Auxiliary Tools

Auxiliary Tools is a project that investigates "idling technology"—technology that is unused for most of its time—and explores how design can address this issue, particularly through 3D printing.

The project operates on two levels. First, it looks at how kitchen products can be made more sustainable by sharing components. Second, it explores the role of digital manufacturing in the kitchen. In this context, a designer collaborates with a chef to create new kitchen tools, using a 3D printer as the primary tool for production.

The hand tool is the core power tool to all the objects. By having the power supplied by one object it limits having idling technology in the kitchen. Idling technology is defined as technology that sits around doing very little for most of its life. In Rachel Botsman's book 'Collaborative Consumption' they point out that average drill have a lifespan of only 13 minutes per year.

The objects created were created by insights gathered from shadowing a chef. The tools which include a vegetable lathe, an aerator, an egg spinner, a potato lathe and a surface spinner. The objects are formed by soft tooling methods including metal forming and include 3D printed parts.

PROCESS

Early motor experiment . Agile prototype.

Home experiments with vegetable lathe and surface spinner. A cordless screwdriver and dremel drill provide power to the units

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