Thanks Anu:)

Anuradha Shankar showed her appreciation for little land and even featured it on her blog. Thank you so much Anu!:)
see:
http://anushankarn.blogspot.com/2010/08/little-land.html

her blogs:
http://anushankarn.blogspot.com/
http://anustoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/

Thanks Deborah:)

News about little land reached France:)Deborah Beau was so wonderful to email me saying she liked 'little land' and would like to feature it on her blog.
Thanks Deborah:)
Seee:)
http://kickcanandconkers.blogspot.com/2010/08/little-land.html#comments

Her blogs are a delight to go through!
http://kickcanandconkers.blogspot.com
http://kickcanandconkers.tumblr.com/
http://twitter.com/kkconkers

i sold a little land:)

sold my first set of little land of 30 little pieces and a base.

MAIS school is considering buying some for their prep classes too!

These will be of various themes depending on their syllabus.

yay!

For anyone interested in placing an order:

nalishachouraria@gmail.com

closeups!

I completely ignored the details on the previous posts! I got a few pieces engraved with simple graphic patterns too! They really surprised me..quite a beautiful technique.

at the exhibit!

The exhibit was set up using white strips of fabric and hanging card that was designed and laser cut. The lights allowed beautiful shadows on the white walls. It looked soooo dreamyy:)

Little land at the exhibit:

The night the toys came alive!

A toy exhibit by the Srishti toy lab that was held at 1 Shanti Road on the 16th and 17th of april! 9 projects were on display, all so different!Was a great success!woohooo

look what i did myself:)box box box

A few weeks back i had gone to Gautam and Lavanya's workshop to make my little land box. I had underestimated box making!0.0 I was there for over 4 hrs. Was tiring but it was a wonderful experience! Although it was Easter, Gautum and Lavanya were kind enough to make time for me and were so accomodating!Each step was shown to me once after which i did it myself!:)

The workspace:

Here they were cutting logs of wood to the required size using the band saw,plaining it on the plaining machine to make it even and smooth and then cutting grooves on the table saw:

Here, the pieces were cut for the sides of the box, then smoothened on the belt sander(scary!),then the edges were cut for the single finger joint on the band saw. After this i chiselled the parts that could not be cut on the band saw and then filed it using a filer. Then the sides were all joined together with Fevicol and stuck on a plywood base. The insides were then measured to find out if they were perpendicular. Once this was determined, the pieces were secured with rubberbands for it to stay in place until it dried up:

Once the sides were fixed well, i had to fill the gaps between the joints. I did this by making a pasty dough out of saw dust and fevicol and applied it using a blade so that it could be pushed through the gaps. Once this dried, i put another layer. Now it's ready to be cut and sanded:

feedback and suggestions on the box!

Once i had the sample box, i wanted to take some advice from someone who would be able to tell me what material would be good for it and also overall feedback and suggestions. So i spoke to John, Gautam, Lavanya, Sudipto. It was sooo helpful!

John: He said that the MDF sample looked the way ti did only because of bad craftsmanship and that it could be polished and finshed to be made to look pretty decent. He said that i should give it to a polisher who would sand,fill the gaps, make it even and polish or paint it, based on the look i want. A wooden box would be more expensive to make compared to MDF. Here are some of the things we discussed:

Sudipto: He explained the whole process of box making so that i have an idea. He also showed me how to do drawings that would make it easier for me to explain to the carpenter. He suggested i work with timber instead of MDF. He also showed me ways to determine and differentiate between the cost of producing a prototype and the manufacturing cost of several units of a product.

Gautam: We covered almost all aspects of the box in our conversation-material,hinges,design,cost, etc. MDF is cheap but cant hold hinges/nails well, cannot withstand moisture at all, not very durable and is not a very child friendly material as it uses glues that are not safe.Also, the lid of the box could fall and jam fingers as it is very heavy and the hinges are such. For this he suggested:

1. The lid could be bigger than the bottom which would make it hard to jam fingers.

2. Could be a box with a lid that can be removed completely rather than hinged.

3. The hinges could be of a better quality, which enables the box to open and close differently(slower) but these hinges would be very expensive.

