Core77

Core77 Weekly Roundup (5-26-26 to 5-29-26)

Rain Noe

Here's what we looked at this week:

Sony's personal wearable air conditioner / heater is coming to the U.S.

Architect Paco Martinez's low-tech height-adjustable workbench.

Star-M's substantial No. 4960 edge band trimmer.

SAGA's Transat, a suspension-based outdoor chair.

Sir Jony Ive on designing the incredible UI of Ferrari's new EV.

A handy kitchen doodad for repurposing produce bags to collect trash.

Lije Studio's Pommel stool was not inspired by mushrooms.

Formarkivet's outrageously chunky Cubio, a raw aluminum coffee table.

1x1 Systems' DIY Pylon Lamp gets an assist from the garden.

Japanese design for an alternative, easier-to-install elevator indicator panel. (It's a tiny projector.)

This Gordix tool turns a trim router into a CNC mill.

The Japanese Matte Black Tool Trend Came from the L.A. Car Scene

Rain Noe

Yesterday we wrote about the Japanese trend of making tools with a matte black finish. Today we've tracked down the origin of that trend.

Just over a decade ago Yasunobu Nozaki, the President of Japanese tool brand Fujiya, felt that the market was ready for design-forward tools.

"Around [the 2010s], Japanese manufacturing began to shift away from low-cost, mass-production models, and people started to demand value that brings richness to the heart," Nozaki said in an interview.

"In other words, it is important to create products that are market-oriented, listening to users' opinions, rather than product-oriented, which sells what you have made. That's where design comes into play. We wanted to create products with high brand value, differentiating them with cool designs that users want."

On a 2015 trip to Los Angeles, Nozaki noticed an automotive trend. "There were matte black cars zipping around town, and it was really cool. When I came back to Japan and casually talked about it with members of the design, marketing, and product development departments, they said, 'Let's make a black tool.'"

This was pretty against-the-grain of Japanese tool designs of the time. "In the past, black tools were not preferred among craftsmen. For some reason, they had the image of being cheap, and people preferred colors that stand out, such as red and yellow. [But we felt] black is the representative color of luxury. So, I thought it would be interesting to make tools based on black, and add gold as an accent."

In 2016 Nozaki then launched Kurokin ("Black Gold,"), a sub-brand of Fujiya with its own dedicated design department. Their mandate was to produce cool-looking, design-focused tools.

Kurokin's eye-catching tools became a hit on social media; craftspeople carrying and wielding sexy tools became cool.

Sales rose, and today the brand has over 130 SKUs. For now, at least, the matte black tool trend remains popular.

"Form Follows Fabrication:" This Elegant Metal Handrail by Steel & Form

Rain Noe

"Form Follows Fabrication" is the motto of Steel & Form, a UK-based metal fabricator. The firm employs designers, engineers and craftspeople. "We recently completed this bespoke handrail for a high-end private client, designed to blend strength with understated elegance," they write. "Precision fabricated and carefully installed, every detail was considered to complement the surrounding architecture."

"One of my favourite projects to work on so far," writes Tom, the welder tasked with fabricating it. "It was a challenge to bend and twist the 30mm solid bar smoothly/accurately but I couldn't be more happy with how it looks in place."

Inventive Design for a Drill Bit Sharpening Jig

Rain Noe

Tool retail sites are now flooded with anonymous designs from China. The anonymity is a pity, because assuming this works as advertised, the inventor deserves points for thriftiness and creativity.

Sharpening drill bits is often done at a bench grinder, using a relatively pricey adjustable-angle grinding attachment that you bolt to the bench:

In contrast, this green gewgaw clips onto an angle grinder's shroud, vastly easing set-up:

These are made out of ABS and run $17.50. They're metric only, for drill bit sizes 3mm thru 12mm.

From Japan, a Sexy Matte Black Sledge

Rain Noe

As we know, even tools are susceptible to fashion trends. In Japan, tradespeople are coming to prefer tools with a matte black finish, as demonstrated by this All Black sledge.

Made by tool brand Tsubaki Model, the double-headed hammer features a faceted steel head and a glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene handle.

The hole in the bottom of the handle is for affixing a shackle.

The tool is surprisingly affordable at ¥3,430 (USD $21.50), but we probably won't be seeing these 'Stateside.

W.steps' Adjustable Safety Feet for Ladders

Rain Noe

About thirty years ago, Swedish company W.steps invented the telescoping ladder. Now they've made it a bit safer for use in tricky places, with these add-on Adjustable Safety Feet.

They're a lot larger in person than they appear in the photos.

The feet are on ball joints, allowing them to tackle both level and slanted terrain.

They can be retrofitted to W.steps' ladder in a few minutes.

The maximum adjustment range is 8.6 inches, which is more than enough to handle any code-compliant staircase.

Nifty Hardware: These Quick-Release Pins

Rain Noe

This sexy piece of hardware is a quick-release pin. The ball end of the pin locks into a socket within the latch bolt.

To release it, you press the spring-loaded button in the head of the latch bolt.

Originally designed for automotive applications, you can use them anywhere you've got a panel that you'd like to quickly remove.

Tool Zone sells four-packs for $20. They're availalbe in six colors.

I believe that these were originally invented by Texas-based Quik-Latch.

