I used numerous tricks within sketchup and in a DTP program to get the final image.
Contact me if you want to know how its done, or want to buy half a dozen chairs and the matching table...
Monday, January 05, 2009
Let it rip...
Sometimes it is nice to just knock out a drawing or design just for the fun of it. This is a chair I designed way back when I studied furniture design for a few years. My friend can make you one if you are interested, but it will cost you £1000 delivered!
Keep it Simple!
It takes a lot of effort to make something complex, but sometimes it takes just as much to make something simple.
I have an idea for a project which requires various sized catapults as part of an all day physics, technology and social skills event I am offering to my clients. The medium and large catapult designs, as outline ideas for students to improve further, were relatively easy to design, but until now the tiny version eluded me. You cannot just miniaturise the thing because the laws of physics do not scale equally and the bits can be too fiddly to allow it to be built, plus something unbreakable in 50 x 25mm softwood wil be rather fragile when a lot smaller. Look at model steam engines which may be 1/50th of the size of the real thing, but can still pull many people on a track.
Yesterday I came up with this design...
It is just a wooden stick (actually a tongue depressor!) with sticky rubber pads on it. Would take about 5 minutes to make tops, if measured carefully. Capable of firing a 'payload' of a blob of blutak about 2 metres. Angle is adjustable by sticking the feet elsewhere (comparison tests anyone?) and is super cheap to make. You could also put your own markings on the stick to give a range indicator.
It also gives a stable base for firing as many small catapult designs suffer from slipping as the pressure is applied while the rubber feet used here, aided by your finger pressing down hard on the end, keep it in place.
There is an old story that the Americans spent millions perfecting the pressurised ink ball point pen that would write in zero gravity on space flights. The Russians used pencils instead. Whether true or not it demonstrates that just because we can reach for the sunminiature hinges, bolts and exotic materials, doesn't mean we always have to !
I have an idea for a project which requires various sized catapults as part of an all day physics, technology and social skills event I am offering to my clients. The medium and large catapult designs, as outline ideas for students to improve further, were relatively easy to design, but until now the tiny version eluded me. You cannot just miniaturise the thing because the laws of physics do not scale equally and the bits can be too fiddly to allow it to be built, plus something unbreakable in 50 x 25mm softwood wil be rather fragile when a lot smaller. Look at model steam engines which may be 1/50th of the size of the real thing, but can still pull many people on a track.
Yesterday I came up with this design...
It is just a wooden stick (actually a tongue depressor!) with sticky rubber pads on it. Would take about 5 minutes to make tops, if measured carefully. Capable of firing a 'payload' of a blob of blutak about 2 metres. Angle is adjustable by sticking the feet elsewhere (comparison tests anyone?) and is super cheap to make. You could also put your own markings on the stick to give a range indicator.
It also gives a stable base for firing as many small catapult designs suffer from slipping as the pressure is applied while the rubber feet used here, aided by your finger pressing down hard on the end, keep it in place.
There is an old story that the Americans spent millions perfecting the pressurised ink ball point pen that would write in zero gravity on space flights. The Russians used pencils instead. Whether true or not it demonstrates that just because we can reach for the sunminiature hinges, bolts and exotic materials, doesn't mean we always have to !
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