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Old 08-18-2019, 01:31 PM
cliffrod cliffrod is offline
MetalShaper of the Month January 2020, March 2022
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Spartanburg, SC
Posts: 2,845
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I worked for years in stone, for the most part, without producing a specific model for every job. Lots of reasons and lots of practice just doing it. I learned a lot but my work didn't move to the next level until making a specific model for every job became SOP. Even when not accurately duplicating the model by measurement, problems are resolved in the less expensive model before proceeding to the job. In the long run, making bucks for metal is the best use of my time.

Paper vs FSP? I like paper, for several reasons.

Paper Patterns are fast, simple and cheap. They provide basic information about overall job composition while providing clear instruction about how to create the job form via bending (smooth paper) and shape via shrinking (folds & wrinkles). This instruction helps me plan future work, such as welding like-dimensioned areas of metal to neighboring pieces. A Paper Pattern is actually or essentially monolithic, just like the blank of sheet metal. So the information and instruction provided is perfectly analogous and appropriate to the job at hand. I can trust what I have in hand to guide me well through the entire process.

FSP provides better visual 3D information about the overall composition because it maintains a more aesthetically pleasing composition. They are more complicated, expensive and time consuming to produce- maybe not $$$, but more than paper. Since an FSP is fabricated from numerous pieces of tape that are manipulated to eliminate all folds and wrinkles during construction, all instruction about creating form and shape is lost. The fabricated FSP is not monolithic like the metal blank, which means I'm comparing apples to oranges when comparing model to job. If I made a panel from several uniquely cut & bent strips of metal, the FSP would be more analogous. With the instruction data lost, it makes it more challenging to produce the job as well as planning where metal thickness along edges will remain as original dimension or change. This complicates future welding to other panels. I have surrendered instruction, ease of planning and now have to work more by my wits alone. Maybe I can do that without issue, but I would rather not when I don't have to.

A simple solution would be to make an FSP, finished with adhesive top layer (glue, double-sided tape, etc) to which a Paper Pattern is attached with all folds and wrinkles intact. This hybrid FSP-PP would allow the FSP to act similar to a mother (hard support) of a silicone mold as used when casting plaster. All information about composition and all instruction to produce the job have been captured. Since you cannot remove the Paper pattern now to perfectly outline the necessary metal blank for cutting, a duplicate paper pattern would be needed. This hybrid approach may help some who benefit from having a tangible 3D object in hand to guide their work. Others may just make the Paper Pattern once and proceed.

Different studios, different Masters and Apprentices, different methods. One of my Masters also taught me by example to not verbalized what I see as good/bad or right/wrong in most situations, but to only offer whether I like it or not if I say anything at all. That is one of the best lessons I have ever learned.
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