How to prototype live hinges

Many times I have a design that I want to have a live hinge. The easiest way I have found to prototype live hinges when making working models is to slot thin strips of polypropylene into slots cut into my model.  By drilling holes first, then cutting a slot leading into the hole, I can easily control the depth of the slot and also have a means of pushing the polyprop hinge out if you want to make adjustments. Its important to select the right saw blade thickness to polyprop thickness (I find a junior hacksaw blade works best) and then double the polyprop up.  For added security you can also push pegs into the holes.  In the images of a pan lid locking handle (above) and clothes peg (below) the main material used is beech wood, with pieces of bamboo skewers used to lock the polyprop in place and pull the hinge taught on the clothes peg.

Model making is not really a hobby, more a way of life. I'm always looking for materials to store for future models.  I have boxes and boxes of plastic parts and scraps of material, it becomes habitual to look at everything I am about to put in the bin, just to check if I can't think of what it could be useful for.  So recently I have become very interested (possibly slightly obsessed) with the packaging that comes with raw meat.  The plastic boxes that hold your chicken thighs and wings are full of amazing patterns, useful for all sorts of model details, handgrips, watch straps or if you have kids, making superhero body armour.  The possibilities are endless, (I wish I had found this when I was working on the head lamps for my car) just make sure you wash it thoroughly before re-use!

Advice to product design students - you won't realise how lucky you are.

The university I went to had a fantastic wood working machine shop, with table saws, lathes, bandsaws, thickness planers, mortisers, circular sanders, routers etc you name it, it had it.  There was a metal working shop with 3 different types of welders, various saws and tube benders, metal cutters and metal lathes. A huge ceramics area with everything for slip casting, throwing and glazing, with a kiln our tutor rather worryingly told us could fit the body of a large man standing up! It had vacuum forming machines, an enormous ply laminating machine, a spray booth with water wall (that I managed to flood on 3 occasions). The list could go on and then, I graduated.  I was fortunate enough to get 3 months in Italy working for a design consultancy as part of an exchange scheme.  Their office was in an apartment block and they didn't have a workshop.  In stark contrast to university, cardboard, wire and a pair of scissors was about as good as it got.  Then I worked in a consultancy in the uk and was lucky that they had a work bench and a bandsaw in a garage.  

My point is, if you are in university and like making models, make the most of your time there as unless you are very lucky, you will probably never be able to get your hands on as good or varied equipment again.  Also, what I didn't appreciate whilst I was at university was the amount of time I had to use and gain experience on these tools.  The majority of students in university have soo much time to focus on design, even if they think they don't.  What a luxury having the amount of time I had then would be today.  The older you get the less time you have, even if you are employed in design there isn't the time to spend days playing around making models.  I don't yet have a wife, kids or a dog and finding any time is still a struggle.

watch - sneak peek

So as I may have mentioned, here is the first sneak peek at a series of watches I am currently working on.  I'm a great believer in balancing details when designing a product, so if one area is complicated, another should be clean etc.  With this watch, as the body is very plain, I thought the strap should be interesting.  As a quick concept model it's ok.  I'm a great collector of stuff for model making, so the watch strap is made from the packaging you get when you buy a supermarket chicken (in the Uk) for the Sunday roast - it looks quite good on the wrist and the chook was delicious!

Model makers curse

I love model making, but have to admit that following a recent discussion in the forum pages of Core77 it can get me into a lot more trouble than creating my designs using CAD on a computer would. At the moment, no one in my house is able to find a working pen, because I've had most of them for either their springs or to use the tops as buttons in models. Each time I want to photograph or video my designs, I have to clear all the furniture from the lounge (our largest room) and lay boards down over the carpet and a big sheet of paper.  This means no one can get to the tv for a few hours, which causes all sorts of disputes. I have boxes of bits and pieces, materials etc (it will all be useful one day) getting in everyones way, but I can't throw them out because I know I'll need it as soon as its gone. The car is currently in the utility room because there's no where else to store it, which is not going down very well as its in the way of the washing machine and I built most of the car on the dining room table, so no one could use it for anything else for about 2 months; there were lots of complaints about that too.  The model making life is not stress free, but making the most recent model of the car is nothing compared to the grief I got when I made 'that kitchen!'