A couple of weeks ago we saw an amazing machine: The Thread Wrapping Machine! Tickled by curiosity we caught up with the designer behind it Anton Alvarez and asked him a few questions. Hi Anton, tell us about you and what you do? My name is Anton Alvarez, I am a half Swedish half Chilean designer that grew up in Uppsala, Sweden. Before starting my BA at Konstfack I was studying cabinetmaking in the deep forest of Swedish Dalsland in a school dedicated to craft called Stenebyskolan. I will graduate from the Royal College of Art at the end of June 2012. After graduating I plan to set up a studio in London. My work is about designing different types of systems, creating tools and parameters for producing products. What is the thread wrapping Machine? The Thread Wrapping Machine is a tool to join different types of material with only a glue-coated thread to bond it. By using this construction method materials such as wood, steel, plastic or bricks can be joined to form objects and spaces. I wanted to create an externalised joint, that would enable me to combine a big range of different materials that normally would require very time consuming methods of jointing them together. At the same time a decorative pattern appears with the different colours of the thread.   What inspired you to make the thread wrapping machine? In my first year at college I spent a period of 120 days of experimentation, which led up to this machine. I started from nothing; and during the 120 days I combined different material, ideas and methods, creating a log of experiments presented in my book 120 x 120. The pieces of furniture produced with the machine combine many of these experiments and the machine was something I had to build to be able to continue with the experimentation. The book 120 x 120 will be possible to order through print on demand in the near future. Was there any setbacks in building your own machine? The only set back in the early version of this machine was that the threads kept on jamming and breaking. And after a while the power drill that I was using at the time to power it, got overheated and broke down. But mechanically the rotation worked out fine and it worked above my expectations. The second version of the machine had a bigger diameter where I could feed through the material to be jointed. It also coated the thread with the glue in the wrapping moment and I manage to overcome the problem of the thread snapping. The new machine also had a bigger more powerful engine from an industrial sewing machine, and is much more durable and still working fine.   Last but not least, what is your thoughts on affordable design? Fore me to design a tool like this is partly to become independent, so that in my practise I can work freely and develop the full potential of this particular process. I want to be able to afford to create new ways of exploring making processes without any pressure from a manufacturer or industry. I have complete control over the development of the machine, I can freely experiment and develop it according to what I discover are my needs in this new craft, the Craft of Thread Wrapping. The Thread Wrapping Machine from Anton Alvarez on Vimeo. See more of Anton Alvarez on his website: www.antonalvarez.com

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT: JAMES CHAMPION & MäRTA THISNER

POSTED BY: THE POUNDSHOP