Search result for: the-last-thing-you-aquired-
| # | Post Title | Result Info | Date | User | Forum |
| Wishbone chairs | 1 Relevance | 16 years ago | NULL NULL | General discussion | |
| Wishbone chairs The seats on Wishbone chairs are just as simple a weave but much, much harder to do well. As mentioned above, I've rewoven the seat of my Wegner rocker at least three times and it still looks like crap. I've done this weave in seagrass on some Mogensen chairs and it was a lot easier, but seagrass stretches with use and anyway, it wasn't what Wegner used on the Wishbones or rocker. Rush (paper or natural) may work better, but again, not what Wegner used. The problem is that papercord is stiff and you need something soft and flexible to do all the 90 degree bends in this weave. It might help to soak it first. I tried that and it helped but I still couldn't get the perfect 90 degree accuracy. Maybe I didn't soak it long enough...? I seem to remember that there was a fine line between soaking just enough and soaking a little too long---like the cord started to disintegrate when too wet. It's been awhile and I don't remember the details. The other tricky thing is getting the four lines of intersections (?) straight and true. For some reason that I don't understand, two come out very nicely and the other two are invariably crooked. The photo here is of rush fiber, which is more forgiving than papercord. The uneven intersections would be much more noticeable if this were done in papercord. (The unevenness is all on the left side of the chair seat and it's not even that bad. Mine looked much worse, even after I'd had some practice.) Anyway, good luck if you attempt this. And please report back! I'm thinking about giving my rocker another go but I'm also really tempted to just pay the local expert to do it (probably $150 minimum). | |||||
| I am as disappointed as... | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | koen | General discussion | |
| I am as disappointed as... you are SDR. It is a general problem in design teaching that academic freedom is used to allow for sub-standard teaching, and although design history is often neglected, the reputation of some historical figures is often taken out of context and some of their "research" is still considered valid. The Modulor is obviously such a thing. Even as a system of proportions it has shown to be useless, as an indication of seating height,table height or anything close to applied antropometrics, it is simply outdated and is as relevant to antropometrics as a stone-age hammer is to CNC milling. It is unfortunate but I am not surprised by Antonella's description of her university experience. The only context in which the Modulor should be related to antropometrics would be a historical survey of alternative antropometric data that both ignored existing knowledge and set back the application of that knowledge for soem years to come. The Modulor would be a fine exemple of abusing ones authority (in this case Le Corbusier's reputation as an architect) to disregard available scientific data (which existed) in order to promote one's aesthetic ideology. Unfortunately their are many and more recent exemples in design and design education related areas. One has just to think about design methods, product development methods, pedagogical methods etc. in which design educations choose to ignore available research in these areas just to stay on a self serving ideological course...too bad for the students. | |||||
| Pt. 2... | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | dcwilson | General discussion | |
| Pt. 2... Boomers suffering through day after day after day of work glass box sterility, of the dread cubicle, of all that was bad with modern (and only infrequently with what was good with modern), and then finding themselves next straight jacked in the worst of modern transposed with vacuous, vapid ornamentation and cynicism called PoMo, retreated to their houses for comfort and protection from the commercial and governmental world, just like a bunch of Frank Lloyd Wrights without his taste or design skills. And they built these McMansion fortresses against the hideous lack of the processional in both Modern and the Post Modern. Pathetically, perhaps, they defaulted to a tele-memory of what they wished their own childhoods had had and what they wished their adult world had. Wouldn't it have been nice if modern architecture had embraced the processional the way Frank Lloyd Wright kept pointing the way toward? He built it into every building of his I have experienced. I have even begun to think that he built the Guggeheim, a building so brutal he HAD to be making a point: its the procession, you dummies! Don't you get it after all of my buildings? Alright, I'll build you one of these horribly brutal structures you seem to insist on viewing as the only thing modern can be, and then I will make it so processional that even you fools won't be able to overlook it. Maybe had we gotten the message of the processional, all of the McMansions today would be superbly designed modernist structures that really advanced the quality and utility of homes, rather than just the bunch of gingerbread grotesques that they are. | |||||
| makes sense | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | NULL NULL | General discussion | |
