new blogger interface

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the length of time since the last post.
It is not entirely my fault though.
Google is upgrading the Blogger interface and for my account this has meant big problems.

The new interface shows no postings
My blog is empty!

1 hour of searching for this problem online has come to naught!
I have also sent several support reqests to google with no answer.

I may be faced with starting my blog from scratch - ouch

Bear with me while I wrestle with this problem

Thanks for your patience everyone.

The new Yagoona Gardenqub

Some time ago I started to toy with an idea to create a garden pavilion. I looked around online to see what there was around and found a real lack of modern design pavilions. Those that were of a modern design lacked one thing in particular - an integrated floor!

Having had some experience with garden construction, I am well aware of the cost and effort required to create a flat paved or decked area in a garden. This cost and effort explode when the ground is not level. Berms, retaining walls, filled areas and soil compaction are all vital issues that any gardener knows about and does not underestimate.
These costs can easily dwarf the cost of the actual pavilion!

So many sketches and models later, the Gardenqub started to take shape.

A modern design, all steel, pavilion with an integrated timber decking for a floor.
The entire structure is supported by 4 feet that are set into concrete block footings.
The Gardenqub can be installed on virtually any sloping ground space (within engineering limits) and can dramatically extend the livable outdoor area of an uneven or sloping ourdoor area. This case is quite common my country of residence - Switzerland.

The frame is made from 150 x 150 x 5mm square steel pipe.
The elbows are my own design hiding the structural joining elements.
This enables a modular self construct kit product that can be put together by any gardener or handyman (with the help of some friends).

The ideal maximum size is a 4 x 4m floor space with 2.8m uprights. This size means that each of the elements remains within a weight limit which can be man handled. (This is where the friends come into it).

What was left for me was to make a full size version to verify my design. This being a large step requiring a permanent home for it, meant that my project came to a standstill until now.

A good friend of mine was recently telling me about his garden renovation plans and we got into the subject of my Gardenqub project. I moked up some 3D sketches quickly in Google Sketchup and presented them to him.

He was sold.

(His one is actually going to be bigger than I plan -  6m x 3.5m - so some slight modification is required to the base design)


So I wanted to share this initial post about the Gardenqub with you all, and give you a chance to follow the steps in the construction of my first one.

Take this as a social experiment as well since I will share with you all the joys and hardaches of the final steps of product development.

Subscribe to this blog to be kept abreast of our project.

p.s My friend is putting together the plans for the rest of the garden so looks like we will not be getting started with actual installation work before mid August.

Yagoona Mallee Woodbox wood storage - reloaded

I have been screwing around with a design for a decorative and functional fire wood storage product for some time now. If you flick back through my blog you will see earlier incarnations of this idea. Every time I reached the prototype phase, I would be unhappy with the result and cool off on the whole idea for a few months, and then start from scratch again.
I think I have done it now though.
Here is the new Mallee woodbox...

This is the 130 x 65 cm unit. The depth of the unit is 37cm which nicely accomodates the 1/3 of a meter format of firewood that is commonly found here in Europe. This size has been chosen so that 1/3 of a cubic meter of firewood (or as it is called here in Switzerland, ein Drittel Ster), the parts of the box are within the shipping limits of my courier so I can ship this thing (disassembled) anywhere in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and being half as wide as it is high (standing as it is in the above pic) it can be used together with others to form a wall structure. (Darri Hocker standing next to it)

 

Above are some details of the joining mechanism. I am relying on perferated bending lines that enable the nice overlapping system for the joints. I was inspired by the old style dovetail joints that are seen in high quality woodwork.

This was a prototype to test the jointing system. This one is 55 x 55 cm

It didnt take long for people who saw this prototype to suggest that it would make a beautiful planter in the garden.

Arunta Firebowl

For quite some time now, the idea of embedding a firebowl into a monolithic cubic steel object has facinated me. Over the last month or so, something pushed me into realising the first prototype of this object which I have named the Arunta.
The monolith is a 1000x1000x350mm structure out of steel plate.
I have created a support mechanism for the firebowl inside which can accomodate different formed bowls. The diameter of the opening is 800mm
I am working through some minor production bugs at the moment but the product is pretty much ready.

