Like Butter

New Website!

2010-06-02T13:04:00.000+10:00

This blog is no longer active. Please visit our new website HERE!

Ironside Open Studios

2010-05-19T22:51:00.002+10:00

Ironside OS Web, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Like Butter and many of the other Ironside residents will be opening their doors this Sunday the 23rd of May. Join us for a drink and a gander!

Sweet Disposition

2010-03-28T20:43:00.001+11:00

Finally! Director Daniel Eskils has released the Temper Trap video Simon and I worked on in January. Unfortunately it's a US only release so you can only watch it if you install a HSS to block your IP address. It's great to see the final edit but I'd love to see Daniel's cut before the record label had their way with it! Search "Temper Trap Sweet Disposition US release."

UPDATE - Daniel's directors cut is now online.

Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (Directors Cut HD) from Daniel Eskils on Vimeo.

Light MK1 Wall Mounted

2010-03-28T18:46:00.003+11:00

Strictly speaking Light MK1 was designed to be wall mounted. A new colourway is coming soon, think Mini Cooper MK1 in British Racing Green. Meanwhile we still have a few red and black ones in stock.

Still Waiting

2010-03-23T23:13:00.001+11:00

Mirror 2
Originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman

In January we worked in conjunction with Super Electrician Simon on a music video for yet to be disclosed clients. Months on we're still waiting for the final edit to be released! Soon please!! Yes? This was one of the on set highlights...

Routing Again

2010-03-23T23:00:00.002+11:00

Many moons later we have a z-axis again! It's been so long since I stuck a FatMax Extreme through the signal cable that I'd actually forgotten the router could plunge into material under it's own control. Amazing. And very exciting to have a fully operational CNC table again. Cutting some mirrored acrylic for the folks at Moop Jaw tonight.

Stalker Stands

2010-02-22T18:53:00.004+11:00

Stalker Stands, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Julia runs a sweet operation! Her store Dagma Rousset at 343 Sydney Road, Brunswick now features both a kinetic sculpture by our very own Laura Woodward and as of um... December last year, Like Butter's Stalker Stands. Yes, I've been a little tardy on the blog front.

Definitely worth a look if you're in the Sydney Road area and if you're into onesies/jumpsuits I cannot encourage you enough!

Catapult Sundays

2010-01-14T19:29:00.002+11:00

Catapult V.4, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Simon, our friend and extraordinary electrician come artist said he needed to build a catapult or three. We talked trebuchets over coffee. Settled on a Roman Signer inspired collection of anything we could lay hand on. Four metres of spear fishing latex later and we had a worthy machine capable of tossing 50 drumsticks down the local lane way.

In reality we're helping out Moop Jaw, building various contraptions for a music video shoot next week. Fun times!

Like Butter Twenty Ten

2010-01-05T16:48:00.002+11:00

Up, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Turns the 'ON AIR' sign back on.

We've been putting our feet up for a while, as you do at this time of year I suppose. The closest thing to work has been thinking about cable ties and how to use them most effectively in the camp site.

Hello workshop, hello unfinished animation script, hello Kensington. See you around no doubt.

The Butters x

Light MK1 - Limited Stock Available Now

2009-12-18T16:49:00.004+11:00

Light MK1 - Limited Stock Available Now, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

The nylon washers got lost somewhere in Australia Post, no matter, went for a drive this morning and found some more. So with the final parts assembled I am pleased to announce that Light MK1 is now available in both black and red.

Email jem(at)likebutter(dot)com(dot)au for sales enquiries.

Much excitement. Be safe this festive season.

The Butters x

Market Shelves

2009-11-25T15:12:00.002+11:00

Market Shelving, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Custom order for Ink & Spindle to use at the upcoming Melbourne Design Market. The uprights can be moved in relation to each other and the infills can be used at the front or back depending on the setup necessary.

Light MK1 Special

2009-10-30T12:21:00.003+11:00

Light MK1 Special - Commissioned by dad in red. The powder coating has come up a treat and although once dubious about the colour I've come to really like it. These are not far off being available so let us know if you're interested. Colour range to be confirmed.

Cyclic Rack

2009-10-20T15:29:00.002+11:00

Cyclic Rack, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Annnnnnnd in the ground it goes. After a few side walk related delays the Cyclic Bike Rack has been installed by local council. Evan chose a very nice copper with metallic fleck for the powder coat. Zing.

Plasma cut in 6mm mild steel plate, welded to some 50mm OD nominal bore tube and hand finished to remove any sharp edges.

You can find Evan and his well stocked Cyclic on Pin Oak Crescent in Newmarket, worth a visit if you need spoke related pleasures.

