The Claro Cart: A Collaboration with Caty Moniz

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce to you the Claro Cart! This nifty rolling bar cart, made of stainless steel and shimmery Claro walnut, is a collaboration with my good friend and talented woodworker Caty Moniz!

I first became friends with Caty because we worked together at Box headquarters in Los Altos. On our commute home one day about a year ago, we realized that we both loved making furniture. We had a good laugh when we discovered that she had finished wood slabs lying around her garage that didn't have table bases; meanwhile, I had a steel table base in my studio without a top. We joked about collaborating on a piece of furniture one day -- I'd do the metal, and she'd do the wood. 

And then a few months ago, we decided to go for it! We came up with a simple, elegant design for a rolling bar cart that would show off the contrast of dark wood against bright stainless steel. 

Caty hunted down a gorgeously marbled piece of solid Claro walnut while visiting family just outside of Jefferson, Oregon. Claro walnut is known for its striking figuring, often showing subtle intermixed colors of reds, browns, yellows, purples, and blacks in its grain. The piece chosen for the bar cart was no exception, with a lovely blond streak running through one of the pieces. Caty cut and sanded the walnut, increasing the grit until achieving a silky finish. In order to bring out the natural colors in the figuring of the wood, she finished the pieces with a few coats of ProFin, an oil-based finish -- no staining for this beauty!

Meanwhile, I picked up a some stainless steel flatbar from my favorite woman-owned steel supplier. I cut the bar down to smaller lengths, ground down the ends a bit to create channels for welding, and then TIG welded the frame together. I sanded the entire surface with an angle grinder to create a lightly-textured satin finish. Finally, I welded the locking stainless steel casters to the frame, careful to not melt the rubber wheels.

After working on our respective pieces, Caty and I met up for dinner to join the metal and the wood. It was magical seeing it finally come together! 

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos Caty and I took throughout the process of designing and building the cart:

Caty and I had so much fun making the Claro Cart together, and we hope you like it. It's available for purchase in the Elektra Steel shop for $1800. It will also be on display at The Crucible's Spring Open House this Saturday, April 11, 2015, from 12-5pm. Cheers!

Geo Bowl Instructable

I just published my very first Instructable! I did a super detailed instructional write-up of how I made those geo bowls, complete with dozens of process photos and videos. Unlike the blog post I wrote a few weeks ago about the bowls, the Instructable is geared at my fellow metalworkers -- I nerd out about TIG filler rod thickness, how to weld without clamps or vice grips, and the advantages to waxing stainless steel.

Are you a metalworker? Check out the Instructable -- I'm curious to hear your feedback, questions, and tips!

AIDS/LifeCycle Charity Raffle

I'm excited to announce my AIDS/LifeCycle Charity Raffle! I'm going to raffle off four handmade Elektra Steel pieces in order to raise $3,000 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation by May 30th. Here's how it works: for every $20 that you donate toward the cause, you will earn one ticket in the raffle. The raffle will be capped at exactly 150 tickets. As soon as I've sold the last ticket, I'll draw four winners and ship the prizes! (And then I'll bike 545 miles from SF to LA, but more on that later.) Ready to get started? Donate now!

What is AIDS/LifeCycle? It's a seven-day, 545-mile bike ride from SF to LA that raises money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, two organizations that provide critical services to people living with (and at risk for) HIV and AIDS. Those of you who know me outside of Elektra Steel know that this isn't my first rodeo -- this will actually be the fourth year in a row that I've participated in AIDS/LifeCycle. But it is the first year that I'm offering up handmade goods as an incentive for donating!

Prizes

I will be raffling off one hex votive, one copper/steel cube, one bronze/steel cube, and one geo bowl. Prizes will be shipped anywhere in the world (my treat).

Instructions

Tips

Since there will only be 150 raffle tickets sold, you can calculate your approximate* odds of winning one of the four prizes! For example:

  • If you donate $20, you have a 4-in-150 shot at winning a prize
  • If you donate $100, you have a 2-in-15 shot at winning a prize
  • If you donate $300, you have a 6-in-15 shot at winning a prize
  • If you donate $500, you have a 2-in-3 shot at winning a prize

Ready to donate? Do it!

My Story

I participate in AIDS/LifeCycle every year for a number of reasons. I first got involved because the focus of my master's thesis research was HIV/AIDS, STIs, and sexual and reproductive health, and I wanted to find ways to support the cause outside of academia. I fell in love with AIDS/LifeCycle, and I kept coming back for more.

I ride because I have friends who have have been touched by HIV or AIDS, and I see that the fight isn't over. I ride because the federal government still refuses to fund effective harm-reduction programs like clean needle exchanges -- which means that we rely on private donations to keep these services afloat. I ride because I love the AIDS/LifeCycle community -- including everyone who has ever donated! -- and what we can accomplish together.

Need some additional encouragement? Check out this link to see exactly how the San Francisco AIDS Foundation will use your money. 

Thank you in advance for your support!

