project description: develop an intervention with physical touchpoints to mitigate a systemic material waste problem.
project description: develop an intervention with physical touchpoints to mitigate a systemic material waste problem.
Elizabeth Price
engineer | designer |
vinyl vise
A simple, durable & portable method of storing vinyl records
design and manufacturing; BS Biomechanical Engineering - Stanford University
project description: personal design project focused on product design and manufacturing; final product deliverable is up to the designer
design goal: to create a simple yet mobile way of storing vinyl records
learning outcomes: need finding, product definition, conceptual design, detail design, prototype manufacturing
tools & processes: SolidWorks, metal lathe, metal milling, sewing, anodizing
materials: 6061 aluminum, 18-8 steel, artificial leather
inspiration and precedents
At the beginning of my design process, I had an solid end goal in mind, but no clue as to how I would get there. I really enjoyed the idea of a quick and easy method of storing my vinyl records, and I knew other people must’ve had some way of storing their own, so I began searching for inspiration and ideas that would lead my to my final design.
By examining the products that others came up with, I was able to narrow down my focus and answer many of the questions I had about the functionality of my final product and exactly how I wanted it to look.
planning and early prototyping
I decided to go with a simple and subtle design that could be considered casual enough to integrate well into a college dorm room but also fashionable enough to look good in more formal environments.
My first prototype was thrown together using scrap pieces with the sole purpose of conveying the my concept of the design succinctly enough so that anyone who looked at it could easily understand its function.
manufacturing prototype
For my manufacturing prototype, I machined the pin joints (two nut and bolt combos) that the main legs of my product would be rotating around. This joint was the critical feature of my product since my stand was designed to be collapsible, so I wanted to make sure I was capable of machining it the way I had designed it in SolidWorks. At this point in my career, I had never machined aluminum before, so this process was something that required additional planning and preparation. I had to draft the operational sequence I was going to follow on the various machines and research the specific tools and spin speeds I should be operating with.
final product
My final product is a fully-functional vinyl record holder capable of carrying over 20 records. It has an x-shaped aluminum frame that holds a leather sling, and has two handles for ease of transport and set-up. The size makes it suitable for the storage of the number of records I own, and it integrates well into the space it was designed to reside in. While vinyl vise was designed specifically to my personal preferences, it shows great potential for iteration, refinement, and adaptation. It could even be used to hold hold books or magazines if desired.