He aslo said i should find out if there's anything i can spray the MDF with, to make it moisture resistant because even a little bit of moisture can make the MDF bloat.

He also said i should make the grooves much wider.

He said having a table top with grooves would create a separate play space for little land, but a box would allow them to carry it anywhere and play.

He said i should speak to Lavanya as she knew alot about box making and could probably help me make one.

Lavanya: She asked me what i like about the box and what i didnt like about it.

MDF doesnt feel as good/real as wood.

Could look at a different joinery for the corners of the box.

If worked on, MDF can be made to look really nice and finished.

Alot of points overlapped with the points that came up when i spoke to gautam.

I told her i used sand paper to sand some of the grooves but it was taking me too long, so she suggested i use a piece of wood or something solid between the sandpaper which would speed up the process and sand it evenly.

All this information was extremely useful! I will be going to Lavanya's workshop on Sunday to create a box with her. I'll be doing something like this for the first time!Nervous but very excited!:)

sample box/base

I got a sample box made finally over last weekend. I gave it to a local carpenter/furniture maker. He charged me Rs.500 for it(started with Rs.800 and ended up at Rs.500). He said it costs more because he had to buy an entire 8*4 sheet of MDF for my tiny box. I wasnt too happy with the box. I told him exactly how i wanted the pieces to fit in the grooves but none fit. He said the blade that the grooves were cut with, were of only 2mm and 5 mm so he passed the 2 mm blade twice but it still needed to be sanded for the pieces to fit well. It wasnt finished. The box was made with MDF and ply for the base. The hinges were of a bad quality, etc.

another furoshiki technique..neat

http://www.thetintedmint.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=56

little land merchandise?:)

I was just thinking..

little land in the making

I was daydreaming of a finished set of little land..a neat looking box with yummy looking pieces, all packaged in lovely fabric, Furoshiki style (check previous posts on packaging). I could imagine a little brown tag with minimal graphics lasercut..sigh..

I wanted to extend the little land illustration to its branding/identity.

A quick mood board of the colour swatches and what i visualized:

box making

Today i decided on the box for little land. I wanted a box where the lid/top is the little land base with the grooves. I met a carpenter and gave him the dimensions and the specifications. He first said he'll make the box in wood and then attach the grooved surface on the top because MDF may not have a good finish like wood. This would cost me about 2.5-3k!!I almost fell off my chair. Told him that i needed everything in MDF and at minimal cost. I asked him to make 2 different kinds of boxes and 1 of those in MDF and 1 in wood. Lets see how that turns out. Dont even want to think about the cost..ugh..the things one needs to do to make the perfect toy..
Here are the types of boxes:

I wanted the lid to be such that one side has the grooves and the other is plain so that it can be slid open and turned to the plain side when little land is not in use. The box will be used to keep the pieces(little land shapes). The dimensions i specified were:

height= 8 inch

width=11 inch

thickness=1.5 inches(excluding the 1 inch grooved surface)

grooves on the lid:

space between the grooves=2.5 cms

thichness of groove=4mm

This the second type of box, where again the grooved surface itself forms the lid. can be opened and closed but cannot be detached and changed like the above example.

I asked him to work with the same dimensions.

He said these 2 pieces would be ready in 2 days after which i can make changes or finalize before making several units. I hope everything turns out the way i imagine it or better.

MDF it is!^-^

Today i went to the laser cutter again! but returned satisfied this time:) I got quite a few pieces cut today-this time on MDF. I was really happy to see how it turned out!

It cut neatly, although they said it takes a bit longer to cut mostly because of its thickness(4mm). The pieces didn't look as flimsy and breakable as the ones cut in rubber wood.

The cool thing was the burnt edges! When i got wood laser cut, no matter how much i wiped it, some of the black soot would still rub off onto whatever it came into contact with and also it remained half worn out(stains of clack/brown here and there-not uniform in color). Whereas with MDF, when i wiped it once, it would still remain uniformly black but wouldnt rub off.

The pieces look quite nice. I also asked him to cut me a shape from veneer but he couldnt do it for long because the veneer sheet was prone to bending which was causing problems for cutting.

I was there for about 1.5 hrs. I used up a little less than 1.5 sheets(12*24 inches each) of MDF and got about 30-35 pieces.