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probability.JPG

*I say "approximate" because I've simplified the math a bit. The formula at right should give you your exact odds of winning at least one prize, given that the four winners are drawn sequentially, and that the winning tickets are not put back in the pool for subsequent draws. In this formula, x = the number of tickets purchased. (Formula found here.)

Many thanks to my sister Mia for talking through the math with me in the middle of the night!

Fifteen Centerpiece Geo Bowls

I spent the last two weeks designing and fabricating 15 custom geometric bowls for a global tech company based in San Francisco. Their annual client and developer conference is coming up in a few days, and the bowls will be used as table centerpieces.

A friend on their events team had seen a photo of the geo planter I made a few months ago, and reached out to see if the design could be customized for their needs. I'd never done a production run this large before, but I was excited for the challenge.

Here's how I made the bowls!

First, I created a 3D model of the design in SketchUp. I started with a dodecahedron (my favorite platonic solid) and modified it to create an open, faceted bowl. As soon as I got the thumbs-up from the client, it was time to waterjet cut the pieces. I used Adobe Illustrator to create a vector line drawing of all of the pieces that I'd need to cut out of stainless steel sheet.

The last time I made a piece like this, I did all the waterjet cutting myself, which was time-consuming because I was still learning. Due to the scale of this project, I decided to outsource the cutting. So glad I did! The company I used, Triton Waterjet, was super pro -- clean edges, no burrs or tabs, flawless steel, and quick turnaround time. Here are one hundred pounds of beautiful pentagons, ready to go:

And then the welding marathon began! I started by tacking the faces together at each vertex. A number of metalworkers have asked me how I clamp down the pieces for this type of project. I actually don't use clamps or jigs at all. Instead, I just prop up the pieces on a block -- or even hold them together with my gloved hands -- and do a quick flash-tack to join the pieces. Then I bend the pieces into the correct angle before continuing to weld.

Once the form was tacked together, it was time to weld all the edges. TIG welding is my absolute favorite part of metalworking, and I was thrilled when the moment finally arrived to lay down a bead. And then another one. And then another one. And then another one...

Stainless steel is one of my favorite metals to work with because it welds cleanly and makes shimmery rainbows patterns.

Here's what the bowl looked like after welding all the edges.

For those of you who are really curious about this whole process, here's a four-minute time-lapse video of me tacking and welding a bowl.

Aaaannnd repeat x15!

It was both luxurious and exhausting doing nothing but weld all day long. I welded all fifteen bowls in two and a half days, which is definitely some sort of personal record. What's interesting is how much I improved over the course of the project: When I made the initial prototype, the welding took me six hours (lots of trial and error!). Bowl number one took two and a half hours to weld (better, but still learning). By bowl number four, I'd gotten it down to 40 minutes (I'm a machine!!). I learned a lot about efficiency and scale with this project!

Once the bowls were assembled, it was time for sanding and buffing. I like this step because it's like the big reveal -- I finally get to see the sharp jumble of sheet metal transformed into the lovely and smooth piece I'd envisioned in my mind. For sanding and buffing, a variable-speed angle grinder is my best friend. I started with an 80-grit flapwheel disc to sand down the welds, and then went over the entire outer surface with a Scotch-Brite disc to give it a satiny sheen. 

Here's a time-lapse video of me sanding and buffing a bowl. It shortens 45 minutes of elbow grease into a snappy 35 seconds. 

Not gonna lie, I was physically exhausted after sanding all 15 bowls. The weight, vibrations, and centrifugal force of the angle grinder did a number on my forearms and hands. My neck ached from bending over, and I was covered in a fine layer of metal dust at the end of each day. It was a relief to finally move on from this stage!

For the last step, I gave each bowl a coat of clear metal wax, which hardens and cures after being buffed. A protective sealant isn't really necessary for stainless steel, as it won't rust or tarnish, but I like the way wax looks. It gives the piece a little extra sheen, and it keeps fingerprints from appearing on the surface.

Here's a close-up of the bottom of a bowl, on which I'd stamped my company name, letter by letter. I had recently gotten coffee with Meyghan Hill from Whorehaus Studios (she's a kickass LA-based designer, welder, and business woman), and when chatting about this project, she insisted that I mark each piece with my company name -- brilliant. I immediately ordered metal alphabet stamps for myself. Thank you for the tip, Meyghan!

And here's a photo of the bowl at the conference! 

Time-Lapse Sanding

I took a time-lapse video of me sanding down one of the stainless steel bowls I welded earlier this week. First I used a variable-speed angle grinder with an 80-grit flapwheel disc to sand down the welds. Then used a Scotch-Brite disc to buff the entire outside of the bowl to a lovely, satin finish. This speedy, 35-second video captures 45 minutes of elbow grease! 


Time-Lapse TIG Welding

This week, I'm making 15 stainless steel centerpiece bowls for a tech company's annual conference. This is the largest production run I've done so far. It took me two and a half hours to weld the first bowl together, but by bowl number six, I'd gotten it down to 40 minutes. Here's a four-minute time-lapse video I made of me welding one bowl at 12x speed.

