This is a picture of my friend’s house. He needs two lamps for writing and for doing his homework, one in the ceiling, and one being hammered and installed on the table. Why he needs those much light sources? Is this a waste? Alternatively, is this a culture of Hong Kong?
Further Survey:
This survey has been done to find out deeper and more about the views of customers about the ideal lamp. I would ask approximately 20 people and find out things that are more specific about the lamp.
The questions are as follows:
- What kind of design of lamp do you like?
- What kind of material do you like to make the lamp?
- What color of light do you prefer?
- What are your major concerns when you buy a lamp?
Results of further survey:
- What kind of design of lamp do you like?
- What kind of material do you like to make the lamp?
- What color of light do you prefer?
- What are your major concerns when you buy a lamp?
Research materials:
- Different types of woods and boards
OAK is an expensive material and is used in for making quality, expensive furniture. Steel fittings such as hinges will stain oak so it is important to use brass ones. It is a type of hardwood.
MAHOGANY is quite expensive and is used for good quality furniture and hardwood windows. It is light brown in colour and more difficult to use compared to pine. It’s also a type of hardwood.
PINE is a relatively cheap wood used in the building trade and for furniture. It is pale in colour, quite easy to cut and shape, and machines relatively well.
2) Manufactured boards
BLOCKBOARD is built up with a core of softwood strips bonded together with adhesive and covered with a sheet of plywood on either side. Used as a building material and for furniture manufacture including fitted kitchens / bedrooms.
CHIPBOARD is made up of small chips of wood bonded together with resin and formed into sheets by compression. It is not as strong as plywood and block board but it is not expensive. Chipboard is often covered with a plastic laminate or wood veneer and used in furniture.
HARDBOARD is made from wood fibres that have been pulped. The pulp is put under pressure until the fibres bond to produce a tough board that is smooth on one side and rough on the other. It is not as strong as the other boards.
MEDIUM DENSITY FIBRE BOARD (MDF):
A quality board, relatively cheap. This board is composed of fine wood dust and resin pressed into a board. This material can be worked, shaped and machined easily. Paint can be applied to it without the need for an undercoat or primer. Used in the building and furniture trades.
PLYWOOD is made from veneers (plies) of timber with each grain layer being at right angles to each other and bonded together by resin and pressure.
- Plastics
Acrylic: (Known also as PERSPEX) This is the most common plastic in a school workshop. It is purchased usually in the form of sheets and comes in a range of colours. It can be translucent (e.g. smoked), transparent or opaque. It is resistant to most acids and weather conditions.
Polythene: Can be moulded into almost any form due to its excellent moulding qualities. Used for the production of bottles, bowls, toys, tube etc... It is available in large sheets. There are two types: High density which is rigid and hard, and low density which is tough and flexible. Machine parts are generally made from high density polystyrene whilst bottles are made from the low density polystyrene.
Polyvinyl Chloride: Better known as PVC. It is a tough material which can be purchased as a hard material or alternatively a flexible form. It can be welded or bonded with an adhesive. It has a range of uses including water pipes, raincoats, long play records, coating on electrical wires and many more.
- Other metals and alloys that might be used
Aluminium: It’s an alloy mainly containing aluminium. It’s ductile, soft, malleable, machines well and very light. It is mainly used to make window frames, aircraft and kitchen ware.
Mild steel: It contains mainly iron. It’s Tough, high tensile strength, can be case hardened and rusts very easily. It’s used in general metal products and engineering.
Researching joining methods:
HALVED JOINTS
Cross halving joints are probably the most simple of joints to mark out and cut. They are used whenever it is necessary to join two pieces of wood that cross over each other. Sometimes these joints can be seen on the strengthening rails of tables and chairs.
MORTISE AND TENON JOINTS
‘MORTISE AND TENON JOINTS’ are used when making tables or cabinets and they are very strong when glued together with either PVA or cascamite adhesives. There are many different types of mortise and tenon joints. The Plain Mortise and Tenon joint is very common and is widely used for the joints of tables. Although it is quite strong, if enough force is placed on the joint it will eventually break or come lose.
