Arboform with glass

In the future, I want to work with Arboform and glass. Originally starting my degree in Printmedia and now residing in the glass studio, my practice explores printing processes AND glass and representing the same image through various mediums.

I recently completed a wood cut as part of my 2nd year body of work and while doing this I decided that in the future, when cost and time permits, I would like to slump Arboform on a mould and work with layering inks and/or enamels.


(plaster mould)


The way that a certain medium can change due to heat, pressure etc. and how the determined changes and unforeseen changes can effect the rest of the process interests me greatly and I believe Arboform would be one of these processes. If used in a series, the way the piece turns out will greatly affect the creation of the next piece, weather the image be exactly the same yet in a different material or slightly or greatly altered due to the material used.

Below and some more pictures of the pre-fired dichroic glass pieces I did earlier this year. I post these specific pictures becuase this is where I would start with tests of Arboform and small pieces of glass.

I endebour to use Arboform in the future and I hope to become a semi-advocate for the new "liquid wood" for other artists.

-Its environmental price tag is already hard to beat.

Still waiting for the art..

Through out all my research into Arboform, I haven't been able to locate a single artist working with the new material. The closest I have come is the Sergio Rossi eco-pump and the designer Fossil watch.

I firmly believe in the coming years Arboform will become widely used in more designer jewellery and products in a range of mid-high end markets.

Through researching Arboform, I can see great potential for it in my own practice. As I experiment with a lot of moulding and pattern processes in my current work, Arboform would be very interesting from an injection moulding point of view to produce wall pieces.

The image below is a piece I created 1st semester this year. It is 6mm slumped glass onto a plaster mould I carved and filled with frit and powder. This style of artwork would be very interesting to see injection moulded in Arboform. To do this though I would need to turn the image into a CAD file and send it off to Technaro in Germany.





The downside of Arboform at present it that Technaro (the only distributor) is located in Germany. Just the location alone makes it difficult to assume a project like this. Other draw backs from using Arboform at the moment are the cost and possible language barrier.

Liquid Wood Is Plastic of Tomorrow, Say Scientists

The new substance would be safe for use in toys


Household items could also be made from Arborform






http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3938912,00.html

A "green" nativity scene?

Nativity figurines made of liquid wood (Credit: Copyright Tecnaro GmbH)

When it comes to toys, it is vital that chldrens toys do not release any softeners or heavy metals that could endanger the human body due to wear and tear or exposure to the elements.

“One milestone in this respect has been achieved in certificate EN 71 (Part 3) being awarded under the food-grade test. This so-called 'sucking test' for children's toys showed ARBOFORM® not only to be below the exposure limits, but to be even below the detection limits of all the hazardous substances it was tested for.”


The following is an except taken from msnbc.com where columist Bryn Nelson spoke to Norbert Eisenreich, a senior researcher and deputy of the directors at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology in Pfinztal, Germany about the creation of Arboform in relation to childrens toys and the 'nativity scene':

To make the material more toy-friendly, researchers dramatically reduced the high sulfur content typically associated with the separation of lignin from wood’s other fibers. Eisenreich said a range of processes are widely available for separating lignins without the need for sulfur chemicals.

The institute’s solution, he said, was to use high-pressure hydrolysis (with nothing more than water, high temperature and high pressure) to yield water insoluble lignin. The resulting material maintains its stability even if exposed to water or saliva.

The Arboform material also can be broken into pieces and recycled as a filler. Though it can’t be re-melted, he said, it can be burned just like wood.



http://theinquisition.eu/wordpress/2009/01/arborform/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081202115326.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28283260/

Watches

This "Wood Watch" wrist watch casing is made from Arboform "liquid wood".

Arboform shows very little mould shrinkage. So it allows very tight manufacturing tolerances to be met. Creep properties are good which is utilized in the constant pressure from the springs in the watch casing.

Unlike the use of plastics, which show sink marks in the situation, there is no problem in changing wall thicknesses from 1 mm to, for instance, as much as 50 mm in one step.

http://www.designinsite.dk/htmsider/k0076.htm

Sergio Rossi eco-pump

ECO-PUMP!

Sergio Rossi’s is a brand committed to ecological development and has taken the steps to design a pair of shoes that uses materials that are environmentally friendly and eco-sensitive.

Working in collaboration with German research institute, Fraunhofer Institut (where Arboform was developed) to show responsibility towards our planet, the new Sergio Rossi eco-pump has heels and soles that have been moulded in liquid wood (Arboform) and contains a low percentage of leather waste.

Sergio Rossi has taken a enormous leap forward in this design, also choosing tanners that are eco-sensitive and using bio-degradable material for both shoe and packaging.


http://www.butterboom.com/2009/06/04/sergio-rossi-ecopump/

http://www.sergiorossi.com/us/en/world/w_ecopump.aspx

breaking news!!

“In a few months’ time, we hope to start production of artists’ crayons and cosmetic pencils,” states Jürgen Pfitzer, who founded the company together with colleague Helmut Nägele in 1998. “Our close ties with the Fraunhofer Institute give us every confidence that our extruder will be able to achieve the required product quality.” At present, top-quality artists’ crayons are still manufactured from imported cedar wood, while lip and eyebrow pencils are generally made using conventional petroleum-based plastics.

http://www.ict.fraunhofer.de/


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