Essential toys

Getting there with machines for the new workshop now, morse taper pillar drill, mortiser, Delta (USA) table saw and Dewalt cross cut saw. The planer (featured previously) is also now on site.
Three Phase power should be in within the fortnight so hopefully will be firing the machines up in earnest soon.

Screw Table

Amidst the vast range of products Tom Dixon gives his name too, i think this stands head and shoulders above the recent rest. The tripod base has a real engineered quality to it, reminiscent of something from the industrial age, maybe even inspired by some old piece of machinery or component.

I like the three distinct elements, all doing their job, with no over embellishment. Honest, hardy design.

drones and pulses

I am (mildly) obsessed with Donald Judd, (and frankly quite surprised his name has not popped up already on the blog), but on looking for something about Judd to post, i came across this, drones and pulses.

From Rauschenberg to Stanley Donwood, Arvo Part and Bjork through Dumbtype and M.C Escher to Judd, i think this is really good brain food.

 

Crazy legs

Finally found a couple of hours to work on this piece, which has been dormant for too long.  The walnut framework is inspired by a simple game, a friend, Tim Thornton devised.

His initial idea invovled starting with an equal section peice of timber of ramdom length. The aim is to try and get the two ends to meet (or as close as possible) by making cuts, then turning section through 180 degrees and gluing, then making another cut, turning 180 degrees and gluing..........and so on.

I have not tried to meet the ends with this, but have used the process for my own purpose.

Gwennap Head

 

A few miles from lands end, the natural forms within the cliffs are countered by the man made objects on top. Trinity House navigation daymarks on Gwennap Head, near Porthgwarra. When the red cone obliterates the black and white one the observer at sea is directly above the dangerous Runnel Stone.

Maybe its because of their necessity, or maybe because of their age (nearly two hundred years old),  the beacons just seem to sit really comfortably in this severe landscape.

 

Pared down

Drawers, and the boxes they are normally housed in, are so often eloborate and intricate. It got me thinking as to what i could take away, what parts were essential.
Part economy in materails study, this exoskeleton framework is my initial sketch. Two birch plywood loop frames are connected by eight American Black Walnut braces, (via simple rebates), which will act as the runners. Will keep you up to date as it develops.

Phase 1

Its so good to have a level, flat floor for bench and assembly space so this was my first real project in the new workshop. I have started with about a quarter of the total area at present as still figuring out what machines will go where. The large machines are far better situated on concrete pad sections to reduce vibration (noise), and i can then fill in the rest of the floor using joists and chipboard as i have here. Heavy duty floor paint (hopefully) gives it longevity.

Very happy to be reunited with my bench, its like seeing an old friend.

Designer Axes!

Best Made Co.

If you are interested in making things with wood, you may be partial to a bit of chopping, i know i am.

Quite why anyone would want to look cool in the woods is a little beyond me, but, i still like these, a lot.

Memphis meets Haring

Missed this during London Design Week but it features in this months World of Interiors. Studio Toogood created an egg themed interactive architectural playground! Not sure if i like or dislike the work, its hard to gauge from images as it was so physical. But, what really interested me was that it seemed to be directly off the drawing board, looking like it was intended, with no dilution. And a quick look on their website confirmed it.

 

Ideas are often diluted and refined, (not a bad thing half of the time), but designers learn much more, much more quickly, when allowed freedom. I really respect TooGood's direct approach - draw it, make it and move on.

What a Brute!

Just had a look (and a play) on this old Wilson Planer. Hopefully going to get it next week, just waiting for  the Three Phase power issue to be sorted in the workshop.  It would obviously be great to have a perfectly calibrated new machine, but where do you stop? A £1000 Jet machine, double that for a good Sheppach, or a big SCM at 10K. No, this is the machine. It just looks and feels like it wants to work, its simple, ridiculously well made and has a real sense of history.  Imagining the work it has initiated is quite inspiring.

Just the minor problem of transportation (then positioning in the workshop), we reckon it weighs well over a ton.

The new workshop

Oh, the pressure of the first entry! Sink or swim - here I go!

Rewinding the clock about two months with the initial images, my new workshop, exactly as I first laid eyes on it. It needs a fair bit of sorting, and obviously, filling with machinery, but it feels very right, and I cannot wait to get working.