Leave your comments below...

 

The Arunta with a 80cm firebowl

 

The Arunta with a 80cm firebowl and the Barramundi barbecue

The Arunta with a the lid hiding the firebowl

 

 This is the Arunta with a huge 1250mm firebowl

Whats in a name

When I look back at the last post, I can't beleive that I was about to just call these cute hockers, A thru E. Sounds now like Im back at school and assigning grades to kids.
I put some thought into it and decided that some human names are best for these stools.
So if you look at the last post, the names in order from top are: Nora, Walter, Fatima, Susan, and Chuck.

Why these names, well lets see -
- Nora looks like an elegant woman, not your scrawny arse super model! I mean the generous Marilyn Monroe type of woman. Soft and curved in all the right places.
- Now Walter just reminded me so much of a straign laced, pragmatic, intelligent Swiss engineer that the name was a no brainer.
- Fatima was orginally going to be called Henry, but a few people commented on the Islamic flavour of the design. I think I was also somehow drawn to this design since it was the original first model. So seemed obvious that I must give it an obvious Arab girls name.
- Susan, well Susan just struck me as the thick solid working farmer girl. Simple and dependable. The straight lines also hark to the product that inspired me initially, the Backenzahn hocker from E15. If anything this was an obvious variant for the Darri family.
- Lastly there is Chuck. My younger son said first off that Chuck looked like a mouse hole from a cartoon. I thought that Chuck looked like a farmer from the deep south of the US. Stocky, solid, wearing a bib'n'brace. This name also was an immediate choice. A reflex.

So now we have the names.
From the first time I started dabbling with the initial design concept of constructing a metal box that is structuraly stable, self assemblable, requires the minimum production, and exploits the power of CNC, I knew that many variations would spring from this well.

The first was actually not the Darri hocker but the Goanna Firebowl base. Take a closer look at the Darri and the Goanna and you will see the relationship.

Well so far all these products were intended for that modern/decay garden where rust is right at home. This is offcourse a rather narrow area to play in.

So now comes the time that I enjoy most from being a designer. The euphoric milestones of new product developments.
Yesterday picked up the first few trial Darri Hockers in gloss powdercoat. These are intended for in or outdoors.

So this is Nora in White.
She also has a KHP white top.
Shortly I will share a few more pics of these painted Darri's

The Darri Hocker

Finally they are here.

Just put the finishing touches to the first series of the Darri Hocker.

There are 5 different versions of the base. I am simply calling them A,B,C,D and E, and there are 4 different tops for them at the moment: a white and natural Kunstharzplatte tops (Im still not sure what this is in English but the best translation I have seen is Resin Laminate ?... anyone?). The natural colour is a nice dark brown which is the standard colour of the edge material. It is a little more sensitive to scratching than the white or the coloured versions, but nice natural look to it makes up for this.
I got the colour chart for this material and was overwhelmed with the choice of colours. At the moment I will only stock these 2 colours and maybe a black one as well, but virtually any colour is possible but as you would expect, pricing in such a case would depend on the amount ordered.

There is also an Oak and a Pine version of a slatted top as well. I have desined the Darri Hocker to be a complete all weather object that is intended to stay out doors year round.

 The overall Hocker is around 450mm high, depending on what top is used, and the top is 300 x 300mm.

This form is also ideal for the modern interior deco. As a bedside table or as an small lamp table in the living room.

Come and visit Yagoona.ch and get one for yourself.

Merry Christmas

Xmas is here!
Merry Christmas everyone.
And wishing you all a more prosperous and peacefully new year.
And remember when pursuing your prosperity, spare a thought on those in the world less fortunate and how your actions may be affecting them.
Someone far away, with a fraction of what you have, may be paying for that bargain you are so proudly boasting of.