Solnit × Assness: CNC Turning Brings an Artist’s Vision to Life

Client Feedback

“I had a great experience working with Solnit, my account manager was very responsive and involved throughout the whole process making the project fast and easy.I recommend Solnit and look forward to our next project.”

— Mr. Tony Assness

Project Background

Project Application Scenarios and Objectives:

These pieces are designed for high-end art exhibitions, stage installations, or limited-edition art retail. They are more than everyday items; they are artistic creations with a strong visual impact.

Mr. Tony Assness is a famous visual creative director in Australia. He works on large-scale live events, stage design, fashion design, and installation art. Many world-class brands and cultural institutions have shown their support for Mr. Tony Assness’s creative works, including Louis Vuitton, Hermès, National Geographic, Red Bull, Vogue Magazine, and Fox Studios Australia.

Project Introduction

Challenges

The challenges of machining extra-long, large-diameter parts

The core component of this art installation measures 1005 mm in length and 210 mm in diameter. This is much bigger than the processing range of conventional turned parts. Such large dimensions make processing difficult. Extremely long workpieces vibrate and bend when rotating at high speeds. Large diameters require equipment that is more rigid and stable. Maintaining the same shape and exact measurements across the entire one-meter-long workpiece requires special clamping solutions and extremely precise machining control. These factors make making this piece much harder than making regular parts.

Draw professional drawings according to customer requirements

In this project, the client provided the creative design, and Solnit created all the engineering drawings, including 3D models, based on the client’s ideas. To turn a creative design idea into detailed engineering drawings, you need to know exactly how curved the surfaces are, how they connect, and the standards for precision. There wasn’t much technical documentation for making the product, so the project had to find a balance between the original design and the engineering specifications. One of the most important challenges of the project was figuring out how to accurately understand the artist’s design and turn it into data that could be used for precision machining.

Solutions

To overcome the two main challenges of the project, Solnit developed specific solutions that combined engineering innovation with artistic creativity.

Segmented Machining + Precision Assembly

We figured out how hard it would be to make this part using machines and how much it would cost. We decided to use a special process that involved cutting the part into different pieces and putting it together. The part was cut near the base to allow for precise machining control of each section. Threads were added at the cut points to improve post-assembly tightness and maintain the part’s concentricity.

To make sure the surfaces look natural and flow smoothly, we did a process called “secondary precision turning” after putting everything together. This made the transitions look smooth and made sure there were no visible joints.

We used a special process called “segmented machining and precision assembly” to cut down on how much raw material we needed. This process didn’t change the design of the product or how well it worked. The original design required a single large bar stock, but after segmentation, we could select the appropriate diameter for the coarse and fine bar stocks separately, which avoided significant material waste. This not only reduced the amount of raw materials needed, but also made processing more efficient, lowering overall processing costs by about 80%.

From Concept to Manufacturing: Development of Complete Drawings

We talked a lot with the client about the drawing. We confirmed important details like the part length, diameter, and curved surface parameters. According to the manufacturing plan, senior mechanical design engineers finished the 2D and 3D manufacturing drawings. These drawings meet the standards for making the product, and they show exactly what the artist wanted. This makes it easy to make the product exactly how it was designed.

Solnit used these solutions to turn complex creative ideas into exact physical works, combining art and engineering.