This week, British Furniture Manufacturer Benchmark’s resident Fixpert, Maya Alvarado delivers the second sofa fix to The Dingley Centre, puts up a new coat hook for their staff and designs some alternative toothbrushes…
06:20: I wake up in Hungerford and get my things ready for work. Today I will be investigating ways to make tooth brushing a fun activity for Philly at The Old Vicarage care home in Hungerford, so I have bought some toothbrushes and materials to test some new ideas today.
07:30: I arrive at the Benchmark workshop and head straight to my bench. My first sofa went down really well at The Dingley Centre. Abi commented that the children were not slipping off the sofa anymore, as they had done with the shiny fabric cushions – and they also love the texture and colour of the material I had used to replace it. In preparation for delivering my second sofa to the centre today, I apply the final layer of clear lacquer with the spray gun. This will seal the solid beech and provide the right surface for the staff to wipe off pen marks or other spots that might occur. Martin shows me how to mix up the different parts of the lacquer in the spray shop. It has been a while since I used the spray guns at Kingston University and I had forgotten how therapeutic it is!
08:00: Masking tape works as a good seam line marker. I sew the final seams on some of the cushions that will line the second sofa.
09:00: Tom from Benchmark drives me to Dingley to deliver the sofa – it’s a little too big for my bike!
09:15: When we get to the centre, we also get out a beautiful bespoke English walnut table which Benchmark have donated for Dingley to auction at a charity event. The money raised from the event will go towards purchasing specialist chairs and equipment for the children. The team are thrilled with the generous gift!
10:00: It is wonderful to see the children and staff interacting with the sofa. The teaching techniques practised by Dingley are amazing and incredibly sensitive for each child. One example is the interaction with a bubble wand: Louise explains to me that they use ‘hand-over-hand’ which is a way of guiding the child’s hand towards an action. The method of dipping the wand in the liquid is taught and then afterwards the child makes that movement for themselves. I was really interested to hear that if a child has visual impairments, it is crucial to use ‘hand-under-hand,’ this enables the child to follow the instruction by keeping their hand on top of the leader’s hand, but if they do not want to continue they can simply let go.
12:10: I have also brought along a coat hook that I made for the staff room. I had noticed that they did not have one in place, so I made one from some offcuts at Benchmark. I use a tracing paper template to mark out the holes for the fittings on the wall. I use a redhead, which is a threaded metal raw plug, to grip to the plasterboard and receive the screws. The screws, sitting out a little proud, then slot into a hook fixing at the back of the coat hook.
12:25: Louise, the centre manager, comes in to take a look and is really happy with their new space for coats – and it soon fills up!
13:00: Back at Benchmark I have the most tasty chicken salad kebab made by Jo. It feels like summer already as we sit outside in the picnic area.
13:30: After lunch I work on editing some existing projects. When I last saw Daniel Charny, co-founder of Fixperts, he told me about ‘cannibalising’ – the technique of taking useful parts of a readymade product and gearing them to suit your function. I have been in contact with a number of people with arthritis. The problems they have highlighted as particularly tricky include opening bleach bottles and using nail clippers. Both of these actions involve pressurised hand positions and can often cause discomfort. For the bleach bottle opener, I apply some heat shrink-wrap to a pair of nutcrackers. This creates friction with the bottle lid and allows me to gain a grip and open the lid. However, I take note of the position my hand must reach in order to widen the nutcracker, it feels like quite a stretch and may not be the best motion for someone with pain in their hands.
13:40: Instead I try an alterative movement, of opening scissors, and the effort is far less to achieve the right angle to grip the bottle lid. I make a simple mock-up in plywood and use forstner drill bits (hole cutting drill bits) to make openings for the lids to sit in. This is a step in the right direction I think, but it is a struggle to keep this level with the slanted lid and apply twisting pressure at the same time. It almost wants a better locator in the base of each ring to sit on to the lid for stability.
14:15: Still thinking ideas through for the bleach bottle opener, I mock up some alternative nail clipper handles. I am aiming to increase the surface area of the handle end to enable easier grip. I ask Pete to test these out as he is suffering a little from arthritis in his hands and he tells me that the stretch to get around the handles is still a little to large.
14:45: I chamfer (angle) the ends of the handles to make the angle between them lower when attached to the nail clippers.
15:00: With the first quick prototype assembled, I wrap them up and post them out to Mary, the mother of a lady who contacted me through twitter. I am excited to hear feedback and the best way to go from here.
15:25: My latest Fix Partner Philly, who lives at The Old Vicarage care home in Hungerford, really dislikes brushing her teeth. I want to make this a fun activity that she will enjoy. I sketch some different ideas of possible brushes and begin ‘cannibalising’ some shop bought brushes. I am gearing the designs to the behaviour of two habits Philly has, one is placing her fingers in her mouth and the other is pressing her hand in front of her lips. If she would be happy to wear the toothbrushes, she could naturally brush in the same motions she already makes.
16:00: Using the heat gun to melt, bend and fuse the toothbrushes into new shapes, I create four wearable brushes to reach each area of the mouth: front, up, down, inside, outside.
17:00: I am excited to try these with Philly; hopefully she likes them and can have a go with some toothpaste. I run home from work along the canal, the sun is still shining and looks wonderful reflected on the water.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
• A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 24
• A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 23
• A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 22
• A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 21
