Stacker

What started out as a need to be able to store and file 5.25″ media (CDs and DVDs, no floppy or zip disks) turned into the motivation to design something more.  The self-imposed design constraints were that it would be easy to assemble, disassemble, require minimal tools, use materials at hand, be aesthetically pleasing, and reconfigurable.

I should probably own up to the fact that I did arrive here by way of at least temporarily shelving the a scaled-down reconstruction of Brancusi’s Endless Column.  That project had way too much geometry going on to get right with my current CAM and CNC skill sets.

After doing a lot of thinking and cutting of paper (by hand) I set my design into Illustrator and burned a few permutations in cardboard with the laser to test the fit and geometry of the pieces.

I obsessed on the idea that one section could be used without nails, glue, or other adhesives, and that it would interlock with like pieces to make a final structure.  There was something about Malevich’s aesthetic that kept coming around while I thought and worked.  The past continues to inform and direct my present….

After the design was settled, Courtney Nadine Coleman doggedly attacked MasterCam and transformed my DXF into a design we were able to mill on the Techno CNC machine at ITP.

After cutting the boards, I took them home for Thanksgiving and much to the consternation of my family, spent two days sanding them into submission.

Once cut and sanded the units needed to be finished.

At Eric Hagan‘s suggestion I used paste wax. Unfortunately I forgot that the compound uses petroleum distillates, which meant working outside and leaving the wood to dry out of doors as well.  In addition to the leather gloves worn to protect from splinters, I chose to wear plastic gloves as a liner since the leather quickly became saturated with the petroleum compounds.