Finish techniques is something i had not given much thought in my last project, however in order to produce a high quality product i now know that attention to detail make a big difference. Jagged and rough edges can make a product look tatty and unfinished. Ive also considered how i can use finishing techniques to protect the materials from damaging.
With my product i have chosen materials which are already have a high protective barrier against moisture and weathering so there isn't really any further 'finishing' techniques i could apply to provide further protection. However if i was going to be using wood for the wrapping i would of course look at some protective treatments i could apply.
Finishing the bamboo Cane
Bamboo is very naturally resilient to weathering which is why i chose it as a material for my product however it still need further work. After cutting the bamboo cane the ends were left a little rough and jagged as the cane splinters easily. As they will be at the front of my product i did not want them too look bad as it will let down my product. Another reason for smoothing the edges is do not want them to be sharp if someone touches them or cause injury to visiting bees.
Finishing the wrapping
Spraying the packaging not only helps it to mimic the inside of tetra pack but also covers the burnt/blackened edges left by the laser cutter. I noticed after spraying that the chrome paint comes off onto your hands if touched, so as a solution i have sprayed it with hair spray to help seal it, which worked really well . Initially i tried I using spray adhesive however it left a weird texture over the top and was very tacky to touch, after a while bits of dust and dirt starting sticking to the it, this idea was abandoned.
Finishing the Polypropylene
I thought i might have to go around all the edges of of the polypropylene to smooth them, however as they were cot on the laser cutter they were left very smooth already. The only requires a little bit of sanding on one or tow of the corners where the laser dints completely cut through sand left a little jagged edge when i popped it out from the sheet. As the corners will be pertruding from the main wrapping, any rough edges will be very noticeable, so is important to pay attention to detail.