| makes sense on the one hand it makes sense that the HM and vitra. don't chase every knock-off selling shop just for the sake of legal costs. This could also mean that they are not totally sure of having the law on their side, like mentioned als also to be found on the internet; it seems hard for the companies with the rights to get the law on their side and stop other from invading their rights. Is there a estimate on howmuch money they lose on the knock-offs? There must be some kind of research, just like we appr. known howmuch economic damage for instance China is causing with flooding the world with all kind of fake and knock-off articles, this is enormous! I think i will also use the advice given and look for a not so good looking used chair and refurbish it by maybe re-upholstering it with new leather. Probably if there is something wrong with the shell a craftsman would be able to repair this, at least, i hope so. I saw some with deep scratching, i would like to have this removed. And about the money; i think if you look at the value it's also a big upside that if you decide to sell the chair, it's still worth a reasonable amount of money. The chair keeps getting more expensive by the year, so in 10/15 years you maybe get the same price for you chair as you paid for it.... i mean, in 10/15 years 7000 euro for the chair will be about 11402 after 10 years and 14552 euro's after 15 years.....(i calculated with a 5% price-increase every year). with 2% it's 8532/9421......... Sound like a good investment to me.... 🙂 The only thing is; what guarentee do we have that in 10/15 years the original eames lounge still has the value, maybe by then the knock-offs have taken over.... 🙁 | |||||
| Eames LKR | 1 Relevance | 11 years ago | Snaaf | Identification | |
| Dear Fellow Design Lovers! I am from the Netherlands, and I think I did an amazing find, namely, an old Eames LKR with cat's cradle base. The thing is that it has a square base connection, which I believe makes the chair part of the very first production series. I was wondering, since there are a lot Eames minds' out here with more knowledge than I, if you could tell me if I'm right or not. I've never ever seen this chair anywhere, so I don't have any references. I'm curious in your opinions 🙂 P.S. I bought it at the dutch craigslist, from a woman who already had it for 20 years she said. Her husband received it at the birth of his child, and she didn't know if it was new back then. To my believe it couldn't have been new, cause it's from the early 50s. P.P.S. I am trying to resell this chair, it is on ... right now for the staggering low (hahahaha :D) price of 3k, based on totally nothing I guess, cause I don't have any references on the square base. What do you think about that crazy high price? (edited by DA - no advertising for items for sale please) | |||||
| I do have photos though not | 1 Relevance | 10 years ago | Spanky | General discussion | |
| I do have photos though not very good ones! The original one was taken with an early digital camera that was pretty low resolution, and the second one--new camera-- was not a lot better. I can make out the arm detail though---it truly makes me shudder. What was I thinking?! The final one was taken when the sofa was at my daughter's house, which is where I did the work on it because she had a lot more space. (They're gonna replace the green carpeting eventually, thank god.) I restyled the back to make it just a regular boxy shape, and then added button tufting. The arms started with that weird welt going down the center; now they're just flat and smooth on top. The fabric is a thin, tightly woven wool in a vintage gold color that I love but I think doesn't appeal to the masses in general. So far it's wearing really well and I hope to get a good many more years' worth of use out of it because I do NOT want to redo this thing again anything soon! | |||||
| Eames Spotting | 1 Relevance | 12 years ago | Expo 67 | General discussion | |
| Flight to Mars 1951 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlv_rHrIbEc Early colour (rare obviously) sci fi with a so-so story and dull delivery but several Eames shells seen throughout. Given it's a 1951 movie, the shells have to be rope edge Zeniths. They look light blue in colour but maybe they're really sea foam green. Cool if they really are light blue however. There's also a wire frame chair seen briefly a couple times and the only match I can think of is a chair by Peter Cotton (Canadian) but this might be too obscure, so maybe just a coincidental near match. The space suits might be the best thing in the whole movie. http://d1t1u890k7d3ys.cloudfront.net/cdn/farfuture/OOCAJpEaanFE5Qi1Dehe75QQQHvIyrSIH09-WtVZvmo/mtime:1489138774/sites/default/files/forum/2015/04/2.jp g" /> | |||||
| Barry. I've know the... | 1 Relevance | 17 years ago | reactcreative | General discussion | |
| Barry. I've know the... Barry. I've know the people @ HM for quite some time. Modernica does not have the licensing from the Nelson Estate to do this - It's kind of a "turn your head and look away" type of thing. They are however produced at the same factory that Howard Miller contracted out to when they produced them - I believe the company is called Gossamer. Since no one else makes them, they basically have a monopoly, and thus "say" they have the license. It's tricky...regardless, they are made the same way the originals were in the same factory, just not by Howard Miller, and not with George Nelsons permission(although they use his name which is so weird to me)...I'm not sure why the Nelson estate has never done anything about this. As for DWR being commissioned by Herman Miller...thats a load of bull if I've ever heard one. I certainly can't believe HM with their "get real" program would be ok with DWR producing their own version. DWR is making up stories to pass of their new line of knockoffs of their own products. They are trying to justify it...and it's not justifiable. Even if it's made high quality and they use Maharam fabric. Herman Miller actually has the daybed available for sale in Asia...it's just contracted from Vitra same as the Eames shells, etc. I'm not sure why they haven't done it here, but I can assure you if it was, it would be about $10,000 - cause that's how much it is in Europe. I'm guessing they have researched it and it's not cost effective for some reason or else they would have done it by now. As I've said before- HM for the Home is tiny...so they don't get alot of funding to bring new stuff in. BTW, thanks for letting me know about the Nelson book - I'll call vitra and order one now. I searched online at the store you bought yours from Barry, and turned up nothing. Was it a special order? Can't wait to see it! I thought you were going to post alot of images from it? | |||||
