Garden Make-out Bench

I was recently approached by a collector who bought 2 of my pieces last November, when I participated in the Arroyo Artists' Collective fall show.  Said individual indicated that he was going to a wedding and wanted a piece he could give as a gift, and wanted to know what I had in stock.  As it turns out, he also prefers my furniture unfinished, that is to say without any paint or coating.  He would rather let it rust naturally.

Since I didn't have anything that wasn't already powder coated, I seized the opportunity to make a new piece and innovate a little bit.  (Especialy since I had the idea for this all worked out in my mind, and had been wanting to try it.)

I had these two steel tube remnants that were already cut to this shape when I got them:

And I had the idea to do a bench like this:

So it was a pretty simple matter to weld the center seam and add legs.

The biggest question I had was whether or not it would need a fifth leg at the apex, which it did.  I thought it probably would, but wasn't sure.  I also thought that if it were needed, the fifth leg might bother me.  As it turns out, it doesn't bother me at all.

I did, however, put myself through a major aesthetic inquiry to make sure I was satisfied with this style of leg for this object.  I actually debated myself and agonized over it for the better part of an afternoon.  I almost changed them to boomerangs at the last minute, but that will be another bench for another day.

The last step was to add the chrome feet.

When I first sat on it, I realized that the size and angle of the bench give it a really intimate feel.  If you share it with someone else, you aren't just sitting next to them, you are actually slightly facing them, and at pretty close range, with your legs more or less sharing the same space.  With the right companion, it pretty much lends itself to (if not downright encourages) putting your arm around them, and getting in close for a little smoochin'.  Especially if you find yourselves sitting under a shady tree, in a partly-concealed corner of a secret garden somewhere (as opposed to the concrete driveway in front of my shop, where these shots were taken.)

So, I think it is the perfect wedding gift!  Cheers to the newlyweds!

My Views on Health Care Reform

I generally keep this blog to design-related topics, but I decided to break with tradition.  This essay started with an item I posted on my Facebook status update on September 3, 2009, which read:

“No one is his brother’s keeper--or healer. And if we are *forced* to keep our brother, we’ll all be kept by Big Brother.”

A friend of mine posted this, with the tag “If you agree with this, please post it as your status for the rest of the day.”  I expected it to draw criticism, and was curious to see what would happen. 

It appeared on a day when the Facebook news feed was full of pro-Obamacare one-liners that many people were re-posting.   The one that sticks in my memory was the one along the lines of how “no one should end up bankrupt just because they got sick,” or something to that effect.   I disagree strongly with this statement.  It implies that because one has gotten sick, either a) it is perfectly reasonable that a doctor to be forced to treat them for free, or that b) someone else should be forced to pay.  I happen to be among the tiny minority of people today who think the rights of A (the doctor) and B (the disinterested 3rd party) actually matter. 

It used to be that doctors treated people all the time regardless of their ability to pay.  I’m talking about way back when doctors were (rightly) allowed to make lots of money practicing their highly valuable craft that took years and years of excruciatingly hard work to learn and master.  Nowadays, they are commonly vilified, denigrated, hated, mistrusted, threatened, sued, and nearly regulated out of existence.  (This is starting to change a little bit lately, as all that vitriol is starting to be directed at the insurance industry instead.)

But I digress.  My main point here is about Individual Rights.  I own my life, and I own my body.  My body and my health do not belong to Barak Obama, or Nancy Pelosi, or Governor Arnold for that matter.   I have a right to deal with my doctor on my own terms, and she with me on hers.  I have the right to contract freely with anyone or any company that wants to offer me insurance of any kind, on whatever terms, with any inclusions, or exclusions, and for whatever price upon which we mutually agree.  I have the absolute right not to have any insurance at all, if I don’t want it (contrary to what Mr. Obama apparently thinks.)  I have the right to buy whatever drug I want to use to treat myself, and you have the right to sell it to me at your price.  People wonder how America’s health care system became such a mangled mess.  I’ll tell you how:  By the systematic denial of Individual Rights, perpetrated by those in public office who should instead be protecting and upholding them. 

