3D PRINTING
The historic Eisteddfod Black Chair – a symbol of a lost generation of young men in WW1 – was replicated
THE POIGNANT STORY OF THE EISTEDDFOD CHAIR
3D printing company Quod was commis- sioned by the Snowdonia National Park Authority and CyMAL to scan and repro- duce the ‘Black Chair’, which is associated with the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Welsh poet Ellis Humphrey Evan – who adopted the Welsh name Hedd Wyn – entered the Eisteddfod poetry competition under the assumed name of ‘fl eur-de-lis’ in 1917. Tragically he was killed soon afterwards at the Battle of Passchendaele, just weeks before his entry was declared the winner. The winner is traditionally presented with the Bardic Chair – on this occasion a wonderfully ornate work of art created by a Flemish refugee craftsman, Eugeen Vanfl eteren, who decorated the chair lavishly with Celtic and Welsh symbols and motifs, making it one of the most impressive Eisteddfod chairs ever made.
When the poet ‘fl eur-de-lis’ was announced as the Eisteddfod winner on September 6th, 1917, by the Archdruid and it was found that he had died in bat- tle and was unable to claim his chair, a black sheet was draped over it and it was returned to his family farm in North Wales where it remains to this day. The chair is symbolically seen to repre-
sent a lost generation of young men who died in the First World War. In the small surroundings of the farm-
house, using hand-held 3D scanners, the chair was scanned to pick up the incred- ible detail in the woodcarving. With this information, the original chair has, in effect, been archived and the data can be used to re-engineer it in its entirety. In addition, people all over the world can now read the story of Hedd Wyn and see a rotatable version of the chair online.
Virtually anything is possible, and for the attractions, museum and heritage indus- tries, this means the ability to archive (or recreate) precious items, create 3D inter- active installations, or print out miniature novelty items and facsimiles of objects
PRINT PREDICTIONS So what does the future hold for 3D scan- ning and 3D printing? As technology hurtles along, it won’t be surprising to see great advances in the quality of both scanners and printers, along with more competitive pricing and ease-of-use of the software and hardware to make the process more accessible to the public. Printed foods, such as chocolate, are
becoming available and various manu- facturers are looking at the possibilities of people downloading 3D templates for household items and furnishings, which they can print out on home 3D printers. It’s now possible to print in around 200
different materials, including 99.8 per cent titanium, using metal laser sintering, which will bring huge leaps forward in healthcare, while bespoke dental materi-
88 Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital AM 1 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
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