The negatives of the shapes looked good too. When they finished cutting all the pieces, the brought the pieces and the board with the negative cutouts and to my surprise started fixing the pieces back into the cutouts!They said it was an easy but fun puzzle:D

The burnt edges looked the same before and after cleaning:

The negative cutouts:

moving on...MDF

So after looking at my options, i decided to go with MDF for this stage. In my initial prototype, i used MDF for the base and it looked quite good. Today i went 4mm small size MDF hunting. Every wood vendor said id have to buy the entire sheet which was 8*4 ft for Rs.400 and be a waste since i dont need so much!I finally found someone who agreed to give me the size i needed. He gave me a 4*2 ft for Rs.100. I also need 19mm MDF for the base(he said in that range, either 18mm or 25 mm was available)so he agreed to cut me the required size(which i now need to determine) instead of having to buy the entire sheet.

8*4(4mm)=Rs.400

4*4(4mm)=Rs.190

4*2(4mm)=Rs.100

8*4(18mm)=Rs.1100

MDF is made from wood and other lingo cellulosic material refined into fibre and reconstituted with a resin binder. It's superior edge qualities and machineability characteristics, which combined with smooth finish and superior paintability make MDF ideal for high quality furniture applications. It is ideal for all furniture applications, children's toys, for interior application like snooker tables, paneling, partitioning, cupboards, TV cabinet, etc.

Its major characteristics:

1. Can be shaped, molded, joined, rebated, turned and grooved like solid timber

2. Finely sanded on both sides for easy finishes like painting, lamination, veneering

3. No splinter, free from knots and cracks

4. homogeneous strength in all directions

5. No warping

Tomorrow i'm going to get my first batch of pieces cut in MDF!I hope it turns out okay.

packaging:)

I was thinking of other ways of packaging little land. I was trying to come up with ways to wrap up the pieces in the case of the base being a table top. When i was little(even now!), everytime i bought something new, from a board game to stationary i would be so excited to open it up. So i wanted to add an element of surprise to this 'experience' of opening something new:) I wanted several layers or pockets and this is something i found, very similar to what i was thinking!!

I also tried to do the same with some leftover party decoration-stips of colored crepe paper just to get an idea of how it would shape up with pieces of such varied shapes and sizes. i did a quick version:

veneer marquetry!!

During my visit to several wood shops i saw long thin wooden beadings. These had some designs on them. It wasnt the design that caught my eye but i was curious to know what technique was used to do that. They said they didnt know how but just that it came like that from China!Just today i found out what its called and how its done!Its called Marquetry and its beautiful!

Marquetry is the art of inlaying different woods, and other natural materials to create a picture. To inlay is to set a material onto another surface, but recessed in so that inlayed material is at the same level as the surface. Most of the time the inlayed material is wood but it could be ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shells, bark, straw, stone, metal, gems, etc. All the peculiarities, grain, knots, defects, etc. are used in the overall effect of the picture. Marquetry is often found on the finest furniture. It has been around for thousands of years, and today is considered something of a dying art. Making these beautiful pictures is a long tedious process. Each piece has to be cut out with the utmost attention to detail. Then they have to be assembled, recut, and so on. For the finest works of art 10,000 man-hours is not unheard of. The pieces are normally cut a variety of ways. For thin wood veneers, a sharp hobbyist knife is often used. Various types of copping and jeweler saws are also employed, but most modern work is done with an electric scroll and band saws, routers, lasers. The process of picking, cutting, placing, and gluing can take forever. The majority of people who do this, do it as a hobby!

just when i thought everything was sorted!

Unbelievable but it happened!I spoke to John yesterday:)I explained the concept behind little land and spoke to him about the problems related to wood and lasercutting. He said that there's a possibility of any wood breaking, not just the finger jointed rubber wood. He said that plywood might be a good option at this point.