My rights in every one of the above-mentioned areas are utterly abrogated by the mountains of government regulations that have a near-total stranglehold on the health care industry.  Washington’s solution?  More regulations to try to fix the problems that have been gradually caused by decades of continually increasing government interference in this industry.   This type of ever-worsening regulatory downward spiral was described by Ayn Rand in 1962.  She wrote in her LA Times column, “When government controls are introduced into a free economy, they create economic dislocations, hardships, and problems which, if the controls are not repealed, necessitate still further controls, which necessitate still further controls, etc. Thus a chain reaction is set up: the victimized groups seek redress by imposing controls on the profiteering groups, who retaliate in the same manner, on an ever widening scale.”

I will give a specific example.  Insurance companies are regulated state by state, controlled by powerful Insurance Commissioners.  Thus, they are prevented from offering insurance policies that would allow someone to keep their coverage if they moved across state lines.  So, because there aren’t enough options (without ever explaining how many would be enough,) Obama et al want to establish a nationwide Public Option.  Why wouldn’t insurance companies fight this?! 

I would be furious if my industry were subject to massive regulatory restrictions, then blamed for not offering more product choices, and then made to compete with a special federally-sanctioned non-profit, while said non-profit would benefit from all kinds of loopholes and special exemptions from all the regulations that my industry would still have to contend with (and there would probably be an additional tax or fee on my product to fund the other.)  It is a typical Statist’s straw-man argument, to blame Capitalism for failures caused by regulation.  We are told that “powerful interests” oppose this Public Option plan.  Well you can bet that the powerful Insurance Commissioners would strongly oppose any kind of deregulation that would allow the insurance industry to better serve its customers and provide more product options.  And don’t think for a minute that their motivation is Granny’s health and well-being.  This is but one example but there are many, many more.

I do not believe in preserving the status quo in America’s health care system, but I don’t think anyone in the White House or on Capitol Hill has any ideas worth pursuing.  I find it disingenuous of Mr. Obama to declare that he’s willing to consider any and all ideas on the topic.  Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s ideas are all great starting points for real reform, but since no one entrenched in power in Washington would ever think of giving up any of that power, I don’t expect much.  I’m sure they will cobble together some compromise bill that will only gradually worsen the situation and prolong the problems, or shift them onto other unexpected recipients.  This is hardly Change for America, as Mr. Obama loudly promised during the campaign.

Let me go back to my opening line and make one last point.  The main thing I started out to say here is this:  If you accept the premise that you are your brother’s keeper, as we are often told, then you must also accept the logical corollary to this statement.  Namely, that there’s someone out there keeping you.  In this case, it’s President Obama who wants to be my keeper (using your tax dollars, or those of your children and/or grandchildren.)  The morality at the root of this is altruism, the belief that the individual must sacrifice his values for the sake of others.   The alternative (and the antidote) is individualism, and rational selfishness. 

I am by no means wealthy.  I have worked hard and made difficult (but mostly good) choices to get where I am in life.  I don’t expect anyone else to pay for my health care, or my mortgage, or my car.  I have friends and loved ones for whom I would do anything if they needed help, the least of which would be to give or loan them money in an emergency (which I have done,) whether for health care or some other need.

Human beings are not all a bunch of ants in a colony or bees in a hive.  People all have different goals, ambitions, desires, dreams and abilities.  Individuals must be allowed to choose what’s best for themselves and act accordingly.  They also must be allowed to fail.  History shows that they choose well and succeed far more often than they fail.  Give me some health care reform that respects Individual Rights and you’d have my support.  And, you’d start fixing what’s broken with our health care system.

Custom Furniture: Wench Tables

A little while back I posted on a custom built-in backyard bench I made for some friends: Completed Project: Wedge-shaped Bench [Wench]

At the end I mentioned the tables we also made out of the leftover (and expensive) wood.  The wood is Ipe (pronounced E-pay).  It is extremely hard and dense, and is well suited to outdoor use.

