Studiomama

The new WOI landed on my doorstep this morning; this months feature, the currently very trendy,  trestle table. Trestles are so useful, especially in the classic london small flat scenario, where you want to have a dinner party but have no room for a solid dining table. I also use a pair in the workshop all the time.

The problem being, (until now), is that when the do not have a top on, they just sit in the corner of a room looking, well, like a pair of trestles. Nina Tolstrup, whom i featured with in 'Book a table' at The Rocket gallery last year, solves the problem with her "1 x "1 trestle set. When not in use, you could light them, stack books on them, hang stuff from them, or just enjoy their pure sculptural form. I think they are extremely good.

(The 5th one reminds me of Tims game; see 'crazy legs' blogpost.)

24 colours - for Blinky

A few years ago I visited Dia-Beacon, in upstate New York. Well worth the trip if you are ever in NYC. It was this time of year,  the landscape was white, (the river was even frozen) and I wish I could check out the Imi Knoebel colours there today. I am sure they really pop in that environment. Good reference and inspiration regarding the colours for the new stool.

Festool

Festool make amazing power tools, i swear by them. I have one of their extractors camped beside my bench into which i can plug my router, sander, jigsaw, circular saw, etc providing brilliant dust removal. The range is huge but everything is designed to be interchangeable wherever possible. The 'Domino' jointing system provides a mortise and tenon scenario in seconds and is a dream when it comes to clamping up. I have two of the 12V Cordless drills for which you can get a vast array of attachments, bits, drivers and chucks. Guide rails allow for pinpoint sawing and routing. All machines come in Systainer boxes which can all stack up, clip together, even get put on the extractor and wheeled to site.

Yes, they are expensive, but you should always spend as much as you can possibly afford on tools. And if you are using machines everyday,  the difference this stuff makes is huge, not just in performance but also in ease, ergonomics, interchange and even health. Clever stuff.

However, they are very well suited to my working practices, which generally involves 80% workshop time and 20% on-site fitting.  If i was drilling into brick walls five days a week, then an 18V Makita would probably be in my toolbag instead.

Toucan Tools is a good place to buy festool (and loads of other good stuff).

The Boathouse

Frustrating times, work wise at least. Next phase of the new Cornwall workshop is currently at a crawl and driving to London to look after things that end seems frankly dangerous and foolish. However, when there is wood, there is always a blog post  -  even if all it involves is sitting around a pile of the stuff burning, down the local. Nice!  

Version 2

Introducing the stool which will be the second example to get the casting treatment. The basic premise being; find an old, battered stool, not fit for its intended purpose. Take an exact cast of it, recast in a new material thus preserving the shape/details perfectly but making a totally new useable object.

I really like the first version, (you can see them on my website), but it is top heavy, which is exaggerated when recast in resin and i find it a little small.

So, this is the new one, the Elm top is possibly late 1700's, i think the legs are replacements, but still very old. The weathering is amazing, it has a real ancient feeling, its really well balanced and a good height (380mm). Going to try and get the mould made this month.

Dieter Rams

One of the current exhibitions at the Design Museum features Dieter Rams, head designer at Braun for an eternity.

Still influencing contemporary product designers, (Jonathan Ive for one), i think this should be well worth a look.

Higher Market Studio

Been meaning to mention Lucy, from Higher Market Studio for a while. Lucy has a unit next to the workshop as well as her shop.

Really nicely done re-purposing of old, broken G-plan type stuff. Knackered veneers are replaced with formica which is laser cut, with different graphics. The new inlaid work is interesting, with much more creative scope and should be on the her site soon.