15/15 International Film Festival 2009

2009-10-05T09:31:00.000+11:00

Smog - Watch last year's entry here.

I suppose we should add a department to Like Butter with the subtitle of Productions or something similar. Saturday night was Awards Night for the 2009 15/15 International Film Festival and our most recent effort Blink managed to snare 3 of 5 nominations:

Best Animation
Best Script/Story
Best Direction

Our crew of three; Jem and Laura of Like Butter and Sixto of Too Yeah Media, were graciously pipped at the post for Best Film, an award they have taken home in both 2008 and 2007. Just more incentive to push harder next year! :)

Many thanks and respect to the 15/15 crew for running this mad little festival for the last nine years!

PGD and Tilt Trikes

2009-10-05T09:14:00.002+11:00

Post-gargoyle-disorder (PGD) was a killer. Aimless mornings wondering how to cleanup the billion white beads adhered to the walls, floor, ceiling and every pocket of every pair of pants regardless of whether they were worn in the workshop or not.

Aside from the cleanup effort, PGD treatment has included the building of a front wheel drive delta trike with tilt shift steering. Tricycles evoke strong memories of muscle fatigue and wet lycra from high school days racing in the Maryborough 24 hour Energy Breakthrough, so I can't wait to be back on three wheels.

Gargoyle

2009-09-27T17:32:00.003+10:00

See the time lapse video here.

It's been quiet on the Butterweb, primarily due to this Chrysler Building Gargoyle that we spent a solid week and a half on - from framework through to polystyrene and plaster. Contracted and produced by designer Robert Sim this was an absolute monster to complete in time for a shoot in Sydney but a whole lot of fun too. Angle grinding foam with a wire brush to create snow blizzards a definite highlight. It departed in a semi earlier in the week leaving a trail of little white beads that seem to stick to EVERYTHING! One day we might even get to see it on the big screen, who knows.

Cymbal Fixing

2009-09-26T01:04:00.001+10:00

A whole new experience for myself and the router. We fixed a cymbal! Putting a stop to the 15mm crack creeping in from an edge. All very exciting and got me thinking about jigs to fix different sized cymbals etc.

Tumbleweed Lights

2009-09-08T18:17:00.006+10:00

Upon their return from the Melbourne Town Hall for Spring Fashion Week. We were in Sydney at the time and have not yet seen photos but Kate Gaskin told us that;

"they looked beautiful in the Town Hall space and were the perfect accompaniment to the collections."

Thanks Kate for the opportunity and if anyone would like a Tumbleweed of their very own feel free to drop us a line. We're happy to hire too if you're into events and such.

Blink (still) - Nominations

2009-09-08T12:39:00.001+10:00

Blink (still), originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

As many of you will know, Like Butter has paws in more than one pie. Recently we produced, directed and animated a short animation for the 15/15 Film Festival. Nominations have just been announced and read as follows:

Best Editing
Best Direction
Best Original Story/ Script
Best Production design
Best Animation

Our excited crew of 3 will be attending the opening gala at the RMIT Capital Theatre on the 3rd of October where the winners will be announced.

Pearl One

2009-09-08T12:32:00.001+10:00

Pearl One, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

A lamp designed and knitted by Jem Freeman. Another possible addition to the Like Butter line up. Stay posted on warm nights by the fire.

Letterbox and Gate

2009-09-08T12:28:00.001+10:00

letterbox gate combo, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Recently built for Steen Peck Architecture.

Cyclic Rack Draft

2009-08-20T13:47:00.001+10:00

Oh! It's a very small bicycle. Some 6mm mild steel plate we plasma cut last night for Evan at Cyclic bikes in Newmarket. Still got a few scale issues to resolve heh heh.

Light MK1

2009-08-11T20:30:00.001+10:00

Light MK1, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

Product is a happy place at the moment. A simple land of create and deliver. And so, in extension to this idea, along comes another potential Like Butter family member. Still in development on the side but soon to illuminate desks other than my own. Tada.

The Littler Ones

2009-07-23T18:48:00.003+10:00

The Littler Ones, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

UPDATE: This 3 upright model is made to order for AU$574.00

The ex-display set we had at the design market on the weekend this 3 upright version will fit approximately 500 books of assorted genre.

Screen Printing Desk

2009-07-21T20:59:00.002+10:00

Screen Printing Desk, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

A freshly powder coated matte white affair for Susan from Spin Spin. To be squeezed through her door and finished with a heavy 25mm MDF top and storage shelf.

Tumbleweed Lights

2009-07-20T23:07:00.003+10:00

Tumbleweeds, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

UPDATE: Limited stock available now for AU$300.00

Designed by Mez Woodward for Light Butter, we launched these prickly wonders at the THIS IS NOT A DESIGN MARKET on Sunday. An excellent day with a great crowd steaming through the old foundry doors. Thanks to everyone to who stopped by for a chat!

