I’ve been really interested in the series of videos about the frames. However they’ve never been completly aplicable to the kind of work I do. I fabricate for artists and it can end up getting pretty weird with odd dimensions and angles.
I have a drawing from a recent job and I would be interested to hear peoples opinions on how they would fixutre, given that not every part lies at 90 degrees. would this be in one setup or multiple, would you use custom jigs and if so how would you make them?
Jason i would be particularly interested in how you would acomplish this design with the fireball system, I feel there are a great number of things that set the fireball table apart but I’ve never found an easy answer for jobs like this.
A few notes about the drawing
This drawing is not complete as there are weird angles that live in the CAD file, 89.2 degrees for example. the drawing only has what is needed for me to assemble and weld.
dimensions in milimetres
the tube is 20x20mm (about 3/4")
The parts are rough cut by chopsaw or angle grinder and then ground to the correct dimension and angle using a jig that bolts to a linisher
This was a one off however in the future expect runs of about 5 with some variation in dimensions and angles.
I’d also be interested to hear how people would price a weird job like this as compared to something more on the 90, this is always soemthing I struggle with especially as I work in a consultant capacity for artsist alongside jobs like this.
This sets you up for the next step you leave your fixtures in place from the previous setup and add the fixtures that will index the the top hoop to the bottom hoop,
Wow. Great demonstration Wyatt. As I consider the investment for a table, and with my limited experience and imagination, I find examples like this to be very powerful illustrations of what’s possible. Thank you.
Since you mentioned the tube is 20mm square, I assume all your measurements are metric? What kind of artistic work requires precision down to the hundredths of a mm?
I would love to see more people show setups they are doing, whether on fixture tables or using FB squares or other jigs.
Seeing how other people approach setups is a great learning tool for me. One idea often sparks another.
Here are a few layouts and clamps I came up with today. I just left out the tooth block on the top slide and left it a hair loose with 2 clamping bolts.
I do similar things to what you describe your jobs / tasks are. Fabricating weird custom requests; ‘consulting’ or giving advise on how something might be brought into physical form; and doing those aspects of the pipeline for my own small scale products (including sculptures). So i recognise the air.
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To speak on anything, we need a mutual understanding. So let me share a little of my philosophy of what a sculpture / art work is. Then we can apply terms like ‘consult’ and speak about approach to getting them made.
Any product out in the world is designed and implemented. Usually, commercially, there are restrictions and approaches that just have to be in place for a successful product (consequences of scale). Like reducing the Bill Of Materials; or minimizing processes needed in production. What these particulars are change when production at small scale though. And one offs like sculptures are that small scale. But they are very much still a product. So the relative importance of various aspects have changed. Maybe ‘produduction exactingly to a vision of form’ holds more weight than reducing BOM costs. But all aspects are still there. And their relative importance still has to be communicated between parties involved; discussed; and considered by a designer. There is still a product designer. That’s probably what you mean when you say ‘consult’. Apply technical and production knowledge to the concept of the product, in order to enable it to be born into physical reality.
So if that’s the case, what’s the role of a product designer? Massive question. But one aspect might be to offer thoughts on achieving the concept in ways that the conceiver might not have thought of. Or, guidance i guess. Asking questions like “is that very pointy corner actually necessary, or is it just a consequence of a drawing technique used? Because making one simple change might reduce complexity of a build immensely.” A go-between who might hear from the fabricator “what you’re asking is ridiculous. We’ll do it. But it will cost” and then be able to say to the artist “how about we make this part from thicker material and save the fabricator a whole bunch of time”.
The person ordering the build of the thing doesn’t know, and often doesn’t know that they don’t know. They need help with that. And that help takes time; effort; overhead costs; etc, and is work.
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By hypothetical example - the highly pointy corner in your drawings might be machined (subtractive process / step), and then tube (readily available profile) welded to that and blended in a fabrication step that’s now far easier for the fabricator to do. Maybe this suits because you have a machinist shop next door, but not an amazing fabricator available. The designer’s job is “weighing up” all the options. Including second guessing the drawings, and the proposed methods (nicely).
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If your drawings really do represent the decided product, and fabrication is the chosen process, then calculating production cost is just admin. Materials; overheads; the cost of the time of all involved; etc. like any business. If there are drawings (plans for a proposed outcome; production method; etc) then design decisions have been made that went into that plan. If your artist made those decisions and presented you with a drawing / plan, then the consequences of those decisions are theirs. Calculate the cost of those consequences and give them that quote.
If you’re charging for the ‘weighing up’, and you’re the one making those plans / drawings, then it’s up to you what that service costs. And up to the client what it’s worth. A good designer will save the client money by skilled ‘weighing up’ that reduces costs even with the addition of their own compensation for that service. For instance by saying “that’s easier to machine than it is to fabricate, so asking a machinist to make it will cost less than asking a fabricator to make it”.
But that designer’s charge is harder to recouperate in a one-off product. But it’s not your issue how many of a product someone wants to bring into this world.
Which brings us to the fundamental question of whether or not the artist is willing to do what it takes to make the thing themselves. If no, then the amount you choose to charge (quote) them is the consequence of that choice. And whether or not that project / production happens is a consequence of whether they have the funding for that charge. Whether they choose to employ a designer in the process, or lean on someone like a fabricator to pull off the impossible and thus charge commensurately.
In short - it’s a product, and all the decision steps in how it gets made still need to be done whether there’s one or 100 000 being made. Someone needs to get paid for that work. So 1) (and the hardest part) is that the client needs to be approaching the project with an understanding of that (it may fall on you to develop that understanding). And 2) you need to charge separately for the separate services you’re providing. Fabricator’s gonna find a way to do it whether that’s fabricator is you or someone else. And that fabricator’s job (and charge) could be a challenge to stomach whether that fabricator is you or someone else - depending on whether a considerate designer has been employed in the mix. But if they have, they need to get paid (you need to charge) for that.