DOVETAIL JOINT
The ‘DOVETAIL JOINT’ is very strong because of the way the ‘tails’ and ‘pins’ are shaped. This makes it difficult to pull the joint apart and virtually impossible when glue is added. This type of joint is used in box constructions such as draws, jewellery boxes, cabinets and other pieces of furniture where strength is required. It is a difficult joint which requires practice. There are different types of dovetail joint and when cut accurately they are very impressive and attractive.
SHOULDER/LAPPED JOINT
The shoulder or lapped joint is very common and is used for furniture and box constructions such as jewellery boxes. The joint to the left is a simple lapped joint. The shoulder can be seen clearly, this is usually planed using a rebate/shoulder plane or combination plane. This type of joint is often seen as a corner joint.
Research existing products:
ALÄNG
Table lamp
ÅRSTID
Wall lamp
BASISK
Work lamp
BAROMETER
Table lamp with 2 shades
ANTIFONI
Work lamp
Analysis of the product:
In the first survey, most people said that they use lamps for writing, working or studying, and also many people uses it in study rooms. At the same time, from the second survey, the most interviewees had chosen white light, and most interviewees had also chosen modern style of lamp. Moreover, most of the people are concern about the price of lamp. This proves that Hong Kong people are very materialistic and practical, as from the Hong Kong Journal, which states that “The Hong Kong people are getting more and more materialistic. They are thinking about the actual uses and the cost in prior rather than their design.” Because of that, I decide to make a product that is suitable for the Hong Kong market, which is for writing and working. It has to be in modern style, very durable, and not too expensive to meet the requirements of Hong Kong people.
For materials, I decided to use pine as the base of materials, for cost and supply reasons, since the cost is quite cheap. Secondly, a lamp similar to the ANTIFONI lamp can be made since it’s easy to make and this suits the wants of Hong Kong people.
Specifications:
- Time-scale of production: I had set up the regulations of this factory that it takes approximately 5-6 hours to make a lamp.
- Purpose/ Function: This lamp is made for the uses of writing, working or studying, because Hong Kong people are very practical.
- Size and weight: The joining part of the lamp from the base to the light bulb should be about 35cm. If this rule is followed, the small differences in weight wouldn’t matter much.
- Target market: This product is for all age groups, especially for the youngsters, because they need to study, our lamp is designed for studying. It is also designed for working in front of computers and its product market is the middle-aged group. For the elderly, the advantages for using our lamp are that our light bulb is brighter than the others.
- Durability: The life of the light bulb is about 1/2 year when it’s being frequently used. By counting in the damage of exterior components, such as shrinking from woods, its life is only about 1/3 year. However, the lifespan wouldn’t affect the design.
- Aesthetics: The joining part of the lamp from the base to the light bulb should be painted in yellow. The colour of light liberated from light bulb is white. A design of writing symbols should be stuck to the joining part but still create a smooth surface.
- Materials: Pine, aluminium, MDF, polystyrene, wires and light bulb. There needed to be no sharp edges at all, since part of the product market is for children. The aluminium needed to be nicely polished and smoothed by glass paper. The wires needed to be kept secretly in a place where it’s difficult to be identified just be glancing at it.
- Costs: My prediction for the average revenue of my lamps is $45 each, which is quite low, because the costs for buying the raw materials, such as MDF and polystyrene, are not too expensive. However, I can guarantee that the products are finished in high quality.
Production Plan:
-
Cut out a piece of MDF with dimensions 20cm ☓ 12cm ☓ 3cm, by using a tenon saw.
- Use a plane to smooth the edges and then use a glass paper to obtain a nice, polished MDF.
- Use a hacksaw to cut out a piece of aluminium.
- Drill holes to the aluminium bracket by a small pilot drill.
- Countersink the holes by using a big pilot drill.
- Use a mallet to bend the aluminium.
- Drill holes to the piece of MDF.
- Add color to the MDF by spraying paints. Wait for 1 or 2 hours for it to dry.
- Use screws to fix the position of the aluminium bracket and MDF.
- Cut out the joining wood of the lamp, in which length=30cm, width=4cm.
- Use the nails to attach the aluminium to the wooden stick.
- Form a plastic cover for the light bulb by putting polystyrene into the vacuum former.
