Oolong’s Zoo

Friday, June 10, 2011

USB Sugru Tiger

Photo of the sculpture

I’ve been looking forward to making USB sculptures out of Sugru ever since I got to play with a couple a little of the the stuff at the Maker Faire in Newcastle last year. My hope is that it will prove at least as resilient as epoxy putty, which is remarkably strong but quite brittle – usually an epoxy USB sculpture will survive being dropped, or kept in a pocket with keys for a long time, but I have seen the occasional part crack off.

I also think I like the way Sugru feels after it’s set, more than I like the cold, stony feel of epoxy putty. It hardens to a firm but rubbery consistency, with whatever surface texture you imprint on it – or a smooth sheen, if you polish it with water.

Like epoxy putty, it sets on its own over the course of about a day; it sticks firmly to anything when you first start using it; it gives you maybe half an hour to an hour of good working time; and if you’re not careful, little bits will end up setting in a slightly different position from where you thought you left them.

To make this tiger I used an unusually small flash drive, two googly eyes, a pipe cleaner and almost a whole 5g sachet of orange Sugru. I also used just a little bit of black Sugru. Since each 5g of Sugru starts setting from the moment you open the sachet, I took the opportunity to use what was left over to enhance the grip of my camera with the impression of my fingers. Then I made a cat.

Note: commissions are always welcome.

posted by frm at 22:40  

5 Comments »

  1. Wonderful stuff! this is extremely neat

    Comment by dinah — 11 June 2011 @ 17:49

  2. […] USB Sugru Tiger (assembled) Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 | Electronics USB Sugru Tiger (assembled) Image by 0olong (See also my sculpture blog) […]

    Pingback by USB Sugru Tiger (assembled) | Flash drive — 19 July 2011 @ 09:08

  3. […] USB Sugru Sculpture (head) Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 | Electronics USB Sugru Sculpture (head) Image by 0olong (See also my sculpture blog) […]

    Pingback by USB Sugru Sculpture (head) | Flash drive — 20 July 2011 @ 13:10

  4. Hi Fergus,
    Have you seen that there is a contest on at the moment on instructables for great USB projects?
    The prizes are great – you should enter this project!

    http://www.instructables.com/contest/usb2011/?show=PRIZES

    Jane.

    Comment by Jane — 21 July 2011 @ 19:27

  5. […] USB Sugru Sculpture (head) Image by 0olong (See also my sculpture blog) […]

    Pingback by USB Sugru Sculpture (head) - The USBs — 31 July 2012 @ 08:04

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