About laser cutting,he said it is the best option as the CNC tools are a minimum of 3mm thick which wouldn't cut details like laser cutting. I also spoke to someone else who does laser cutting in Malleshwaram. They said they charge between Rs.8-12 depending on the material. They can only cut a few types of wood and only upto 3mm. So im going to stick with the other one(Vinayaka Laser cutters). Today, I visited some wood shops and they all said its very hard to cut any wood to 4 mm, so plywood(both sides same) or vineer(they suggested the one with teak wood laminate on one side,plain plywood on the other) might be good. I visited alot of places looking for the ideal 4mm waterproof commercial plywood. None of them seemed to have it, they all said it was very rarely used, it started at 6mm. But they did say i could find it, and it would cost anywhere between Rs.25-35/sq ft depending on the type, which would be a little more than Rs.1000 for the available size!UGH!

By the end of this 'spree', i narrowed down to 3 options:

1. Plywood - (if 4mm is available and it a smaller size than 8*4!)or cheap looking plywood(not water proof) which will be much cheaper(around Rs.350) for the entire board.

2. Vineer - I can get any finish i want on one side(oak,teak,etc) and plain plywood on the other side. This might be an expensive option, unless i go to a whole lota wood places and ask them each for the same sample..collect enough for my toy.

3. MDF - not a very good option as the edges will definately fray while continuous sliding,fixing,removing from the grooves of the base and its certainly not waterproof BUT this is easily available and cheaper and might make a good prototype.

first batch laser cut

Yesterday i went to get the pieces laser cut. There were a couple of things that went wrong:

1.Apparently the pieces that i had got cut earlier, were not uniformly cut except for 1 slab. Before cutting, they need to set the thickness of the material and so many pieces wern't cut due to variation of thickness of wood within the same piece!

2.Also some pieces were harder than the others because of which it took longer to cut a piece which meant it burnt it alot more. Some pieces were cut alright but due to the burn, there was black soot around it. This looked really nice BUT it would start rubbing onto anything it came into contact with. So i tried using sand paper to sand off the edges to make the pieces cleaner and less messy.

3.Also some pieces which were a little delicate, along with the heat of the laser, began to bend the wood. I paid Rs. 150(which is the minimum cost) for the pieces i got cut. This cost varies with material and time it takes to cut it.

but the ones that were cut well, looked yummy:) The negative shapes looked really good too and could be used as stencils , window frames etc.

I think i might look at using plywood again.

Edges after cutting, covered in black soot:

The edges after sanding a little:

The negatives:)

ready to cut!

I made 3 panels with vectors of the shapes i want to get laser cut. This had to be only outlines(no color fill) and in coreldraw or an eps format, which was compatible with my laser cutter. The dimensions of each panel were the same as the planks of rubber wood i got cut earlier(65cm*10cm).These pieces were 4 mm thick. I placed it in a way i reduce wastage and get the most number of pieces from each panel!

wood warping and distortion??!

Woodworkers call the change in shape of a piece of wood warp. And it takes several common forms, all of which distort the wood.
1.Bow, describes the lengthwise curvature for board-end to end along its face.

2.Twist, means that all of a boards corners won't lie equally flat.

3.Crook, all the curvature runs end to end alone its edge.

4.Cup, is when a board no longer flat from edge to edge. Cup always occurs in the opposite direction of a flatsawn board's annual growth rings.

Although not a distortion like any form of warp,

5.Checking refers to the Small splits along the grain. You'll most often see checks in the ends of boards but they can occur on surfaces too. This is due to the fact that wood dries 10 times faster along it length compared to drying across the width.

wood defects!O.o

I saw various defects in wood during my research but didnt really know what all of them were called except for knots and splits:)i came across these terms:

Knots are limbs separated from the tree trunk during tree growth.

Wane is bark on the edge of a board.

Pitch Pocket is an opening in a board containing pitch.

Splits is the tearing apart of wood cells due to improper storage or handling.

Checks are the lengthwise separation of wood due to shrinkage.

dry wood?

There are a few other concerns i need to think about since im working with wood..ugh!..I remember Gautam telling me it takes almost a month for a wood to completely dry, due to lack of time i should look for wood which has already been dried.

Water occurs in wood in two places, First, theirs the free water that fills the inside of the wood cells. That's like water in a bucket. Second, water also infiltrates the cell walls. That's called bound water. Imagine squeezing a piece of cotton Cheeses cloth until all the free water is drained away. The cloth though, remains damp because the material continues to contain moisture-the bound water.

