Meditate - Sand Casting

ME103 Product Realization, Stanford University

January 2019 - April 2019

I created "Meditate" as a desktop zen garden, a simple and approachable form of Buddhist expression. Over the course of 10 weeks, I learned basic methods in milling, turning (metal and wood lathe), welding, sand casting, and 3D printing. The aluminum zen garden is my final project and measures 11” x 11”. The pattern is constructed from wood and a 3D-printed resin centerpiece, and the final product is sanded to 1000 grit. I iterated through twelve casting prototypes to achieve the the ideal combination of pattern draft, liquid flow temperature, and surface finish.

Design Goals:
To create a miniature Zen garden for day-to-day meditative practices; a reminder of identity and balance.

Core Processes:
Sand casting, woodworking, milling, TIG welding

Material: Aluminum

Challenges:
Troubleshooting my pattern for sand casting. There are often many factors affecting the quality of a part that cannot be precisely controlled, but a well-designed pattern and operations sequence can eliminate a lot of those ambiguities.

# sand casting, woodworking, manufacturing, prototyping, design