Elektra Steel's First Stockist: Paxton Gate

I'm excited to announce that my dodecahedron floor lamp is now available for purchase at Paxton Gate, both online and at their retail location in San Francisco's Mission District.

The dodecahedron floor lamp, nestled amongst feathers, eggs, terrariums, and other curiosities at Paxton Gate in San Francisco.

If you've ever strolled down Valencia Street, I'm sure you've noticed their striking window displays. They specialize in taxidermy, skeletons, rare insects, exotic plants, and succulents: "treasures and oddities inspired by the garden and natural sciences," in their words. Totally up my alley.

Another shot of the lamp.

Paxton Gate has actually been one of my favorite stores since I was in ninth grade -- I would occasionally stop to explore their charming and macabre curiosities on my way home from high school. So, you can imagine how excited I am to have them as my very first stockist!

I recently got introduced to Paxton Gate by my friends Vinit and Spencer at The Pricerie. The Pricerie's mission is to connect makers with appraisers in order to help them price their work. This is a much-needed service, in my opinion: every artist and maker I've talked to has struggled with pricing.

Anyway, I submitted my geo planter to be priced, and one of the five expert appraisers they matched me with was Michael Levy, Creative & Operations Director at Paxton Gate. He saw some of my other work, asked Vinit and Spencer for an intro, and the rest is history.

Next time you're exploring the Mission, swing by Paxton Gate and take a look in person! Not local? Click here to see product details, dimensions, and additional photos.

Photo Editing with Lightroom

It took two solid days to narrow down my 1000+ photos down to ten, but I did it. And after that was done, I spent another three days obsessively tweaking the contrast, exposure, whites, blacks, highlights, and shadows using Lightroom. For someone who's detail-oriented and has a perfectionist streak, I could have easily just disappeared down the rabbit hole. But! It's time to post the photos and move on with my life. I have things to make!

Here's a before-and-after example of the kind of photo editing I was doing:

Pretty amazing how some basic adjustments can bring a dull photo to life.

And without further ado, here are the final photos! 

I still don't feel like the photos are perfect yet -- feel free comment if you have suggestions or advice! -- but they're good enough for now. I still have a lot to learn about product photography and photo editing, but I'm excited to have added both abilities to my skill set! If anyone is interested in doing the same, I highly recommend the online tutorials on Lynda. Thanks, Jen and Phil, for the tip!

Crash Course in Product Photography

The past week has been a crash course in product photography. I decided to fast-track this skill development because I have a retailer who may be interested in the dodecahedron floor lamp. If all goes well, I'll never see it again -- which means I need to properly document it before it finds its permanent home!

I started by watching some tutorials from the Etsy Seller Handbook. Then I made brunch for a photographer friend in exchange for a photography 101 class, in which I picked his brain about light, aperture, speed, ISO, depth of field, and workflow (see his terrific handwritten notes here). My partner Phil borrowed a fancy DSLR camera and lens from his work, and I invested in some gear (9'-wide paper backdrop, tripod, and the stand thingies to hold up the backdrop). I turned our garage into a photo studio, gave the lamp one last coat of black metal wax (love that stuff; so slick), and got started. Our dog Simi kept me company, snoozing in the sun and occasionally barking at passers-by (rude!).

I turned our garage into a photo studio.

I spent two full days shooting the lamp. Turns out product photography is hard! Some examples of my frustrations:

  • Why are all my photos blurry?
  • Our garage floor isn't level!
  • How can I tell if something is truly in focus?
  • My left eye hurts from squinting.
  • How did that crease get in the paper backdrop?
  • How do you turn on autofocus? 
  • Why isn't autofocus working?
  • Why won't the shutter click all the way down? (True story.)
  • My back hurts from standing in weird, contorted positions.
  • Shit, low battery. Where can I find a replacement battery?
  • Simi, stop barking at the neighbors!

I'm lucky to have some great help, though: Both Phil and our roommate Bradley (a.k.a. GMUNK) answered a million questions for me throughout the last couple days, and Phil even drove home in the middle of the day to drop off a replacement battery and fix some camera settings. I took about 1,000 photos over the two days, and by photo number 800 or so, I think I actually started to get the hang of it. 

Simi kept watch while I took photos. She hunted mice in the garage (ew) and barked at a few people innocently walking their dogs (oops). 

I took a cursory look at the pics last night, and some of them look pretty good! I'm about to go watch a tutorial on how to use Lightroom to sort and edit my photos. So, hopefully I'll have sexy new lamp photos to post on my website shortly!

My main take-aways from this learning experience:

  • The auto setting on a $1200 DSLR works pretty damn well, if you ask me.
  • I'm excited to be adding photography and photo editing to my skill set. I imagine (hope!) that future shoots will be considerably more efficient and less painful than this one. 
  • Learning new skills is totally exhausting. I can't wait to get back to doing things that I'm actually already good at (like welding). :)

The view from the sidewalk. Don't miss Simi's goofy grin.