Journaling Time Capsule

A hand crafted time capsule that stores multiple journal pages and their entry dates, with a themed stand.

Overview

Including

Manufacturing techniques (milling, turning, casting, etc.)
finding new ways around “dead-ends”

Prototyped in Fusion 360

More

This time capsule preserves thoughts from different moments in life. It has 4 separate compartments that store secret scrolls. If a scroll is entered every 5 years then when the capsule is full, the user can reflect on how their feelings have changed over 20 years. Next to every compartment there is a place for the user to record the scroll’s date using supplied stickers.

The capsule is designed to look like it is recently unearthed treasure. The aluminum capsule sits in a bronze base that represents the dirt that the cylinder would have been freshly dug out of were it a regular time capsule.

Challenge

To create the desired visual effect, I had to learn some new manufacturing processes. For the base to look organic, like dirt, I had to use a process that can naturally create organic shapes. I milled the details on the capsule, but it would have been impractical to mill the dirt base given its limited degrees of rotation.

Normally, for sand casting, I would have created my pattern out of a modeling board, like Obomodulan, however I wanted to mould the shape with my hands, adding and removing material until I arrived at the right organic-looking shape. To find this material I went to the children’s section of a craft store and got some Crayola air-dry clay, which I sprayed with a Shellac release agent. Due to the casting equipment available to me, the pattern failed multiple times and I had to try many different approaches to packing it until I could find an arrangement that worked.

After casting the base, I left a rough cast finish on the outer surface, to look realistically like dirt, but sanded and polished the inner surface that comes into contact with the capsule.