9-28-2009

so I sat down and calculated my rate of scale creation and weaving is. I lost a few days in the beginning of the month waiting for asphaltum to come in, but since today, I've incorporated 900 new scales into the shirt. I have 60 more to add to that, and by tomorrow I'll have 90, so that means I'll have done nearly 1000 scales in a month. whew! with just 2000 left to do, I'll be done in 2 months, which is early!

so cool : )

after this project, I want to make my own scales. it won't be during this or next semester, but during the summer, I want to build another scale shirt out of copper. instead of buying scales and rings I want to have the freedom to design my own shapes, sizes, and further complicate the design on the scales. to do this, I'm going to have another 6000 scales or so laser cut and etched in one pass (which will save me about 3/4 of my total work time). laser cutting means I can do some crazy things with the design of the scales, like serrate the edges (not that I will) or pierce the tiny little things into a latticework of holes. not only that, but I can make the etched design ridiculously complicated. this makes me very excited. I'm surely going to come up with some insane sketches for this one.

I did a set of 4 scales with my logo on them awhile back. this is what got me thinking about the laser cutting, as modifying existing scales was very time-consuming and awkward.

the etching wasn't any different, but cutting just those two little triangular shapes out of either side was just full of headaches.