Pipe Lamp

Concept Design:

  This was an interesting project. Both, fun and scary.
Fun because it is a new medium I had not worked with before. Steel pipes have a nice industrial figure, which I like every much. Like much of my previous work, this is a gift for a friend who lives in an old brick building with hardwood floors and exposed electrical and drainage piping.

While I have had some experience with electronics and wearing basic lamps, most of those were made out of non-conductive materials and didn't really require grounding. In this case however, I was plugging a hunk of metal into the wall. So you can see how it could be a tad bit scary.

Parts:

Gathering all the parts tough. Here I was at the hardware store with a few sketches and a list of what (I thought) I needed. I was at the hardware store for over two hours, bounding between the pipe guy and the electrical wearing guy. As it turns out, those two don't talk to each-other much. The light bulb fixtures screwed on to a tiny thin 1/8" pipe which then had to be screwed onto a brass adapter that converted the pipe to a 1/4"which can then be adapted to a 1/2" steel pipe. The switch was a bigger nightmare. It needed to fit in an elbow joint (or fitting), but it too needed to be screwed in place so it doesn't get damages after long term use and risk exposing the wires. The designer in me refused to use an elbow larger than for a 1" pipe, it just looked too big! After much wiggling, was able squeeze the switch into the elbow. Now, I had to screw a 1/8" to 5/8" adapter to the switch (which is inside the steel elbow. Then screw on a 5/8" to 1" adapter to fix the switch to its new shell (the 1" elbow).

Result:

Stay tuned for more photos of the lamp in its current habitat.

Learning Experience:
Pipe lamps are nothing new, and there are plenty inspiring examples out there. But don't be fooled (as I was) for they require more planning and effort than the untrained eye my perceive .
For starters, be ready to do some cleaning. These pipes are not designed to sit in your household and rub against your everyday attire. Not to say that you should be rubbing against your lamps, but if you plan on building something like a coat rack, be sure to clean those greasy pipes.
Growing up, I was a big fan of Jigsaw Puzzles, Lego Technic and Erector Sets, so naturally, I expected the same easy assembly from the pipes. But boy was I wrong! Even with a pipe-wrench I could hardly get it screwed in half way. And not to mention the nightmares of trying to align everything to fit my precious designs and sketches.
Finally, the wiring was no walk in the park either. I had first assembled most of the lamp's major parts thinking that I would be able to slide the wires in. It was working out great until I got to the elbows. I couldn't simply push the wire through like I had with the straight pipes. I had to disassemble the elbows, insert the wires, compensate for the twisting of the wires from screwing on the elbow and on to the next pipe.

I am proud to say that Mr Pipe Lamp it happily residing in its new home for the past 9 months without incident. I check up on it every now and them to make sure it is well fed and groomed.
I enjoy building these side projects because they remind me that if we are passionate and driven by something, and we put our minds to it, there is very little that can prevent us from achieving it.

R2D2 Bin

Who says Wall-E is the only environment friendly robot?

This was actually my first project at this scale, two years prior to the Espresso Bar. This life size R2 droid is made from a large swing-top trash bin, foam board, duck-tape, spray paint, and other top secret materials. R2 is also equip with a voice box attached to his swing-top (balanced out by two coins).

Phoenix Tattoo

As usual, a friend approached me with an idea. She wanted to get a Phoenix tattoo on (or around) her shoulder. So I went over to my trusted friend Google Search, and asked it to tell me all about the Phoenix (definition, symbolism, colors... ).

A lot of the reference Google Images gave me was fairly straight forward. An Image of a flaming bird copied onto someone's lower back, shoulder, chest, calf, and so on. That got me thinking, how can I take it a step further. So I drew out a template of a human shoulder from the top, front, and back view. Here are the results:
Note that the template is drawn from imagination and is not a precise representation of female anatomy. 

Cut The Rope - Piggy Bank

I based this piggy bank off of the cute little green guy from "Cut the Rope". It is not a traditional piggy bank that you would fill with coins and then break it (it's too cute to break). Instead, I designed it with a lid to allow easy access to the content without having to harm the exterior body. The entire body is made out of a glue based paper-mache with green acrilic paint mixed into it.

please ignore my messy room in the background.

 Started off by modeling the basic shape using clay.

 Next, I covered the top half (lid) with paper-mache.

 When dry, I popped the lid off and carved out the mouth.

 After I was satisfied with the model, I decided to cut it in half before covering it with paper-mache.

I chose to do it that way so it is easier to get the clay out later.

After the paper-mache dried up, I cleaned out the inside of the model.

 Then re-assembled it, made sure the lid fits, and added the final touches.

And yes, that was Darth Vader guiding me through the entire process.

Espresso Bar

This project came about when a friend of mine needed a nice table to host her brand new espresso machine. She wanted a simple table, just big enough to hold her machine, that fits between her kitchen island and the wall. Since this was a piece that would live near the kitchen, I added a few perks to it. A nice bronze bar, in the front of the table,  to allow quick access to towels and other handy coffee making tools. I also added a bottom shelf for extra storage (coffee beans, cookbooks, booze... ) . The bottom shelf also strengthens the table, which is a big help when the espresso machine alone weighs 72lb (32.65kg).

I consider myself a newbie at building these sorts of things, and I have a long way to go before I can justify calling myself a furniture designer. So forgive me for any rookie mistakes here and there.

Here are a few design challenges and lessons learned from this project:

• Always double check the actual size and specifications when buying materials. I put too much trust in label descriptions. I got all the wood I required only to realize that when the table says 2x4 inches, it actually means 1.75x3.80'ish. Luckily, I was able to adjust the design on the fly to fit the slight differences.
• Use the right tool (or materials) for the job. I depended on some leftover screws I had in my toolbox, that I thought were wood screws (rookie mistake). They were very stubborn to say the least, that slowed down the project which made me sad. A quick run to the hardware store made all the difference.
• Give yourself room to breath. Earlier in the design stages, this project seemed like a very quick and simple build. Although I planned it well, I still fell short of my deadline. While I can give you a pretty accurate estimate of how hold it would take me to design a logo, I'm still adjusting to how it translates for manual labor.

Thanks for reading. Please leave me a comment of any questions, suggestions, or just pain comments.