The premise of this design was to provide a second life to a preexisting waste stream
I then began experimenting with a variety of different scrap materials and binders in order to see what material properties could be generated. Below are documentations of these experiments:
I then moved onto sketching. Ideas ranged from desk storage, to coffee tables, to nightstands, to lighting. Ultimately, I chose to move forward with creating a lighting option as it aligned well with the material properties.
After settling on a design, I created a 2-part mold using MDF and a CNC in order to cast the solid lamp shade.
Despite adding a fair bit of draft and sealing/sanding the mold, I wound up using a forester bit, chisel, and Dremel to remove the mold from the cast. I believe that this was a result of the low viscosity bio-resin settling in any amount of mold texture and thus creating hundreds of tiny undercuts. Ideally, this mold would have been constructed with silicone to prevent this from occurring.
After securing the shade to the base, I sanded it up to 2500 grit
Then, I buffed on polish for a smooth exterior finish
