colour

The first delivery of components arrives at Peerless Powdercoaters.
These red pieces are the only part of the work that is in contact with the supporting wall. The plates will be anchored with 144 stainless steel rods embedded into the wall and secured with 144 red dome nuts.



Dexterity and patience.



Prior to the application of powder all of the components are cleaned, washed, etched and washed again.



Powdercoating is a surprisingly clean process, the object is earthed, the powder has a negative charge.



These pieces will be baked at around 180-200 deg. C then a second coat (clear anti-graffiti) will be applied and they will be baked a second time.
This is the first of five colours, 16 of the 226 pieces to be coated.

The final fitting

Each module consists of 15 blades, the seven blades on each side of the 'spine' blade are fed onto 18 stainless steel tubes which are fastened to the spine blade. Each blade is separated with a nylon washer, the last blade is secured with bolts that thread into the tube.

A perfect fit!

The mirror surface of the aluminium creating the appearance of transparency, ideas for future work appear. In time the aluminium surface would dull with oxidization unless it was endlessly polished, but...

Once the pieces are welded the welds are ground back, the bolt holes in the external blades are counter sunk and all sharp corners are removed in preparation for powder-coating.

Welding

It was necessary to cut each full blade in two pieces as the laser cutting machine has a maximum sheet size of 3m. In order to disguise the welds they have replaced what would have been a fold. The folded angle is CNC controlled the welding angle is not.



The central 'spine' pieces have 2 X 12mm plates attached at the back for fastening each module to the wall (that's why they stand so proud)



The tentative arrangement of one module.

Fold

Once cut the pieces are folded to angles varying from 15.5 to 60 degrees.





My image of a paper Marquette becomes something more tangible.





The shift from 2 to 3 dimensions is quite remarkable, a flat plane reaches into space.





The journey continues, the pieces make their way to the welders.

the primary ingredient

'ONCE, AGAIN' the process of overseeing the manufacturing of a work for a public space has begun. From early February Rocklea Pressed Metal (Rockpress) have been working on the component parts for 'ONCE, AGAIN'. This involves the cutting of the 480 pieces (32 variations) of 6mm marine grade aluminium.



Laser cut pieces



Beautiful scrap



The pile half full