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Past Work - Another Trophy

I've volunteered to make a trophy for the "Looe 10 Miler", the race organised by my running club, Looe Pioneers.
    
 Cast glass trophy for Cornwall Orienteering Club by Peter Heywood This project is Chapter 2 in a way - Chapter 1 being the trophy I made for Cornwall Orienteering Club.  I plan to use a similar approach - casting a "negative" shape in some glass.  I like the colour of this glass - it's pale steel blue Gaffer - but Looe Pioneers can choose a different colour if they prefer.

For more on Chapter 1, click on this link.
          
           
 Race logo for Looe 10 Miler, created by Ken Surabian and now the basis for a cast glass trophy by Peter Heywood My starting point is the race logo (left) created by Ken Surabian, a gifted designer that I used to work with. 
My plan is to make a box in cast glass with most of the logo (all but the "hillish and hellish" ) so that light shines through the adapted logo when the box is on its side.
I plan to laser cut the logo in perspex and then use it to create a silicone/rubber mould that can be used to make multiple trophies (by making multiple flint/plaster moulds), if required.
                           
  Cardboard mockups of cast glass trophy planned by Peter Heywood The box shape leaves a space on the top to make each trophy individual by engraving different award titles, such as "Ian Slee Trophy", Male Winner", "FemaIe Winner" or whatever.  The sides can be used to engrave winners' names.
I've made the cardboard mockups to:
  • Get a feeling for the right size and shape.  I like smaller one,  12x12x8 cm.
  • Use as the basis of discussions with the club committee
 
 
  Laser cutting race logo in perspex as the first step in making a cast glass trophy Laser cutting the logo in perspex, with the help of Helen Creedy.
  I'll be using the "negative" of this (everything that surrounds the logo) together with a second "negative" of the 2 runners  to make a silicone mould of the inside of the box.
  I'll use the silicone mould to make a wax mould of the whole box, and I'll use the wax mould to make a flint/plaster mould for the glass.
Complicated, innit?
 
  Revised design for Looe Pioneers trophy in cast glass by Peter Heywood
 I'm changing the design following a really good tutorial with Min Jeong Song, one of the glass lecturers.  I've been having trouble with laser cutting.  One of the issues is that the runners are very small, which might also mean I run into trouble casting them.  So Min suggested enlarging the figures, which I've done by eliminating the waves and putting them above the lettering.  Min also suggested doing multiple layers of the runners, so they look as though they're moving.  Another great idea!   
 
  Trophy cups bought on eBay for 10 Miler trophy by Peter Heywood Change of plan.  I decided the previous design wasn't sufficiently like a trophy so I've junked it and bought these 2 trophy cups on eBay.   The one on the right is probably too small - about 80mm high excluding the base - but it only cost £3.25.  The one on the right is about 130mm high excluding the base and looks the part.  I'm still mulling over design options.
 
  Making silicone rubber mould for trophy After batting around lots of alternative designs I went to a club committee meeting where they said they would like me to carry on with the original concept.  So I laser cut some more acrylic sheets, put them in the bottom of the box pictured left and poured in silicone rubber up to the eventual depth of the trophy.
 
  Silicone rubber mould for the interior of cast glass trophy for Looe Pioneers The result.  By mistake I left the "M" in both acrylic sheets so I had to make one and glue it on - hope it sticks!
 
 Wax poured into mould to make cast glass trophy
 
Wax poured into mould - the next step in making the trophy.
 
  Kiln cast trophy being removed from plaster/flint mould
 Forgot to take a photo of the plaster and flint mould before placing glass in it and firing it in a kiln.  This photo is the result - me removing the mould after a successful firing.
 
  Ian Slee Trophy before engraving
 Result after grinding and polishing the outside and sand-blasting the inside.  The engraving still needs to be done - had a problem with the resist and needed to wait until after the race anyhow because I'm going to engrave the winner's name on it.
 
  Cast glass trophy or award by Peter Heywood
 All done! 
I started out thinking this project would be straight-forward but the intricate pattern on the inside proved quite tricky. 
It took multiple attempts to laser cut the sheets of perspex (mainly because of the way I drew it using one software package and then moved it through 2 others). 
Also, the plaster was very fragile. 
Finally, grinding and polishing it was a pain.
Makes me think I should look for ways of avoiding kiln casting going forward - it's very time consuming.

 

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