Mattt

2009-07-05T22:03:00.002+10:00

It's late and the router is still warm from a packed weekend of excitements. One of which was machining new Juki sewing machine mounts in some CD ply for Mattt's new retail space on Gertrude St. Opening soon so keep your eyes open. Is gonna be so hot right now ;)

THIS IS NOT A DESIGN MARKET

2009-06-30T19:13:00.003+10:00

Excitement! Like Butter will be performing at its first design market on the 19th of July. THIS IS NOT A DESIGN MARKET is a new market operated by Moth Design and BTTB. Bound to be a huge day of design filled pleasures. Hope to see you there. x

Getting to work

2009-06-30T19:04:00.002+10:00

getting to work, originally uploaded by Jem S Freeman.

When the shop is clean and tidy I love getting to work in the morning. In the foreground is a workbench we're making for Susan from Spin Spin. And lurking illuminated in the machine room is the mighty plasmatron, soon to have her extraction upgraded. More on that later.

Artichoke #27 Stalker Stands

2009-06-13T15:37:00.002+10:00

Excitement! The lovely Kate Rhodes of Artichoke magazine saw our Stalker Stands at Penthouse Mouse (PHM) and has published them in the new product pages of her magazine. And furthermore the double page spread on Moth Design's PHM features large shiny photos of our product that smell of fresh magazine ink and quality stock. We're pretty excited and ever grateful to both Kate Rhodes and all of Moth Design for making it happen in the first place.

Ply Shelving

2009-06-10T22:16:00.002+10:00

Our new book shelves. Designed by Laura and produced over the last few days in those moments of spare time that are so hard to capture. They contain a total of three sheets of 18mm CD ply, very few offcuts and no fasteners. Can't wait to get them home and unpack the books that currently dominate our little living room.

Gong

2009-05-20T09:08:00.003+10:00

Because every good workshop should have a 1200mm gong for bringing home the little plasma creatures. Meep meep meep. This is Ben's creation, our new and exciting employee.

Aluminium is for babies

2009-05-02T12:47:00.002+10:00

A friend's bub is turning 1, so a wax seal is in order. Not the cleanest machining I've seen but I'm reasonably happy. The aluminium burrs up a bit, not sure what to polish it with. Any suggestions?

Throne

2009-04-28T20:16:00.003+10:00

Another evening in the workshop finishing a trade show piece for Volker, such a gentleman, check him out at DesignEX this weekend.

Product Line?

2009-03-30T23:20:00.002+11:00

Oooo excitement. Like Butter product. Yes, I've posted about these racks we designed for Penthouse Mouse before but Moth Design have just posted fresh shots of the event including some very mexy ones of the racks.

Girls just wanna cut shit up

2009-03-30T18:34:00.005+11:00

We were blogged today by the lovely Julia of Studio Home Creative, thank you Julia. Unfortunately in our correspondence I neglected to communicate certain details, primarily the nature of my sometimes androgynous name. Note the URL in the link above. Tee hee.

In other news we've been working our little router very hard of late, cutting compact laminate for Pseudorepublik's Strata Jewels.

I&S Empire

2009-03-29T18:01:00.002+11:00

Those lasses upstairs are at it again - conquering the screen printing world. We made this drying system for them recently. A series of dowel hangers clipped over cables so they can get the wet fabric off the table for the following print run. Tada.

Photo © Ink & Spindle

Hot plate butter.

2009-03-28T15:29:00.006+11:00

That cheeky dinosaur, back again by popular demand. Speak to Sam Stewart from Middle Grey if you NEED one.

And some routing we've been doing for Bonnie of This Is. Once we're done with them Bonnie heat forms these sticks of Corian into trivets for all your a hot pot needs.

Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Opening

2009-03-17T20:59:00.003+11:00

(Photo by Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images AsiaPac)

This might be the closest Like Butter produce has ever been to government suiting. Behind John Brumby is my 40x40 RHS mild steel frame supporting a mega effort by Moth Design in the form of a giant copy of Harper's Baazar. It was another crazy weekend that felt like uni workshop days. It all worked and no models where crushed by our products.

Walking backwards to christmas.

2009-03-11T17:41:00.004+11:00

Tada! We've been busy doing who knows what. Occasionally wishing I just had a 9 to 5 writing up accounts but in between making a whole lot of sawdust. Here some woody wonders we've just finished:

This tree for the wonderous peeps up at Ink and Spindle.

This dinosaur for the talented and unofficial king of file preparation Sam Stewart.

And these racks that we designed and built for the ever expanding Penthouse Mouse by Moth Design.