Here are the tables:

One thing thas is extremely important to me as a designer is to conceal the fasteners whenever possible.  You will notice that there are no visible screws, bolts etc. on the bench or tables.  This usually requires extra effort, both during design and fabrication, but is always worth it.

The tables are sized and proportioned for maximum flexiblity of use, as you can see.

Design Process: New Chair (Little Bird Chair)

Since we have a new show of original furniture designs about to open this weekend (more info here), I thought it would be fun to post a photo essay and description of my design process for one of the pieces in the show.  Namely, the Little Bird. 

This design started with 6 steel tubes and the question: what am I going to do with these things?

There were 3 each of 3" x 12" and 4" x 14" and each one cut neatly to a uniform length of 16".

"What am I going to do with these things?"

The idea came to me to make a pair of chairs and a table, each using a smaller and a larger tube, and powder coat them all in one color to match.  (Powder coating is like a special type of paint that is extrememly tough and durable, and is used on a lot of metal products.)  The color for them, which I couldn't get out of my head, was bright yellow.

Next, I arranged the pieces to get an idea of how it would work:

I roughly imagined that the seam in the concrete at the bottom of the image would be ground level for the chairs and table.

Next: what would the legs be?  I have been working with hairpin legs on several of the new chairs lately, which seemed to be a good choice here.

I sometimes like to spread out a clean piece of cardboard and get out a sharpie pen to draw full-size as I work in the shop.  I sketched a double-hairpin that ended being more of a boomerang, just touching the seat at the middle bend.  It was important to me that the middle bend of the legs be a 90-degree angle:

Next I bent a sample leg to see how it looked in actual metal versus lines on cardboard:

I ended up raising the chair another couple of inches, which brought the seat up off of the middle bend in the legs.  This had the added benefit of allowing the boomerang shape to read more clearly, and I liked it better this way.  I also opened up the outer angles of the legs so that they hit the seat closer to the corners.

Then I made all the rest of the legs.  Making them all at the same time helps keep the bends uniform.

Next step was to weld the seats and backs together:

You can see how they are welded:

Here are the seats/backs with the legs cut to final length:

And we're almost done!  Weld on the legs:

 

Wait!  Since one thing I like about steel is its tremendous strength, and I like emphasizing this in my furniture, I want to make an adjustment to the way the back meets the seat:

Ahhhh.  Better.  The back just hangs there.  Now I'm satisfied.

Off to the powder coating shop!  After getting sand blasted and then sprayed with pigmented polyester powder, the pieces are baked at about 500 degrees and the powder is transformed into a durable, shiny, smooth finish.  After they cool, they are wrapped for protection.

And I didn't really discuss the table much, but here it is hanging upside down to cool:

Finally, the pieces are all brought down to the gallery to get ready for the show.

I like to come up with names that are somewhat memorable and also describe an aspect of the character of the piece.  This chair reminds me of a little bird, so I named it the Little Bird Chair.  I would love it if someone bought the chairs and table as a set; I hate to break them up!

Completed Project: Wedge-shaped Bench [Wench]

I was approached by a client (ok my friends, Kathy and John.  Hi, Kathy and John!) to build a custom built-in bench in their backyard.  They were redoing their back patio and were inspired by the patio benches at The Oinkster, a fine local establishment near their house.  It's such a cool place I don't know why The Oinkster doesn't put some actual pictures on their webpage.

The Oinkster:

The Oinkster Patio:

Don't you just want to sit there all afternoon?  Can you tell I heart The Oinkster big time?

The Oinkster Patio Bench:

Sorry about the image quality! 3-year-old-phone-cam.

So this was the point of departure. Simple 2" x 2" tube steel posts supporting 2" x 3/8" steel flat bars, with wood slats for the seat and back.  A simple diner patio, circa 1958 (just my guess.)

