Another useful week in the workshop. All the components for the mantel project are now carved. Hopefully this week we'll start the construction process if its fits the schedule. If not it'll certainly be the week following. More on that as it develops.
One of my own projects that I managed to progress this week was the "AK-147". This is an absurd idea that came about as a pun my nephew made when we were discussing whether the AK-47 can be considered a design classic (obviously ignoring the fact its intended use is to kill people), we were also watching snooker on the TV at the time. He managed to somehow connect the two as 147 is the highest score that a snooker player can score in a single frame. Not much of an origin story but it did get me thinking whether you could combine an AK-47 with a snooker cue to make a semi-functional and quite stupid hybrid of the two, hence the AK-147 started to germinate in my brain. I modelled the components for the weapon a few weeks ago but had not had chance to cut it - I finally managed to machine both sides this week in some cherry boards - as you can see below. These enclose the lower half of a two piece snooker cue, which has another end that screws onto it. I am not sure where this prototype will lead but if I do decide to progress this I would approach it in a different way. For now though I believe this is a completely unique item (perhaps for good reason).
A more aesthetically pleasing design (I guess depending on the eye of the beholder) that I cut this week is the first in a serious of amorphous bowls. This was carved in walnut and is intended to have a very natural shape which complements the non-linear nature of the wood grain. Its a really pleasing object both for its form, tactility and the fact it is a functional bowl as well. Below its unfinished but once some oil is applied that will further enhance its look. I'll be continuing to explore incoherent shape and other modifications in future iterations of these bowls.
The last image for this week shows a couple of the quatrefoil blocks I cut that have been installed in the clients library. They add a really nice but simple piece of detail to the formality of the rest of the library's design. Always nice to see something in place too.
