another try at the wall lamp

I have been slowly working on a better long wall lamp (see earlier post) and am proud to present version 2. I've been living with it for about a month and it's much better than the earlier option: less clunky, more elegant, doesn't need a cable, and lastly, it's better made (1" birch ply with a Danish oil finish with nicer joinery using a peg for a nice visual and super strength) with a much smaller metal wall hinge, using nice hardware. The only issue may be shipping it, if anyone wanted to buy it that is.

new chair

chairs have to be the hardest thing to get right. or maybe just for me? i've been noodling with seating for a long time and haven't been able to nail it. i love Donald Judd's plywood furniture, it is so simple and beautiful, but looks a bit uncomfortable. of all the sketching i had been doing the versions i like most where the simple line drawings, as if a kid had drawn a chair. so i wanted a profile that is super thin, well, like a line drawing of a chair. i think it would be super elegant and 'light' feeling. here's a model with two possible cushion backs, one round and one wedge shaped (a nod to mid-century modern couches) i'll build it out of 3/4" birch ply and focus on the joinery. for the seat cushion i bought some light gray 1" wool felt it's amazing stuff.

See Page 60 Please

Guess what? My Bent Lamp is featured in the current (Dec/Jan) ReadyMade Magazine. So run, don't walk, to your nearest newsstand and pick up a copy. Then turn to page 60, and read: "Using easy to come by chrome rods, wooden bowls, and a chrome-topped bulb, Chuck Routhier has fashioned a fixture that, hands down, beats almost any other table lamp we've seen." Almost? Please.

arm/wall/lamp: step 1

Been too long since I posted, but here's why: been very busy on several new pieces. Here is one; the arm / wall / lamp. This is the first prototype, and it's not working very well, but making this version has been a good study in what not to do.

What I like about it is what bugs me: I wanted a thick, present arm, but it's a bit too clunky. I think I can make the arm thinner and I need a new hinge (where it swings from the wall) as it tends to bend down, which is why i had to add the wire tension. I'm pretty sure I can come up with a stronger hinge, and place it closer to the wall mount to avoid the wilting (or bending). Lastly, I really like the light quality (and the ability to direct it where you want it). I would use a contrasting cloth cord (the gold cord blends with the wood), perhaps white, and add a dimmer switch.

Two Wheels Good

I am now reporting on the best experience I've had in recent memory. This past weekend I participated in a bamboo bike frame building workshop at the Bamboo Bike Studio in Red Hook Brooklyn. I am into cycling (and making things of course) and had been researching traditional frame building courses but those tend to be about two weeks long, and are expensive and are in Portland OR. This local workshop really seemed appealing to get the experience of building a frame myself in one weekend and then ride off on a super cool single-speed bike. Plus, the entire exercise is centered around the goals of creating self sustaining, entrepreneurial bike factories in Ghana and Kenya. So, I get to learn about frame building, end up with a lightweight, high-tech bike and contribute to something bigger than myself (they do a much better job of explaining this than i do-check out their site).

I showed up around 9:30 on Saturday morning and met my other workshop mates, Li and Jules from the UK, who actually worked their vacation around this workshop. Then for the rest of Saturday and Sunday, three young, idealistic, energized, dedicated, intelligent, super smart guys (plus a few other folks) showed us how to assemble seven pieces of treated bamboo into a lightweight, super-strong bicycle frame (members of this group include a Columbia engineer and several bike mechanics among other experts). There are several steps, of course, and it gets a bit complicated, but the gist is the joints are tacked together then wrapped in resin-coated carbon fiber. All told, it took about 12 hours on Saturday to finish the wrapping and wrapping and wrapping, so it could dry overnight for the next day.

The first day was exhausting, but incredibly educational. I wasn't expecting the science, engineering and exhaustive testing that this team had put into the project. We were about the 5th or so public group (family and friends had been helping for a while), so it was still trial and error a bit. But after hearing about how well thought out and engineered these frames were I had no misgivings about the performance and safety of the bike.

We showed up about the same time on Sunday and the team were already there doing some sanding and finishing for us. The first half of the day we sanded down any bumpy parts on the carbon (careful to not remove too much material and compromise the joints), remove all the masking tape and resin spillage, generally clean it up. This was followed by a light coating of resin over the entire bike. Bamboo absorbs silicate from the ground so it is naturally water repellent, but this extra resin coating helps to keep the bike protected (and shiny).

After lunch on Sunday, the frames were still a bit tacky, but ready to build up. This part also was entirely interactive and educational. These guys clearly wanted us to be self sufficient, which is, of course, the overall end goal. We learned about installing forks and bottom brackets, adjusting brakes and chains, so on. It was amazing. But the real thrill was seeing the frame become a bicycle. My bicycle that is - that I built - and i had the resin soaked arm hair to prove it!

They finished my bike first and every one piled outside, in the sharp 5 o'clock Red Hook sunlight, and I mounted my bamboo stead and gave it a go. Now, I ride a pretty high-end Look carbon fiber road bike. That bike has nothing on this one. The bamboo bike was super supple, stiff (remember all that wrapping, and wrapping, and wrapping?), yet very smooth. The bamboo frame absorbed any road imperfections and still fell connected to the road and oh so fast and tight. Lastly, this bike is light, a good carbon fiber road bike weighs about 16lbs, a good steel bike about 20lbs, this one is about 18lbs (carbon fiber is light and strong)! I can get it lighter with a carbon fork and better wheels, but for now, it's perfect. I am getting a different saddle, but otherwise, I proudly ride my hand make bike almost every day.

molded e-z-chair

you know when you get electronics, or something fragile, it comes packed in either foam or some kind of material? I got something that was suspended in the box with molded paper supports. As I was unloading the thing (can't recall what it was) I noticed that the supports shapes were interesting and the texture was spectacular, but i also noted that if I modified it a bit it looked like a lounge chair. How cool would it be to mold a full sized paper chair? I bet it would be incredibly striking and comfortable. I had wanted to submit this to a Dwell chair contest, but I procrastinated, and missed the deadline. I also missed the deadline for a table contest that i actually worked real hard on (I'll post those sketches next)! shoot. okay. thanks for looking.

A New Desk Lamp

Here's the latest lamp: an articulating plywood clip-on task lamp. So I've been interested in the concept of collaborative lamp design/building. That is, I would design a lamp around easy to find, common and cheap lamp parts, then supply the base-only with instruction on how to finish it, where to get the parts, so on. Not quite Sol Lewitt wall drawings, but his instructions on making his wall pieces is a (slight) inspiration (you can see some of these wall drawings at Dia:Beacon and Mass MoCA). This is something I've tried with the earlier floor lamp (two posts ago) that uses an IKEA cord/shade combination. I have had a bunch of these made and they came out great. Hope to sell these soon.

This new task, or desk, lamp is made out of 1/2" unfinished (you varnish, paint, wax, whatever) Birch plywood. I put a hole in the middle of the arm to keep the cord out of the way. The base slots together and the arm attaches to the base with wing nuts and a bolt. You then go to your local hardware store and get one of those cool industrial clip-on lamps. you can get metal shades, or keep the bulb exposed. I've modified mine with a nice white cloth cord and I deleted the shade, using a bare 40w rubber coated bulb.