Mar.28, 2013

Back in Nov. 2012, industrial designer Samuel Nelson Bernier created a beautiful lampshade serie, and it was started with a broken IKEA lamp. Core77 made a post on their blog about this project and in the end of the article, the writer (Ray) made a suggestion:

"Where Andreas Bhend's recently-seen IKEA hacks included instructions à la the Swedish furniture giant's pictographic booklets, Bernier has seen fit to customize a part of the whole. But if they're disparate yet equally creative approaches to DIY making, perhaps the next step is for the two to join forces: Andreas, if you're reading this, we'd love to see you guys collaborate on a series of IKEA hacks with bespoke 3D printed parts and instructions..."

That is exactly what Andreas Bhend and Bernier is doing now. Andreas, an industrial design student in Baden, Switzerland took the train to Paris to meet Bernier, who works full time for le FabShop, a 3D printing startup in Paris. Triggered by the idea of working together, they spent two days and a half working on a cute project: hack of IKEA's Frosta stool. "Ikea products are simple, affordable and, most of all, they comes already disassembled!" It provides a great chance for hackers and makers to create something new based on these design.

Here is their story:

This project has a lot of improvisation into it. When they decided to work together, Samuel and Andreas still didn't know what they would do. Andreas had made his marks with the IKEA's Frosta. A 10€ stool that was inspired by Alvar Aalto's classic. Samuel, on his side, was famous for his use of affordable 3D printing. The idea for a Draisienne came from thin air. Or maybe the wheelless bicycles young children ride on Paris's sidewalks, inspired Samuel. Few details were decided when Bhend brought the stools to Paris. The assembly, the wheels axis and the final proportions were all left for the imagination.

All these choices were made while manipulating the industrialised parts. They only tools they had were a drill, pliers, a metal saw (not appropriate) and … a Makerbot Replicator 2 (from le FabShop). There was a debate about what colour to choose for the printed parts. Since yellow didn't have enough contrast and blue was a little bit boring, they chose orange, a reference to Bernier's Project RE_.

While making the Draisienne, the duo realized how a great "father and son" project they had created. Almost better than the tree house or the soapbox car. Building something as a team is one of the greatest feeling you'll ever experience. It is even more important when done with a parent. Bernier still owns a wooden plane he built with his grand father when he was only four. To make the wheels, the old man reused an old Tonka truck found behind the barn. This probably was the kid's first experiment with upcycling. Objects that were hand made always carry a story. They are kept longer and often stay in the family. The act of making revives your self-esteems and gives you something to be proud of. To make is a therapy for the soul.

(Images credit: Samuel N. Bernier and Andreas Bhend)

You can download the 3D printing files for DIY Sled and a Draisienne bike on Thingiverse and a nicely made DIY manual on Instructables. If you don't have access to a 3D printer you can order the parts directly from LeFabshop here.

 


Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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