The Finished Project

This post is coming in a little late. I have been busy with summer vacation starting and I totally forgot to post the finished product. After that long school year I realized that I enjoy metal working much more than I previously would have thought. With this realization I plan to work on more projects in the future, and I already am planning on making a chain-mail shirt.

Last Touches on the Gauntlet and Presentation

The year seems to have flown by and my project's deadline is just around the corner. More specifically, next week. With the deadline growing closer I have been working harder and harder to finish my project in time. For our presentations I really want to be able to wear my gauntlet and have it be finished, so that while I am presenting what my project was about, I can show what the result is. I have not had much time at all to work on my project, but I have managed to finish all of the fingers allowing me to make the wrist and arm. I have not had much time to work on my project because as the year comes to a close all my teachers are piling up the homework so that we have time before finals to study for finals. As I have been working on the project, I have also been working on what I am going to say for the presentation. Hopefully I can entertain the audience with my words of wisdom while I fling about my gauntlet.

*The picture is not current*

Making a Presentation and a Presentable Arm

This week we are starting our presentations for our project. We have been watching multiple TEDx talks in class to show us examples of good and bad presenting, and even though my project is not yet finished, I feel excited about presenting it. I do, however, want something physical that I could show off while presenting my presentation. For this reason, while working on my presentation, I will continue to work on finishing my gauntlet. Even though my original goal of my project will not be finished, having my gauntlet for my presentation done is still important because it shows that I at least worked to finish my project rather than give up on it. Because I will not have my project done, I was thinking that I would talk about how the project idea came to mind and the story behind that, and the lessons I learned throughout the year.

Finishing Up The Year

Last week I worked on sanding the rest of the pieces for my project for what little time I had because of all the homework I have had as the school year comes to an end, and the week before I finished cutting out all the pieces. It has been increasingly difficult for me to find time to work on my project because finals are coming up and there is a lot of homework, but I have been able to put aside a little bit of time to work on it. This week I have been sanding as many pieces as possible as well as start putting together the pieces that are done. I've sanded quite a lot of pieces and have finished putting together one of the fingers. I probably have a biased opinion on this, but I think it looks pretty cool so far. Hopefully I will be able to finish the rest of the gauntlet so that I can show it off, and maybe even wear it, during my presentation.

Finished Cutting, Time To Sand

I am now entering the last week to work on the physical aspect of my project. After this week I am going to start working on a presentation to present the information, the experiences, and the product to my class. Being that the window is closing for working on the physical aspect of my project, I have been working extremely hard on the project in order to finish as much of the project as possible. Last weekend, I spent a solid hour cutting out all of the pieces for my gauntlet, including the thirty or so finger pieces. After the hour was over, all the pieces had been cut out, and my hands were so sore from using the cutting tool that I had to relax and ice my hands. I could not work on the physical aspects of the project anymore that weekend after that because everything I did hurt my hands immensely; however, now that I have had a week of focusing on other assignments and resting my hands, they no longer are sore, and I am able to continue the work for my project. This weekend I plan on trying to sand ALL of the pieces similar to how I cut out all of the pieces the weekend before. I also want to try punching out most if not all the holes in the pieces, shape the pieces, and then facet them together so that I can show off at least the gauntlet for my presentation.

Finishing up the Gauntlet

Last week I got the facets and facet tool so that I would be able to facet the pieces of my gauntlet together, and this week I got a manual hole punch that would allow me to punch holes into my metal pieces without having to use to drill. The reason I did this is because, after researching for a while, I found that because of the hardness of stainless steel and the amount of heat it generates, using drills for drilling holes into stainless steel is very ineffective. When drilling stainless steel, it takes a while to drill all the way through the metal because of its hardness. Because it takes a while, the metal has more time to generate heat. Because of the metal heats up a lot during the drilling, the drill bit begins to heat up as well, which usually causes the drill bit to bend or break. This makes the lifespan of drill bits much shorter, and one might need a new drill bit for every few holes drilled. The punch, however, does not build up heat anywhere near the extent of using a drill, is much quicker, and is much safer than using a drill.
Unfortunately for my project, my deadline has crept up on me, and I only have a few more weeks to "finish" it. I'll have to work very efficiently on all my work, even my work that does not relate to this project, so that I'll have as much time to work on my project as possible.

The Build: Working More Pieces + New Tools

As I thought, during Spring Break I was able to cut-out and sand a bunch more pieces, but I was not able to finish ALL the pieces. While working, I realised it would be much easier to cut holes into the metal pieces if I left them flat, and then after cutting the holes I would bend them to their desired shape. As well, I have been trying to find the best way to cut the holes into the metal pieces and find the best way of faceting the pieces together.

Over the break, I talked with my Mentor and together we went to a supply store to look for facets. There we found both facets and a facet gun that would make faceting the pieces together much, much easier.

I also found out that when dealing with stainless steel metal, drills do not work as well as with other metals, and the bits are easier to break when drilling. Over the break and this week, I found a type of hole puncher that is used to punch holes into metal and is recommended for using on stainless steel. I purchased the punch online, and it should be arriving in a few days, which would allow me to continue to the next step of building my gauntlet.