Assembling Coil
Monday, July 6th, 2009A few weeks ago, John and I dropped by to see our friend Craig exhibiting at the Guerrilla Truck Show in Chicago’s West Loop area. In spite of the pouring rain, we had a great time seeing the exhibits, and I walked away the proud owner of one of Craig’s recent designs, the Coil Lamp. After a few weeks of ignoring it, as I was busy moving into a (totally awesome) new apartment in Pilsen, I finally found a few free minutes to assemble it.

Raw materials
Starting off, I gather the necessary items: lamp with signed dedication, 100′ extension cord, CFL bulb OMG DO NOT USE A INCANDESCENT BULB (the instructions clarified that no fewer than three times), and a beer. My suggested pairing for assembling Coil: Goose Island Summertime. The crisp finish accentuates the sharp, precise laser cut of the clear acrylic form of Coil, and they’re both made here in Chicago.

Instruction manual
The instructions are detailed and nicely illustrated.

The raw form of Coil

Unravelled cord
My only mistake was not taking enough time to straighten out the coiled cord, which was pretty gnarled up, which caused me to have a bit of trouble getting a really smooth, even “coil” on the form.

First step

First few spins

Flipped per instructions
Notice as the beer is slowly drained, the sign of real progress on any project.

Ta-da! Completed Coil

In situ
There you have it, an assembled Coil Lamp. At this moment, it is sitting in the window, casting a cool, fluorescent glow on the streets of Pilsen. More photos of the experience are online over at Flickr.