CASPERfish

WORLD MOOK 293 Nº1, JANUARY.2001

logocentricity

logocentric

lodown magazine

"VACUUM RESIN INFUSION FOR POINTER"
lodown magazine... press from Germany

http://www.lodownmagazine.com/index.php?page=25&modaction=showItem&id=1833 

increasingly green designs of Jeff Casper, part 2

http://designcorner.blinkr.net/the-increasingly-green-designs-of-jeff-casper-part-2/ 

increasingly green designs of Jeff Casper, part 1

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_increasingly_green_designs_of_jeff_casper_part_1_17896.asp#more 

MAXiRAD!

...just your basic maxiradness:

youtube: hemp bioresin rolling door

...alternating strips of blue & black hemp/recycled PET cloth lapped & laminated with SuperSap bioresin created the waterproof sideways rolling front entrance door for LiViTY's flagship retail store @ 2401 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA. Two small windows of open weave hemp cloth & the sustainable epoxy were integrated into the door as backlit signage, accessible & changeable through the interior. The subframe was fabricated using reclaimed doors, remilled redwood & rollerblade wheels with precision bearings. Part of the framework & an integrated bench was build using vintage oak from an old Vermont barn. Collaborative project between Jeff Casper & Darby Warren with Isaac Nichelson/LiViTY OUTERNATIONAL. 

©Jeffrey Kirk Casper 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm4an4GpC_M 

hemp bioresin sliding door

...alternating strips of blue & black hemp/recycled PET cloth lapped & laminated with SuperSap bioresin created the waterproof sideways rolling front entrance door for LiViTY's flagship retail store @ 2401 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA. Two small windows of open weave hemp cloth & the sustainable epoxy were integrated into the door as backlit signage, accessible & changeable through the interior. The subframe was fabricated using reclaimed doors, remilled redwood & rollerblade wheels with precision bearings. Part of the framework & an integrated bench was build using vintage oak from an old Vermont barn. Collaborative project between Jeff Casper & Darby Warren with Isaac Nichelson/LiViTY OUTERNATIONAL. 


©Jeffrey Kirk Casper 2010

from blog to blog... the hemp fiber vacuum infusion takes flight:


https://www.entropyresins.com/blog 

hemp fiber bioresin vacuum infusion display

When asked to create a special display @ Conveyor, Fred Segal for the fall 2010 collection for Pointer, there were several design criteria which needed to highlight the complex, yet simple design of this shoe line... it needed to be unique & original, built of the most durable & highest quality natural materials, mixing traditional craftsmanship with the highest technology.  In essence, it needed to be truly complimentary in every way to the quality of the shoes represented.

A three dimensional Archimedean spiral on a large pedestal was chosen as the form which would showcase the 14 new shoe models.  This involute curve of a circle represents a universal form which is often seen in nature, whether as the shape of a nautilus shell, a pattern of a snowflake or the familiar contour profile of a fluid ocean wave as it rises & breaks as a curling tube.  

The material choice was to use the greenest, best quality materials available:  a bale of over 15 pounds of the world’s strongest & longest raw fibers from the hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa) was combined in equal parts with an epoxy bioresin called SuperSap, formulated by Entropy Resins.  This resin is an extremely strong & sustainable epoxy created from the waste stream of the paper industry (pine trees) & the biofuel industry (rapeseed).

The production method used to create this undulating involute curve shape is called “vacuum resin infusion”.  This technique was chosen as it is the most advanced method for fabricating large composite pieces.  Initially, this technique was used in the aerospace industry, but more recently has been the method of choice to fabricate large-scale windmill turbine blades as well as giant ultralight boat hulls or other applications requiring a state-of-the-art ratio of reinforcement fiber to resin. There is little waste or noxious odors with this process & the efficiency of the saturation is much higher than hand lamination combined with vacuum bagging.  Traditionally, layers of woven cloth are laminated using this technique to provide an even, uniform thickness... for this experimental piece, unwoven, raw fibers were used to create an uneven surface thickness, thus allowing light to penetrate through the back lit object in the thinner areas.

To orchestrate this advanced process, preparation & set up were key to a successful execution.  Initially, a large wooden form was built (originally built as a mold for a vertical axis windmill vane).  This large, curved surface was fit with a custom built bag.  Along the periphery edge of the bag, a branched series of perforated tubes connected to a clamped flow intake line.  Over 15 pounds of dry, raw, hemp fiber were hand stuffed into this giant plastic sack, the fluffy fibers were randomly piled from 2-4” thick.  The sack full of Cannabis Sativa was then completely sealed & connected to a vacuum pump... as more & more air was drawn from the bag & the atmospheric pressure dropped, the uneven mixture of tough fibers was densely compressed to varying thicknesses.  Once the maximum vacuum was fully drawn, batches of the 2-part resin were measured & mixed.  The intake line was inserted into the bucket of mixed resin, unclasped & the low viscosity resin was pulled through the porous fibers towards the powerful vacuum pump.  Once the entire dry part was saturated & infused with resin, the resin distribution lines were clamped shut, the vacuum pump disconnected & the infused hemp was allowed a full day to cure.  Once hardened, the bagging material was removed & the edges trimmed with a circular saw.  Holes were drilled at appropriate locations for random positioning of the shoes.

