PROTOTYPING STEEL

This collection is a series Instructables from exercises and projects done as a part of a seminar called Prototyping: STEEL I taught this Fall at CCA (California College of the Arts). The course was generously supported by Instructables/Autodesk with materials and machine time on the Omax waterjet. A brief for the course follows:

Steel is used extensively in the products, infrastructure, vehicles and buildings all around us. Despite the prevalence of steel, especially in architecture, the design, detailing and general understanding of its properties often fall short of its full potential. This course’s intent is twofold: First - to better understand the material and associated fabrication processes through research, lectures/shop tours, hand’s-on making exercises (i.e. – welding, cutting, drilling, tapping, etc.) and experimentation with industrial digital fabrication processes (Omax 5-axis waterjet cutting at Pier 9).The second objective is to implement the knowledge and gain further experience through the fabrication of full scale prototypes. (i.e. furniture or small scale architectural components) Through these empirical modes of investigation, the ambition is to achieve not only a working knowledge of practical details and applications, but more importantly an intuitive sensibility regarding the unique qualities of steel when designing.