Evolution of the Hornsey stool
It was back in June 2016 that I started approaching British manufacturers about making the step stool, and it has taken a year and four months to bring it to market. Here’s a bite-sized tour of the long and winding road:
Original Stool
In the beginning there was a battered old stool, spotted at Wimborne Market by my beady-eyed sister. My aunt bought it for her and the stool was hers. I spotted it at her house and an idea was formed…
Name & Logo
The name came to me early one morning, and stuck. Giggy and Bab were dear great grand-aunts fondly remembered from early childhood. The logo was scribbled out as an idea by business tutor John… that stuck too. Pic shows very first test stamp of logo.
First Prototype
Hmmm…. back to the drawing board, starting with the wood. We need softly radiused corners, roundover routed edges, shallower grooves in the treads, and a honey golden hue.
First Prototype, detail
And while we’re at it, can we get rid of those indentations on the inside of the bends? And flat head rivets please like the original, rather than domed.
Prototype Logo Plaque
Thinner and shinier please, and let's have some nice rivets to fix it on with.
First Stain
Bit Marmitey guys. I wanted honey golden like the original…
Second, third and final stain
…through various shades of Trump’s face, and so to honey golden on the right. Eureka!
Tubes with clean curves
Beautiful smooth curves on 19mm and 22mm diameter tubes, thanks to manufacturer’s ingenious modification of twin head compression bender.
First 10 colours
Powder coated samples of the 10 stool colours. I went for gloss finish, except for black which is semi-gloss, on the advice of Mark the powder coating guru. In the photo the mint green sample is matt, but now it ain’t!
Final Prototype next to the original
It was worth it in the end.
Final Prototype
Final Prototype, detail
It’s an expert hand weld, a MIG in fact, but your stool is TIG welded, a modification suggested by my manufacturer, as TIG welds are smaller and neater.
Ferrules
Feet and tube inserts, collectively known as ferrules. Easy to find in black but impossible to get in white till at last the boys at Vital Parts took pity on me and did a special run, and they matched the depth of the feet on the 19mm and 22mm diameter tubes. Heroes!
Logo plaque
Shiny, wafer thin, hammer riveted on…. that’s more like it! Your stool’s plaque has more softly rounded corners, because that looks even nicer.