| A few more photos (I took a | 1 Relevance | 12 years ago | Spanky | General discussion | |
| A few more photos (I took a LOT): The backsplash was probably the single most dramatic change. I looked at tons of beautiful tile but in the end went with little 2x4 white tiles, which I love very much. Photo 3: I had thought I would be able to display more of my Copco enameled cast iron cookware but it was actually causing the shelf to sag! So now I only have lighter weight things on display---which is fine. Oh, and I replaced all the paint-crudded light switches and outlets in the whole place with those clean-lined ones you see on photo #5. Every time I flip a light on or off with my elbow or tea mug, it makes me happy. Overall I am very pleased with the whole thing---hugely relieved to have a clean, bright kitchen that is 100% functional and that seems twice as big as the old one. And that has plenty of space for displaying my beautiful things. | |||||
| I think you're brave to put... | 1 Relevance | 16 years ago | gene | General discussion | |
| I think you're brave to put... I think you're brave to put your place on Apartment Therapy! I'd be too worried about nasty comments. I think your place looks really nice. Anyway, in response to the comment you mention about your place lacking cohesiveness -- hard to know what that meant, exactly, but I'll say this: I think those of us who collect vintage look at furniture a little differently than most people. We recognize when a piece is special and rare, and I know if I find something great, its cohesiveness with other stuff I own is the last thing on my mind. I don't give a lick about, for example, whether the woods in my place are close in tone -- in one room I have maple, birch, teak, rosewood, walnut and oak pieces. Doesn't bother me in the least but I imagine some folks would see that as lacking cohesiveness. I wonder if that comment was made in reference to your living room with the chrome frame sofa and chair, the black iron frame womb chair/ottoman, and then that one large wooden sideboard? In any case, I think your place looks really nice. I guess if I had to be critical, I'd say that I think the living room space could be warmed up a little. The animal skin on the concrete floor is kind of cold; I'd put down a larger area rug in a warm color that is nice and plush. I think it would help define the seating area too. I think a large plant or two in nice looking planters would make a big difference. I don't think the walls need to painted a different color, I like them white. | |||||
| If you absolutely have to re | 1 Relevance | 9 years ago | leif ericson - Zephyr Renner | Repair | |
| If you absolutely have to re-do the straps like they are, and I don't think you should, and I don't think they were likely originally done as they are now, I would suggest using screws instead of staples or nails. Pre-drill the holes using a correctly sized drill bit for the pre-drilling the shaft thickness of the screws you use. Use brass screws with a slotted pan head and a brass washer underneath each. If you don't want to use screws, but really want nails, then try to pry these nails out intact, and replace any you can't get out with their heads one with another nail with the same shank thickness. Then, this will be a pain to do, but RE-USE the old nail holes. If you must put in a new nail hole, pre-drill the hole. Note that those metal slot things have to be original, even though I've never seen such a thing, because without them, the straps would have immediately either torn on the nail heads or pulled out the nails. The straps would have been but putting pulling force on the nails. The metal slots change the direction of force so that the strap is putting shear force across the nail shafts, and they are very strong that way. I would advise against using anything pneumatic. The speed with which they put fasteners in can cause splitting because the wood can not re-adjust itself fast enough. Also, with slower methods, you get a bit of early warning if you are going to split the wood, and you can stop and change your plan. With a pneumatic fastener, you find out after the fact. But again, I really would not re-do these chairs in the current way. The proposed dowel solution is an original solution of the era, and would work much better here. It might even be the original method. | |||||
| Watco Danish Oil is one of | 1 Relevance | 12 years ago | Spanky | General discussion | |
