Posted in Thesis
Thesis – start of materials tests
Starting from the smallest, most basic component, I will be lead to spiral, radiate and reach down unexplored roads.
It is sometimes hard to remember this when you start out with something so fundamental, I appreciate the process, yet, at the same time, want to fast forward to the sophisticated problems.
Ok, with that in mind… let’s begin!
My gathered supplies are conductive thread from Lame Lifesaver, wool roving and wool yarn.
First, I will measure the resistance of the thread
- 14 ohms per foot, depending how tight you hold it.
Chain stitch thread
- 14 ohms relaxed
- 7 ohms stretched
All swatches are crocheted with a yarn/conductive thread mix with a size H/8 hook. Resistance is mainly measured by clipping the leads of my multimeter to the middle of the outer edges.
- ~6 ohms relaxed
- ~3 ohms stretched and scrunched
10×10 single crochet square. Lame thread and merino wool yarn mix. 2.5″x2.25″
This swatch is crocheted with considerably thicker yarn. This causes the conductive thread to be few a and far between, which causes great inconsistency between readings.
- readings jump from 17 ohms to 8 ohms and other values from there while relaxed.
- ~ 7 ohms … this was jumpy too.
17×10 half double crochet swatch. Lame thread and merino wool yarn mix. 5″x4″
- if I put the leads at the end of a row, I can measure the resistance of that row pretty consistently. Yet, putting the leads anywhere else gives back a very inconsistent reading. I believe the spacing of the hdc stitch is too great for the conductive to touch enough of it’s neighbor to act as one resistive body.
Long tendril
6 sc stitch circumference, 16″ length
- ~35 ohms relaxed
- ~14 stretched
- ~4 squished up
Medium tendril
6 sc stitch circumference, 6.5″ length
- ~16 ohms relaxed
- ~5 ohms stretched and squished
small bullets
6 sc stitch circumference, 2.5″ length
- ~10 ohms relaxed
- ~3 ohms stretched
I recently received water-based copper ink, I felted 3 small shapes in order to dip them in the ink in hopes to create something I could squish and get a reading.
First dipped shaped, drying. I dipped half of the shape in straight, undiluted copper ink.
Second shape soaking in 1:1 mixture of ink and water. Its soaked up nicely.
Second shape drying... kind of looks like a snapea crisp. man, I love those....
I dipped the other half of the first shape into the 1:1 mixture as well.
For the ball, I thought of injecting the ink inside to soak up. Maybe the pressure from squishing the outside will be enough to get a reading. This way, the copper coating is protected too. I purchased an amazing “taste injector” from a cooking supply store to administer the ink. taste injector… awesome.
Loading up 1 tsp. of ink
Injecting ink
The entry point of the needle
I marked the other side too, where the point of the needle would of pierced through. I plan on putting leads in the opposite sides of the sphere to get a reading.
