6c. Making the Prototype: Surface Finishes and Wood Staining

After having all the parts cut and bent, I needed to achieve smooth finishes on all the parts.

To do this I hand sanded them down with 40 grit Sand paper to start off with to remove any rough edges or sides, I then used a 100 grit sand paper to get the material extra smooth to the touch. Finally I used 400 grit sand paper to achieve a high quality finish.

I did this with both the birch wood and the acrylic to achieve a high quality finish and to frost the clear acrylic, creating that dim lighting effect once the lamp was put together.

After everything was sanded down I used wood stain on the birch to give it a darker colour, as proposed in my final design. I used the colour “Saddle” to give it a mahogany brown look to the wood, this paired with the burn marks from the laser cutting gave the parts a contrasting look from the acrylic.

After I had completed this step, I left the wood to all dry and I was ready to go on to the next step.