Adolfo Santillan's class

Adolfo Santillan's class was Working with Aluminum.  Adolfo had no previous experience working with metal. His aspiration is to be able to produce sculptural pieces. For this class his goal was to complete two projects that would enable him to get some hands on experience with the tools and processes. The projects were designed by Adolfo. The first one was a kinetic mobile. This mobile was inspired by his love for the kids in his life. It would feature hanging hearts that had a place in the center of each......to put photos of the kids.

Once the design was completed, Adolfo needed to cut out the different sized hearts. This was accomplished by using a Plasma Cutter. Once the elements were cut out, they needed to have the edges cleaned up with a grinder. Once cleaned up...each heart was textured by hammering. Adolfo put different hammer textures on each of the elements for contrast. Once all the elements are complete, the assembly can begin. This was done with some trial and error, the kinetic mobile needed to be balanced. It was decided where each element would go, and how long the wire would be that supported them.

For the second project Adolfo wanted something quick. He decided to cut out a set of house numbers with the plasma. And instead of the hammer texture.....he used the angle grinder and gave the numbers a "brushed swirl" effect.

Here is the rough sketch and the three larger heart elements. You can see the heart template and the parts that still need to be cut out of the center of each heart, for the placement of the photos.

Once the design was completed, Adolfo needed to cut out the different sized hearts. This was accomplished by using a Plasma Cutter. Here he is with the plasma torch, cutting out one of the smaller hearts.

This is a photo of Adolfo cleaning up the edges of the hearts with an angle grinder. Once the edges are ground smooth, each heart can then be hammer textured in preparation for assembly.

Here's Adolfo adding the hammer texture and dishing one of the hearts.

Adolfo and his projects. This shot doesn't show the texture very well, but it does show how the photos would be attached. Once attached they would be able to spin in the center of the hearts. And the numbers are for his house.