Amass Workshop - Progress Update 4 - Finished!

Finally, the workshop has been completed. This last progress post will just show the last few things that we had to do to get it all done. 

First off a proper bench had to be made and installed into the width of the workshop up against the wall. This bench is also quite high, 900mm or so off the ground. This will add years to my back. 

Got some Cypress from Bunnings which suited the posts for bench. It was quite green so machining it up on the Joiner/Thicknesser was quite smooth and easy.  

Cut some slots to determine the halving joint for the cross beams that will run the length of the work bench. Then cleaned up the joint with the chisel.

Two posts to take the weight of the bench along with the wall supports.

No glue used, just a nice tight fit and screwed together.

 Then fitted in some particle board shelves and the top cross beams. After that I got my hands on some 38mm particle board desk tops which were perfect for this bench from a job in the city. They would have otherwise ended up in the tip with everything else. 


Now here is the pictures of the finished job. Added some MDF doors as I realized that the storage shelves were being covered in saw dust.

Added some shelves on the brick wall. These shelves hold all the consumables and tools that I need quick access to when in the workshop.

 Here is the first machine to bless the workshop. It is a JET JPT-310 combination Joiner/Thicknesser. This beast is a beauty, especially with the helical head cutters which have tungsten carbide blades instead of the typical High Strength Steel straight blades.

I hooked it up to a 2HP Dust extractor. Something that can handle it. The dust bags fill up very quickly. And I have not thrown out any of the shavings as I have a plan for them.

I want to create a closed loop system. And channel the waste back into a neat product.

Mahogany Gum up in the truss work, Storage

This is my favourite part of the workshop, Gable doors for storage

Open these bad boys during summer and the temperature drops so much!

Got a sweet view of the storage on the truss work.

So after the summer of 2012 / 2013 and until only recently. The workshop and everything needed has been made. I'll get a picture of the front of the workshop and upload it on this post later. This is the last post of the workshop I hope you are inspired. Peace out.

National Tree Day - Australia 2013

National Tree Day is next Sunday on the 28th of July and this gives us and our communities a chance to give back to the land we live on. Trees are biological filters which remove harmful carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluorides and chlorofluorocarbons from the atmosphere as well as consuming the particulates created from combustion engines.
Although trees still need clean air to properly grow. But all trees have a limit of how much pollutants they can deal with, most of the time the trees lifespan is drastically decreased in large polluted cities.

Melbourne is one of Australia's largest cities and there are so many positives to be living near such a great city. But it also comes with some negatives such as pollution. During the Winter months I can see the smog that builds up over the city skyline, it is absolutely disgusting to know all of us contribute to this ever increasing problem.  

So if you live in the area of Camberwell, Burwood, Glen Iris, Surrey hills in Melbourne and your keen to help out with this group then just follow the link and register.


Tools are provided, but just ring the organizer to make sure there is enough. Also there is going to be a BBQ!! 



RSVP to: Robert Brierley Phone: 0400077439

http://treeday.planetark.org/site/10000557

Vivid - Furnitex 2013

So after day two of Furnitex at Melbourne Exhibition centre the amount of people that has come through has been consistent and steady which is good! And there is still two days to go until it comes to an end so come down and check it all out!

I took a few pictures of the Vivid (Vibrant Visions in Design) area of Furnitex which is the showcase of emerging, commercial and student categories of the exhibit. 

Last day of Vivid, get your vest on!

Melbourne - Furnitex - Design Made Trade 2013

www.furnitex.com.au

Furnitex is mostly a commercial furniture event held in Melbourne every year. Although Vivid is a platform which caters for commercial, student and concept and always delivers some exceptionally diverse designs. The area where vivid is held will be bustling with people so come on and down as I will be there to have a chat!



When : 18th - 21st July

Where: Melbourne Exhibition Centre

www.designmadetrade.com.au

Design Made Trade is on at the same time as Furnitex and always comes up with the goods. I find the range of design highly diverse and a lot better than the commercial furniture design seen at Furnitex. Also sadly to say the exhibition has been shafted from the Royal Exhibition Centre to the Melbourne Exhibition centre. Which I don't understand as that place has so much character and soul and matched perfectly the event. By all means lets hope it does well!



When : 18th - 21st July

Where: Melbourne Exhibition Centre

In Print - Threaded Out Duo

For both Threaded Out Table and Chair I have some information that is printed onto small flyers which I offer to the public during exhibitions. I thought it might be cool to upload the PDF flyers as images and make them available online, Enjoy!

Amass Design Website Launch 2013

 

SquareSpace made setting up a website as easy as making a pizza!

Over the past couple of years I had been constantly thinking of setting up a real website which can show my work in a fresh and easy to navigate design. But as you know life throws many challenges and events at you and things like this get pushed to the side.

Since I am on university holidays, I endeavored to find a way to construct my own website. I first looked at Adobe Dreamweaver where I found there had to be a lot of time allocated to the coding and design. And since I have been working full time for all of the holidays  that option went out the window.

So I considered website platforms. Which either offer free or paid services for website templates, domains etc. I looked at Webs and Wix which offer quite good free services but I was skeptical of what rights I had of my work and their hosting services. So I opted for a company called SquareSpace. They just stood out for me with their very welcoming website which even shows every employee and what they do. Plus their online customer service is very efficient and helpful! 

They offer 3 plans :

Standard - $8 per month

Unlimited - $16 per month

Business - $24 per month



Each plan obviously as the price goes up includes more storage and features.


So after a 2-3days of playing around uploading photos, logos, text, information. The website went up with no problems. I made a custom domain name and it took 2days for the website to propagate and fully become listed on Google.

My new website is

 www.amassdesign.com

Check out SquareSpace 

www.squarespace.com

Ethics In Design

For University last Semester, We had to select a topic from a list and then do a presentation on it. Most of the topics were quite straight forward as they were mainly design movements such as Futurism or Bauhaus, and the list goes on! I chose a more diverse topic which actually  covers everything in our daily lives and is very important. This was the presentation I put together. I hope you like it! And it brings some light to some problems and also some achievements happening right now.