| Watco Danish Oil is one of the brands that has added varnish to it. I have used it on some stuff where I wanted more of a sheen than just teak oil gives. I don't remember ever doing three coats in that short a time, though--is that what the directions on the can say to do? Also, you need to go over it with steel wool between coats, especially after the first coat. At least that's what I felt was necessary when I used it. The wood felt a little rough after the first coat, whether it was dust caught in the finish or raised grain, I don't know. But #0000 steel wool took care of it. I did have to do several coats before the sheen was even. But I also did not sand my pieces at all, they were stripped with lacquer thinner on some and alcohol on others (depending on whether they had been lacquered or shellacked.) I suspect your problem is due to uneven sanding, though. But maybe also not waiting long enough between coats, I'm not sure. I am not an expert on sanding, but my guess would be that 220 grit is no fine enough to get the wood back to the super smooth surface of a patina built up over decades. Even if the wood was stained and dinged up, it probably was worn pretty smooth. I've noticed this effect on small areas where i had to sand some stubborn little stain out---not really noticeable enough to worry about on whatever it was I was doing, but yeah. It can happen. The leaves--I know people here have asked about the same thing and I've seen it on draw leaf tables myself, where the wood is lighter and brighter because it hasn't been exposed to light or use nearly as much as the main top. Some people here have said to just leave it as is, it's just how these tables are. I would probably not mess with it myself. You can always get a beautiful linen tablecloth to use for those times that you need the whole table length. | |||||
| jesgord, | 1 Relevance | 12 years ago | tchp | General discussion | |
| jesgord, Yes, my HAAN steamer is just like that one, although it might be the prior model of it. When the jet of steam hits the cane it becomes very limber -- quite a lot more so than just from soaking, And, if you have been working with a long piece of cane for a while, it cane start to dry out and stiffen somewhat when you are working with it. The steamer makes it easy to get around tight bends without the cane breaking any fibers, but it also makes it conform to the contours of things very well. Probably the tightest bend on this chair is where the cane strands are folded where they go into holes at the bottom of the backrest (the chair is turned upside down for this image). If you use the steamer, the cane just melts like butter. Sometimes, without the steam it feels like you are stressing or even breaking some of the fibers in the cane when you bend it over at an angle like that. Also, when you are overlapping edges of the cane, which I now see is an integral part of working with the stuff, the steamer makes the cane soft enough that it does not want to slip off the piece you overwrapped it onto. It also makes it a bit stretchy. It is a very useful thing to have, although technically it is sold as a cleaning tool. I also use it to loosen glue joints. Also, in the image below you can possibly see how the cane strands overlap each other here on the bottom of the backrest. At the top of the backrest they do not overlap. You could actually vary the amount of overlap quite a lot, if you had to. | |||||
| Tuff call | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | moto modernist | General discussion | |
| Tuff call Fish tanks are fantastic....theres nothing more attractive and engaging than a well kept tank. I appreciate your dilema as they have never really been embraced as a design object , therefore a black hole exists in place of lots of different ideas for display. Maybe you could design a base and have it made by a fabricator. A lot of modernist design lends itself to simple concepts. Or find a real sturdy 50's table and reduce the area of the top and have a tank made to measure. It's true, marine environments are a big ask for beginners and Olive is real fortunate that her partner takes care of the business side of things, however, theres a less complicated scene that can look as good as marine with just a fraction of the commitment......Cichlids. I kept a 200 gallon tank for years and it gave me such pleasure. These fish are highly colourful and vert robust. They require similar attention not unlike standard tropical fish. If you use particular types of bottoming sand you can achieve that cartoon colour marine look. They also breed readily and are mouth-brooders which is a fascinating thing to observe. Something to bear in mind about Cichlid's is that they are highly territorial and if not given enough space to chill-out they become quite keen on killing each other. I once had a powder blue Malawi, a true serial killer......it wiped out my full tank ! | |||||
| I wouldnt | 1 Relevance | 18 years ago | LuciferSum | General discussion | |
| I wouldnt One thing that frequently pops up in design blogs are things like the bookworm - clever designs for bookshelves that completely ignore the way books themselves are designed. As a bookbinder this makes me sad - because books are wonderful things, and should enjoy a long and eventful life, and not be untimely cut down because some jackass decided to stack them at an angle. (I use jackass as a hypothetical - certainly not you specifically, Simon) The past 2000 years of bookbinding have been built on the assumption that books will be stacked side by side on horizontal shelves. Everything about books has evolved around this standard: from the depth of the square, to the number of sewing stations on the spine. All of these things are the 'human factors' of the book, so to speak. Imagine a car where the steering wheel is centered on the dashboard because it looks more symmetrical. It makes no sense because people use cars differently. Putting books on an angled shelf will stress the bindings in ways that the book isn't equipped to handle. It will also eff up the pages and the covers - in short, shortening the life of your books. Unfortunately people seem to think horizontal shelves are boring instead of beautiful. I, however, think that one of the most beautiful things in the world is a shelf full of beautiful books. I literally lost my breath when I walked into the Great Room at Trinity Library (below) | |||||
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