Is “quoting“ my photos a complement?

I had a cheap laugh today. I was doing some research on furniture by Paul Frankl, on the internet, and what did Google turn up? Sites like antique stores and auction houses using my photos(unattributed of course) of MY furniture, based on Paul Frankl originals, but not the same, as photos of actual Frankl furniture. I guess that’s flattering!?

another light “thing”

About 5 inches (12 cm tall)

the bench is 5 inches or 12 cm long

Well, I have continued my exploring with light piping. This time I wanted to se the effect of twisting a square  length of acrylic would do to light patterns. It does work in interesting ways, although again capturing it for the web is tricky. I’ve also added a photo of it beside a bench that is headed to the Kruger collection at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I must say I feel pretty good about that!

new lights - sculptures

Well, no one else makes them like this.

I decided it was time to get creative again (easier to do when there is no order back-log) and I started designing new lights that really are sculptures. The first one, which is about 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall, is the subject of the photos. The drawback to the lights is that they are extremely hard to photograph and successfully convey how they look “live“. The bottom of the base is illuminated.

here it is beside one of my Morris chairs - for scale - with additional light

rotated 180 degrees

turned 90 degrees (more or less)

other end, from a higher angle.

out from under the backlog

I've more or less finally got completely up-to-date on my orders, so now I get to create new things again. One new light that was part of the order backlog was a plant stand with an illuminated top. After a couple of false starts I decided on a simple rectangular column of aluminium and painted wood with a translucent top. I think it came out quite respectably. It's about 3 inches  (7.6cm) tall and the light source is an LED.

finally - some updates - making a lamp

One of the problems with modern designs is that a lot of the work that goes into making something that looks clean and sleek is not visible. I was making a couple of lights today for an order and took some photos of part of the process - making the base.

Here's a shot of  one I made several years ago
and here are some of the steps to make one: I left out the trivial ones like hack-sawing through 1/2 inch (12.5mm) aluminium bar and cutting the acrylic tubing. Clicking on any photo should enlarge it.

smooth ends

centre drill hole for wires

enlarge hole and drill through base

turn shoulder on base so acrylic tube will fit snugly, but won't split if the aluminium expands with the heat of the light or changes in room temperature. The acrylic also expands, but at a different rate.

test fit and turn some more

clean up the exterior

on my mill, mill channel for power cord so base will sit flat

now just assemble the LED electronics and they're done. If you look REALLY closely you can see the groove in the base of the right hand light.

 nothing to it! I wish

crunch time

I' m getting ready for a workshop and being reminded just how many parts go into nine roomboxes. The sawdust has generated has been impressive. When I get back from running the workshop I'll have some time to focus again on some new modern designs. I picked up some incredibly thin and badable plywood -0.8mm thin (that's less than 1/32 of an inch)! I should be able to get some great shapes for furniture bending and laminating that stuff.

blogger is confused

Google/blogger is have the sulks and is refusing some comments. If you don't se your comment, please re-post it

film at 9 - the flickering sign

It took me a while to get the video - little things, like an emergency trip to Montreal to visit my 90 year dad got in the way, but here is a bit of video showing the effect. I'm using several sets of LEDs, one for the top letters and another for the flicker which I run through a circuit from ngineering which I also sell for $13.95 (assembly with LEDs extra)

getting from the “bright idea” to making the flickering sign

It always seems to end up this way; I get a good idea, figure out the hard part, and spend hours and/or days on what was supposed to be the simple part. The flickering electronics part of the seedy hotel room sign is worked out, tested and approved. Now “all“ that remains is making the letters for the sign itself. Once upon a time it would have been easy to get all kinds of stencils so I could airbrush the background and the lettering of the sign. Now of course everything is done with computers and finding Letraset and/or stencils is really difficult. Looks like I may have to cut my own; something I was hoping to avoid so I could save time. I’ve spent more time looking for time savers than it will actually take me to cut the darn things.

paid to be messy

Right now I'm working on a really different project for a good client: a room box that is supposed to be shabby, run down and generally seedy. It is quite strange to prepare one of my hardwood floors, laid down 1/4 inch (about 1 cm) strip by strip and not only not worry about getting glue on the surface, but actually check and make sure I have enough glue spots to make for good stains when I finish the floor.
In a similar fashion, when painting the interior trim, instead of masking all the wallpaper, I made sure some paint got on the floor and on the wallpaper: sort of like being in grade 1 again! I also so going to be providing a flickering sign visible out of a window - sort of a failing Neon sign effect - should be very cool.

I'll post some pictures once the room is reassembled