Thanks to all parties involved! It's been a mad week and a half.

2009-02-06T00:31:00.003+11:00

Like Butter has moved. You can find more from this series in the 2010 Like Butter calendar.

Tradie Trailer Preview

2008-11-13T23:51:00.003+11:00

Finally a bike trailer in the works! It's been staring at me from the wastes of my pinboard for months and today was the day. Just in 1.6mm ERW mild for now but I'd love to get my hands on something thinner for the next one. Another update to come once I've finished the hitch and weighed it.

Hi-Vis

2008-11-05T23:04:00.005+11:00

Oh! Our hi-vis initiation has begun thanks to the local op-shop and my old screen printing gear. All I want now is a Like Butter branded bike trailer and a metal lathe.

R&D Sessions

2008-09-30T23:26:00.004+10:00

Making a mess with some new laminated aluminium products. Good times but I really need to get around to making a bath for wet routing. The latest on the router is that tolerance values are down this week (yay!) to a record 0.2mm on small plastic parts. This was due to a few sessions with a spanner and a bottle of thread lock. Gold.

Dropout Mockup

2008-09-21T17:16:00.002+10:00

Not the machined concept Evan and I were mulling over but an attempt at stainless inserts. It's good to be playing in the workshop again!

Butter Birthdays

2008-09-07T23:26:00.004+10:00

The butter turns one this month. Well, I'm unsure of the exact date but the domain hosting ran out today so that must be of some significance. Happy birthday Plasmatron! It seems like so long ago that we unpacked you from those 16 cardboard boxes in a small shed in Thornberry, only to discover that you sucked a hungry 65 amps of mains electricity, far more than my sister's fusebox could supply. A desperate call to my boss at the time saw use move the robotic tabled infant to a workshop in Brunswick where we worked until skipping the country in December to pursue long lost vikings called Matt. The Plasmatron spent the summer in a dusty bedroom with amazing carpet and a mad landlady to tend to the light globes, only to be remade with extraction and routing capabilities in a studio in Footscray. Trucks, scented air and many happy returns!

On the drops

2008-09-05T21:55:00.002+10:00

It's Evan's fault. I followed dad into a North Melbourne exhaust workshop this afternoon and left dreaming about frame building. All it took was an oxy torch sparking up. Fillet welds, lugs, polished stainless. Oh my. I'll start dreaming about about ex-navy welders soon.

So in explaination - Evan has passed on some ideas for dropouts which I've had a go at developing. These are just initial thoughts so far but critical feedback would be grand if dropout design tickles you.

Routing Ply

2008-07-13T12:04:00.002+10:00

The router has been getting some action of late. These slot-together shelves by Ben are being cut in 12mm marine ply. Clever!

Balustrade II

2008-07-13T11:34:00.005+10:00

The latest in Like Butter's stair-based adventures. A two-story balustrade based on the patterns in dragonfly wings. Designed by Laura Woodward, specified by part-time industrial designer Jem Freeman and cut on the mighty Plasmatron.

New Gates

2008-06-19T13:45:00.002+10:00

Built for the same abode in which we installed the latest balustrade - two matching gates by Laura Woodward.

Saturday R&D

2008-06-07T16:04:00.002+10:00

Back in the shop for some Saturday morning R&D. Textile designer, Lara Cameron, sent us a file ages ago to play with some more detailed router work and I've only just got around to cutting it. Stay tuned for further developments on the router bed.

Chainring bolts

2008-06-06T11:06:00.002+10:00

235 chainring bolts. The ultimate chicago screw. Thanks to Evan at Cyclic bikes for emptying his supplier's stock. These fine little fasteners will be featuring in a new Laura Woodward balustrade - coming soon.

Polypropylene Leaves

2008-06-06T10:02:00.004+10:00

Our first CNC router job - polypropylene backdrops for RMIT Visual Merchandising students. Their work was published in MX on Tuesday June 3, 2008. On the next page was this fine gentleman from Bamakko.

Donna Brown Installation

2008-05-30T20:16:00.002+10:00

Our very first plasma cutting job in November 2007 - an installation by Donna Brown in the Fed Square Atrium.

Don Miller's Balustrading

2008-05-30T18:34:00.004+10:00

"A beautiful sculptured black iron balustrade infuses the space with a dramatic intensity."

The Age 24/05/08

Designed by Laura Woodward of Like Butter fame, we installed this plasma cut balustrade a few weeks back. Don Miller's house has since been written up in The Age (Saturday 24th May, Domain) and we scored a photo and the above quote. Yay for press!

Festo Filters

2008-05-30T13:41:00.002+10:00

New Festo air filters. If only all things were this pretty.