LG-HIMACS® course

The 25th of november we had our first Solid Surface course at Baars & Bloemhoff distributer of LG-HIMACS® for the Netherlands. For those of you who don’t know what Solid Surface materials are please take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_surface. Solid Surface will be one of our main materials giving us the freedom to create all kinds of free-form jointless products, interiors and objects for our clients. The main producers of Solid Surface are high tech companies like Dupont® and LG®. The material is mainly used for kitchen and bathroom design although we will make custom productions for these markets our main focus is on specialities like freeform elements. Our workshop and machines will be specially suited for taking on these kinds of jobs. Besides the machines the workforce also needs to be specialized. For this purpose we had this first exploration with LG-HIMACS®.

In the morning our instructor Sjaco fed us with all the ins and outs and do’s and don’ts of the material. In the afternoon we had to practice with the material. The main item was to glue pieces jointless together. Ernest turned out to be the best assembler of the pack who after sanding the piece had a perfectly jointless element. This element was polished until it wash perfectly shinning. One of the nice things about Solid Surface is that you can finish it in all kinds of levels from matt or satin to really shiny. If a stain is left on the material you can just sand it lightly and the stain will disappear. LG® gives a 15 year warranty on finished products.

First Machines Delivered

Friday the 6th of november our first woodworking machines where delivered. We had some heavy equipment helping us out with unloading a sliding-table saw, a dust extractor and a band saw. Everything is up and running and last week we made our first production. Later more on this.

I’m glad the workshop is actually producing. On the office side we are still redecorating the place. It takes some time to get it right and to have the security in place. For the time being we use doors as tables, work on laptops and have internet through a mobile internet dongle. It’s a bit of a hassle but it doesn’t spoil the fun.

First assignment in production

Our first assignment is the production of a kitchen, kitchenette and a reception counter for NAD™ who designed a modern architectural office in the north of the Netherlands. The items are finished in a high gloss snow white finish.

Team Complete

Monday we welcomed Wim on the team. Wim is a experienced woodworker who will be responsible for all our woodwork and the constructive part of our assignments. With Wim our workforce is complete. For now Solid Shapes™ is; Ben on CAM/CNC and manager workshop; Wim on woodworking; Ernest on CAD, planning, time-and-motion and woodworking; Sabine as general manager and myself as creative director.

Solid Shapes™ Takes Off

Yes, last monday we started our new business! Unfortunately our renter wasn’t ready with fixing up the place intime. This sets us back a week. At the moment we are very busy making the place feel at home. Upstairs we teared down some walls making our office one big place. On the first floor we also removed a wall making two small offices into one bigger meeting room. The floor of the rooms will be finished with a white epoxy coating giving the rooms a fresh and crisp look (pictures will follow). At the end of this week the first machines will arrive. So next monday we aspect to be working on our first assignment.

Time-And-Motion Man

Last monday Ernest our time-and-motion man (isn’t that a great title? I had to look it up in a dictionary) signed his contract and started right away with preparing our first job. Later more on this. Ernest will be a man of many jobs, besides being a time-and-motion man he will be a planner, technical draughtsman, measure-man on location and if there is time left woodworker in the workshop. So a lot of responsibilities in his hands but I know he 'll cope.

Place of business

This week the contracts for renting our place of business where signed! The place we rented doesn't got the looks but it suits our needs. The workshop has daylight over the whole floor. The office needs some redecorating and personalisation but since this is in our DNA I think we ‘ll get that right. The place is located in Roosendaal which is in the south of the Netherlands. With only one week to go before the first of november the renter has some points to fix before we can move in which I hope he ‘ll have ready by that time. For now I’m happy we have shelter for the coming time. Later I’ll put some pictures of the place on this blog.

Alias Design

Today I had a very good presentation from Graeme & Robin of the UK about Alias - Autodesk. Which I must say is quite a remarkable piece of software. The way you can start sketching (Wacom tablet is a must) and then gradually move to 3D-modeling is unique. Off-course it looks all nice and easy when it is presented to you but I must say I was impressed.
A down side for me is the 90's look of the user interface - Although ... it's quite retro. I personally believe that if they fix this up in future versions they 'll have a killer app.
Nice to mention is that Autodesk (and Industrial design packages in general) is moving up to the Apple platform - they have some nice ideas about user interfaces ;-)

Want to try the software yourself, check out;

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=12268904

Update

The first of november is getting closer and there are a lot of things to take care off in this short period. Just last week I signed the contract for our wood working machines which will be right in place by the first of november. Also last week I signed a contract with Ben the first employer of Solid Shapes™. Ben is a very enthusiastic person who is going to operate our upcoming CNC-machine and will be chief workshop. Ben right away obtained his BHV (first aid and fire security) certificate. Congratulation on that!

In the mean time the legal side of the business is being set-up and should also be ready by the end of this month. The last dot on the i (dutch expression) is being set on the contract for our place of business which should be signed by the end of this week.

Sabine my 'personal organiser' left for almost three weeks to China, talking about timing .... ;-) Where the heck are they when you need them ... just kidding. I hope you 'll have a great time there, I'll manage!

That's it for now.

Welcome to Solid Shapes!

Hi,

Welcome to the Solid Shapes™ blog. My name is Oscar and I'm the founder of Solid Shapes. On this blog you can follow us building our new company. I have a background in design, architecture and marketing. With Solid Shapes™ I want to combine my love for design and construction. Solid Shapes™ is going to be all about producing and constructing forms and shapes for designers, artists, architects etc.

Me and my colleagues will be regularly posting messages on this blog. So if you'd like to see Solid Shapes™ grow up, please feel welcome and pay us a regular visit and find out what Solid Shapes will be all about.

Oscar aka Shaper