the virtual side, the sculpture truss and helix is all modeled up in 3D using Rhino. On the physical side, the TIG welder is out, as is the metal bender, and the smaller truss is coming together.

Probably the most challenging aspect of building a swirly sculpture (aside from the dancing fire) is bending thick pieces of aluminum on all 3 axes. Dyche has come up with a pretty ingenious method. Our first helix will be comprised of seven semi-circles, of successively smaller diameter. Each piece of aluminum stock is placed in the metal roller at angle, so it gets bent in a semi-circle in one dimension, and pulled upward out of the circle’s plane as well. When these pieces connect together, the decreasing diameter is what gives the sculpture its skewed shape.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Models.