Gareth Ladley's 3D printed bespoke kitchen tools for chefs to revolutionize idling kitchen technology

Sep 19, 2015 | By Tess

Gareth Ladley, a master in Industrial Design from the Central Saint Martins University of the Arts London, has focused his work on the concept of idling technology and has potentially found a way to minimize technological obsolescence using 3D printing technology, at least for in the kitchen!

aerator, for making froths and liquids

Idling technology is defined as any technology that goes unused for most of its working life – things such as drills, lawnmowers, and various other motorized tools that spend most of their time sitting in drawers or garages could be considered idling technology. In an effort to minimize idling technology in the future, Ladley has come up with Auxiliary tools, which are tools that can operate with shared components and can be utilized using the same motor.

spinner, for rapidly turning sauces and caramelized sugar

potato lathe

His recent project, Auxiliary tools: Industrial Gastronomy, is comprised of a set of analogue kitchen tools made for a specific chef, Diarmuid Rogan, and which can all be operated using a shared central hand tool. His current collection of tools, which were developed primarily for molecular gastronomy, include an aerator for making froths, a plate spinner for sauces or caramelized sugar, an electric egg spinner to scramble eggs in the shell, and a lathe for sculpting and peeling vegetables.

The stylish, but simple white and metal kitchen tools are made using metal and some 3D printed parts, using an Ultimaker 2 3D printer. In the video below, you can see them in action as a chef prepares a crème brulée desert inside an egg shell.

Ladley's Auxiliary Tools project is not restricted to the set of tools he has designed, however, as he hopes that in the future industrial kitchens will begin to introduce designers into their staff, who will work with the head chefs to design and create tools to fit the specific kitchen's needs. That is, he intends for industrial kitchens to take on the role of a workshop in a sense, in which the necessary tools for completing kitchen tasks can be designed and manufactured within the kitchen environment itself.

Ladley explains that the idea behind his project is that kitchens will be equipped with affordable tooling machinery, such as laser cutters, soft metal fabricating tools, and most importantly 3D printers. With this equipment, along with the central hand motor tool that Ladley has designed, designers can collaborate with chefs to make customized and upgradeable kitchen tools at a moment's notice.

Ladley's project Auxiliary Tools: Industrial Gastronomy is a step in the right direction for both sustainable and customizable manufacturing. By making tools within industrial kitchens using affordable manufacturing machinery such as 3D printing, and by making the tools in question usable using one, open source, hand held motorized tool, Ladley hopes to work towards eliminating idling technology for good.