Students Create a Self-Balancing, Self-Driving Bicycle

Core Jr

A group of freshmen at the Olin College of Engineering built this autonomous self-balancing bicycle:View the full content here

This Gordix Tool Turns a Trim Router Into a CNC Mill

Rain Noe

This Gordix invention, by Taiwanese manufacturer Muherz, aims to offer CNC-mill-like capabilities, without the bulk of a gantry and table.

You drop a trim router inside the object, and then unfurl four belts from its corners. These belts are then connected to the four corners of your workpiece—a 4x8 sheet of plywood, say—and the device uses the belts to sense its precise position as it cuts.

The Gordix runs around $2K for the bare unit (you supply the router). For an extra $500, they offer a lasercutting module and a pen plotter module.

The tool has been a rousing success on Kickstarter. At press time they'd landed roughly $1.2 million in pledges, with 23 days left to pledge. They expect to ship in September.

Japanese Design for an Alternative, Easier-to-Install Elevator Indicator Panel

Rain Noe

Elevator indicator panels take up a certain amount of wall space. Installers cut a hole in the wall roughly the size of the panel.

However, Mitsubishi Electric Building Solutions has designed an easier-to-install solution. Their Projection Lantern for elevators requires just three holes: One for the wiring, and two for the anchor bolts that hold the bracket.

There is no large illuminated panel. Instead, the unit simply projects the desired symbol.

The unit is not an actual projector; it simply projects light through a physical cut-out, displaying the desired symbol.

This means that in order to show both an up and down arrow, you'd actually need two units installed. I'm not sure why they don't show that in the product images.

Core77 Weekly Roundup (5-18-26 to 5-22-26)

Rain Noe

Here's what we looked at this week:

Anker Bak and Takumi Kohgei's gorgeous Gaze Highback Chair.

Renault brings back the canvas roof. A convertible-like experience that's cheaper to manufacture.

Unitree has developed a production-ready mech suit.

Library tables meant to accommodate coffee, by furniture designer Tatsuki Kokubo.

An artist/designer's sick NYC apartment, renovated from maid's quarters in The Dakota.

Form follows function: Gustaf Westman's Chunky Coffee Maker.

An industrial design firm's refillable metal floss tool lands $425k on Kickstarter.

Inside the design of Craighill's wonderful Metrolog Ruler.

Base Case's portable dual 24" monitors in rolling carry-on form is now a reality.

An argument for privacy stamps over paper shredders.

Industrial designer Michael Mahle has developed an unusual wood connection system for flatpack furniture.

Dunnage bags: How the pros keep cargo from shifting.

Smart design for a hose reel with a guide ring.

Impressive shop jiggery for cutting a molding profile into an arched workpiece.

1x1 Systems' DIY Pylon Lamp

Rain Noe

Something you'll find in a European gardening center, but probably not an American one, are these palisade-style landscaping stones.

They're a nifty (and probably meditative) way to create raised beds or landscaping features.

Berlin-based design company 1x1 Systems, which publishes open-source DIY designs, spotted a different use for palisade stones: Ballast. Their Pylon Lamp is a floor lamp that requires one palisade stone to stand.

You buy the pipe and the stone, 1x1 Systems sells the file for you to 3D print the light fixture connector.

Pylon is a floor lamp designed around a palisade stone, typically used in gardening contexts. Any tube material with a diameter from 40 to 80 mm can be attached to the stone, which works as a weight and stand. Palisade stones usually come in concrete and recycled plastic versions, costing less than 3€. The custom 3D printed connector at the top of the lamp adjusts to the tube's measurements and can also fit any E27 threaded lamp holder. Due to a 3D printed ball joint in the middle, directing the light source is highly flexible.

Pylon Lamp costs 30€ and includes a custom print file based on your configuration, as well as a custom manual. It is ready for customization via 1x1.systems and can be previewed in AR via your smartphone.

Formarkivet's Outrageously Chunky Cubio, a Raw Aluminum Coffee Table

Rain Noe

This outrageously chunky Cubio coffee table is by Danish furniture brand Formarkivet.

The fabricators went to great lengths to hide the seams, giving this raw aluminum piece the look of something left behind by aliens.

They also offer it in a powder-coated version, as well as in different proportions…

…but to me, the form wants to be a low square.

These run 15,000 KR (roughly USD $1,600).

A Stool That was Not Inspired by Mushrooms

Rain Noe

This Pommel stool was created by Industrial designer Jens‑Egil Nysæther and architectural designer Line Mari Sørra, a/k/a Lije Studio, a design firm in Oslo.

You'd swear that it was inspired by a mushroom. Instead, the muse was automotive suspension:

Pommel is the result of an exploration of form inspired by the leaf spring. The leaf spring was, earlier, the most common kind of suspension for carriages, trucks and cars.

The duo pushed past the monolithic form to create their Pommel 2.0, which uses less material and incorporates a stretcher with a triangular tenon:

"The decision to use pine as material was not a coincidence," the pair writes. "It's a common conception that pine is soft, we wanted to use this conception to enhance the form by playing with the inherent properties of pine."

The Pommel stool appears to be a design exploration rather than something headed for production. It's too bad Vaarnii doesn't have a non-Brutalist branch.