Monday, January 30, 2012

Eames Tulip Table the (Not Yet) Hard Way

So, since it appears that electrical items are not my strong suit, I am also keeping busy fashioning items without cords, volts, amps, watts, transformers, terminals, AC/DC and all that other stuff that my old brain can't understand.  The shell chair is not turning out, yet.  I tried shaping the pink version in the picture by hand, and the white version I molded using the protective clam that came from a Reac Japan chair.  I am slipping in a few purchases in the name of R & D.  Neither of my attempts is close enough to the real thing to satisfy me.  I have a plan C, though, so don't despair.  Or, plan D might be resort to sanding the ones I've already made, just to see if they're at all close.  The Eiffel base is also proving difficult, as you can see in the other photo, even with the right solder and flux.  Each version looks better, though, so it may be a question of practice. 

I am, thankfully, making headway in the Eames tulip table department.  For my first model I made an armature out of aluminum foil, and then I sculpted it with Sculpey.  It baked just fine, but when I went to sand it, it fell apart at the thin part.  That was okay, since I didn't compute the scale correctly anyhow.  So I then bought a 1/16" basswood dowel, then covered it with aluminum foil, and sculpt it again, and that one didn't break in two.  That thin, fragile dowel that broke when, at home but not yet out of the plastic shopping bag, it hit the wall, is supporting my table base.  The sanded base in the picture now looks nice, wouldn't you say?  The top will just be a circle - easy!  I have to decide if I want to make it "marble" like the Arco base.  I bought rubber latex to make a mold, and then I will crank out copies to be sold.  Why do I feel like the mold/casting process will be filled with opportunities?  Right now, You're laughing at my use of the term "crank out", aren't you, God?

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