The small rectangles which support each shoe were made from reclaimed mixed species Brazilian hardwoods... each of the shoes are mechanically suspended off the surface via height-adjustable through-bolts, giving the illusion that the shoes are floating.  Two of these supports also fasten & connect the solidified hemp form with the wooden base.

The creation of the Pointer logo in bas relief was created using analog, hands-on, primitive methods.  Initially, the logo was projected at night onto the reclaimed wooden panel, then traced & stacked with multiple ply sheets.  The letters were milled through the panels, following the letter outlines, making identical cut-outs, which were later off-set & glued to create depth to the graphic logo.

I would like to thank Cheater Five, Pointer, Conveyor & Fred Segal for supporting my use of hemp as the foundation of this work.  The recent development of bio-based epoxy resin has opened an new chapter in resin reinforced fiber composites.  This display visually & physically illustrates a new potential of this historically useful multipurpose plant.  Whether applied towards building & fabrication or general product design, from the fiber of the stalk to the absorbent woody inner hurds, Cannabis Sativa has unmatched characteristics of strength & efficiency.  Cold pressed hemp seed oil is one of the healthiest, most balanced edible oils known (highly nutritional due to its 3:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids) & it can be used in it’s unrefined state to cleanly run unmodified diesel engines.  Cultivation of hemp offers revitalization of marginal soil, as the plant has the ability to fix nitrogen through its expansive tap roots which also aids in field drainage. The healing flower from this herb has provided inspiration since before recorded history.  It is time to embrace change & legalize it!

Jeff Casper

Malibu, CA

10/25/10

hemp fiber bioresin vacuum infusion

The world's largest hemp fiber bioresin vacuum infusion part has just been achieved.  This process is the cleanest & strongest method for creating resin infused parts.  This was commisioned to fabricate a unique backlit display to showcase the 2010 line of Pointer footwear.  This video demonstrates & documents the process...

abstract nightsurfing photos

A strange perspective/recording from nightsurfing session... photos by Frank Perna

Hemp & a Paddle

A couple photos of interestingly inspiring items from the ancient collections @ LACMA...

tandem stand up paddlers

These oldschool tandem paddlesurfer guys know how to clear out da lineup...

paddlelight

Simple modification of a powerful & cheap waterproof LED flashlight to this prototype GSI paddle provided great visual floodlighting for night-surfing & insured the paddle would not be lost if we somehow became separated... the flashlight is very light, so it barely effected the swingweight of the paddle!

Night surfing

There were three of us on SUPs & one prone surfer... I had a red/green bow light (that's made for a zodiac) & a white stern LED light that I epoxied onto the tail of the board + a waterproof flashlight on my paddle & a glowstick around theneck... the other guys all had glowsticks too, so we wouldn't hit each other! We also tied a glowstick to a string & anchored it to a rock... sunk it near the take off spot. So disorienting riding in moonlight! Craig broke his leash on a big set & had to swim in with his paddle... then lost all four fins & a massive ding on his rail/bottom... he made it to the beach & returned to the fire to polish off a bottle of wine!?! Super fun night on the water!!!

gliding loveseat testride

This is a swinging sustainable mixed-species hardwood hemp suspended multipositionable loveseat for 2 adults or 3 kids:

...folding/sideways-rolling chairs

All this finless free-thought & finless riding is felt frequently through these sideways-rolling/folding kids-scale chairs... they are fabricated of reclaimed mixed-species Brazilian hardwoods with stainless hardware & rollerblade wheels with preision sealed bearings... the matching scale table is both angle & height adjustable for use with chairs or in a lower position, with pillows... both the chairs & table fold into a compact storage position... they were designed for usage in a treehouse.  ©Jeffrey Kirk Casper 2010:

finless madness...

I'm having a hard time connecting this to the blog regarding finless surfing... this is an absolutely mind bloggling video:  "absolutamente mestre" by Fernando Fanta... cut'n'paste this address to see this brilliant speed slicing acrobatic assult:
 http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=107865479263645

finless SUP surfing

Had an insane session... an oasis of stimulus... broke my fin off on one of the first waves... continued to finlessSUP for over an hour... got some knifey speedy trimmers... sliding like a buttersled... sideways riding... backwards spins... noseride flys... so glad I embraced the loss & endered a gain into a whole new domain... paddlesurfing finless... radecal terrain!!!

stand up paddle surfing

SUP surfing

5th of July paddle testing

The conditions were sweet, but the shoulder-hoppin' kooks were also in fine form... for those who are learning to paddlesurf, there are basic rules of etiquette which one needs to become familar with before heading out to the lineup... rather than having the earned experience of "wave knowledge", often the wave catches these novices, propelling them along with minimal understanding of the reprecussions of their true lack of control... not only is it lame to shoulder-hop onto a wave & potentially agravating to the deepest positioned surfer, but it can also be very dangerous... these sequences illustrate what NOT to do while SUP surfing.  Personally, I enjoy sharing waves with people, taking "party waves" & riding with friends who I trust have a grip on the dynamics... the strangers in these shots are lucky that I take a relatively passive approach to this individual sport (others may not be so mellow)... after all it was the day after independance day... time to be free!!! 

surfing a sailboard