Dexterous creation of soccer-ball pattern by using urethane rubber

It is important to establish new approaches to create value-added products, such as craftwork or artistic goods, that are different from traditional methods of realizing high-quality and low-cost products. Such a production technology is commonly called “dexterous machining.” This study addresses the creation of artistic products by using soft materials with complicated shapes by employing an aqueous solution of sodium acetate to fix a workpiece and to suppress the deformation. Experimental results show that the use of an aqueous solution of sodium acetate has the potential to realize the “dexterous machining” of soft objects.