When wood contains bound water its is said to be in its fiber saturation point. And the bound water can be eliminated completely only by drying it. Somewhere with no relative humidity, as in an air-tight oven.

Wood likes water, wood rates as a hygroscopic substance. Thai is it has ans affinity for water and readily absorbs it as a liquid and vapor. This ability directly deepens on the humidity of the surrounding atmosphere. therefore the amount of moisture is wood changes as the humidity changes.

The term Kiln-Dried means that wood moisture was removed in a chamber where air circulation, humidity and temperature were controlled.

joinery techniques

I wanted to make the base of the little land bigger than the initial prototype where the base was 9*9 inches. I realized that the surface area was too small to build upon. Nikita made an observation at Jaaga where i exhibited little land, she said when kids played with it due to the small surface area, they began asking her to hold the pieces separately around the base, trying to expand the area. So i thought of things:

1. Having a base the size of a small table so kids could sit around and move fix many more pieces and freely move them around.

2. Have 2 or more small bases (maybe 10*10 inches) which can be fixed together to create a larger area. So for this i have been looking at a few joinery techniques:

1. Butt Joint

For this common and simple joint the end of one piece of wood is simply placed against the adjoining piece, forming a right angle. The two pieces can be fastened with screws, glued or dry dowels, or sometimes staples.

2. Box Joint or Finger Joint

Connects two boards at the corners. It is very strong and is often utilized in boxes, such as blanket chests and jewelery boxes, because of its decorative look.

3. Half-lap Joint

It is merely the process of joining two pieces of wood together by removing half of the width from each board so that they completely overlap each other when joined. A very strong and very visually appealing joint.

4. Doweled Joint

It is merely a butt joint that uses wooden dowels to help align and strengthen the bond between two boards. Often times a doweled joint is made into a very visually appealing joint by passing the dowels completely through the side piece and sanding them flush with the surface.

5. Spline Joint

It is achieved by inserting a strip of wood into two corresponding grooves cut into two matching boards. A spline joint is often used to strengthen a butt or miter joint and can add a lot of visual appeal by using contrasting colors of woods.

6. Doweled Joint

It is merely a butt joint that uses wooden dowels to help align and strengthen the bond between two boards. Often times a doweled joint is made into a very visually appealing joint by passing the dowels completely through the side piece and sanding them flush with the surface.

7. Rabbet and Dado Joints

These are simple joints that create an incredibly strong bond by inserting one piece of wood into a groove or channel in another piece of wood. This joint is the backbone of cabinet box and bookcase construction.

8. Raised Panel Joint or Frame and Panel Joint

It is the primary method of constructing cabinet doors. Each panel consists of two vertical stiles running the complete height of the door, two rails that run the overall width of the door minus the width of the two stiles, and a center panel. This joinery technique creates a large panel that is unaffected by environmental changes, because the center panel floats between the rails and stiles, and is able to expand and contract without affecting the other pieces. There are hundreds of different router details that can be used on the rails, stiles, and doors, to create a look as fancy or as simple as desired.

9. Mortise and Tenon Joint

It is one of the strongest and most widely used joinery methods in woodworking. The joint is simple, it merely attaches two pieces by inserting a tenon into a mortise, but there are a multitude of applications and variations that are employed throughout woodworking. This joint is a staple in the building of chairs, tables, cabinet doors, and paneling.

10. Miter Joint

It is a simple and easy way to connect any two pieces of wood together at any angle necessary. Simply cut each edge to half the overall angle and join together using glue, nails, or screws. The miter joint, like the butt joint, is not very strong, but is quick and simple to make.

trial!

I made vectors of some shapes that i will be giving for laser cutting tomorrow as a trial batch. After this ill know if the proportions work, the amount of detail i could give, the cost etc. Once this is determined, i can go ahead with the rest! This is one step closer to making the final prototype!yay!:)

handscapes!

A littler version of little land that can be worn on a finger!:)‘Handscapes’ are the creation of jewellery and product designer Zelda Beachampet. The design features
small individual rings that each have a different icon on top. Depending on the order and position of the
rings different landscapes are created. The rings come in preset arrangements or the user can pick their
favourite three icon s and make their own personal handscape.

Rings by uk-design company Soop