Floppy Disc Fish

Floppy disc Fish

I dismantled floppy discs to re-purpose the pieces.

Discs in one piece

Components all in one piece

Metal bar from top of disc cover stuck together to create a tail.
Although this looks fairly simple it actually took a while to do, because I had problems
with the glue. I started with UHU solvent glue, but it  didn't create a secure structure so I took it to bits  and started again with Araldite. This took a while because I had to keep mixing the glue as it sets very quickly. I managed to keep the front looking really neat, but the back is a bit messier

Back of the metal bar has holes and some of the glue is visible, which makes the finish messier.

These plastic pieces were idea to create effective eyes

Plastic pieces glued to centre disc

This is a very old woven stool which is disintegrating

The twine removed from the stool

I wanted to put the floppy disc part together to create the body. I used re-purposed twine and flat sided plastic beads.

I took the twine off and saved, ready to re-purpose. 

I also tried putting them together with wire and beads, but this did not allow the movement I was looking for.

I am really pleased with the effect that putting these disc together gives. The shininess of them reflects light wonderfully and gives an illustional quality. Very Bridget Riley.

I cut some of the floppy disc into ovals to make the shape more fish like. These are not as neat as the laser cut shapes.

I used a spiral making tool to make my own wire springs. It took several attempts to make a size that went through the hole in the disc properly. I had to stretch the spring, add the disc and then compress it again to squash the disc in place.

A finished spring

The discs spun round on the spring, so I had to glue them in place. I had several attempts to do this without success. I was trying to keep the glue to a minimum so it didn't show, but this meant that the discs sat flush with the spring. Each spiral of a spring sits at a slight angle, so the discs were also at a slight angle. I was not happy with the effect that this created.

A wire binder that would be used for a notepad or sketchbook is the best sort of support as the way it is made means each spiral is horizontal and does not slope. I tried to create my own wire binder using a metal rod to wrap the wire round and then inserting cotton bud sticks to wrap around and take the wire in the opposite direction. This was not stable enough

I decided to see if I could find a tutorial on how to create a wire binder. The only things I could find were tutorials that showed the differences between spring binders and wire binders and then how to create and fit a spring binder.

The only things I could find about wire binders were where to buy pre-made binders and how to use a machine to fit them.

I used the pieces of disc that were left from cutting ovals to create a head shape. I curled them and stuck them to one of the discs

Sticking the eyes to this is quite effective and makes them really stand out.