After doing some preliminary research, which in this case consisted of a pulled pork sandwich and fries, washed down with a draft Budweiser, enjoyed from inside looking out at the patio, since unfortunately it was raining that day, we met to discuss the project further.   We considered different options and they settled on a relatively faithful recreation of the Oinkster bench, except for the flat bar being replaced with a 1" x 2" steel C-channel.  I thought the channel would better hide the screws that would be used to hold the wood slats.  I drew a quick CAD sketch, to check the proportions, etc.:

The back patio where this bench would be installed is a relatively narrow space behind the client's house, defined by a retaining wall running approximately parallel to the house, beyond which the hillside ascends steeply.  Actually, the wall is not truly parallel to the house, it is set at an angle.  This ultimately had a big influence on the design, as we shall see.

The original concept, as pictured above, was to make a simple, straight bench, parallel to the house, with a slightly wedge-shaped space leftover between the bench and wall, which would eventually fill in with plants trailing over the wall.

So off I went to Industrial Metal Supply, where they have huge racks of remnants, wherein one can usually find just what one needs for a small project such as this, and at a pretty good discount, since they're remnants.  I usually stop by IMS if I'm even remotely nearby, just to have a quick look at what's in the remnant racks.  Kathy met me there, as she works close by, and we had no trouble getting exactly what we needed for the bench (based on the sketch above.)

A few days later, after I had dialed in all the measurements and figured out my sequencing for putting it all together, just as I was about to start cutting metal, the phone rang.  It was Kathy.  "Have you started yet?"

"I was just about to," I answered.

"Oh, good.  Don't start yet.  We have a new idea.  Come over Saturday morning for coffee and we'll discuss it."

"OMG, I love you but you are such a client," I answered.  Since she's a designer too, I can tease her like this and not get fired.

Saturday came and I drove over to their place.  Kathy explained that they had decided they wanted to keep the edge of the seat parallel to the house but have the back follow the angle of the wall.  "It will be a wedge-shaped bench," she explained most enthusiastically, "a WENCH!"  Kathy was always one of those people in architecture school whose projects had the cleverest names imaginable, to the constant envy of the rest of us.

So it was back to the drawing board.  In addition to the wedge-shape, we decided it would be more interesting to mount the back directly to the block retaining wall, as opposed to supporting it off the seat.  I came up with this drawing:

If you click to view the larger image it may take a moment to load, as it's about a megabyte.

They liked the new design, and I was excited about my detail for mounting the steel back supports to the wall so that there would not be any visible fasteners.  Again, my quick CAD sketch:

Finally, I did a hand sketch to check the dimensions.  Sometimes I work in CAD and sometimes I work by hand.  Kind of interesting though, from a left-brain right-brain perspective, that for the math part and the real 'figuring it out' I'm hand sketching.

I built one of 4 bases and we looked at it on site.  We decided to raise the height a little bit and proceed with the rest.  Here are the base parts all cut out with the one completed base, which will need to be lengthened:

Finally the parts were all put together, powder coated (I use Pyramid Powder Coating in Sun Valley) and ready for installation.  John and I spent the better part of a Saturday and got it 90% complete; he finished installing the final slats on the back the next day.  Kathy and the kids helped too (did I mention the 2 kids and 2 cats? Theirs is a pretty lively household) and it was fun for the whole family.  Here's Kathy posing with the bases, laid out and marked on the concrete.  I think she had just finished mowing the yard:

 I could have stopped right here.  I really like the exposed back supports!

The wood is Ipe, a very hard wood similar to Teak, that is used a lot for outdoor applications these days.  The Ipe isn't cheap, and because it came in 18-foot lengths, and the bench, um, I mean the Wench, is 15' long, there were 6 pieces left over, roughly 3' long each.  Perfect for a couple of small tables.  Since this has been a very long post, the tables will have to wait for a separate post.

Thanks for making it all the way to the end; I invite any questions or comments about this project.