Comments on: Lampshades from Coffee Grounds

By: N Jaya Chitra

N Jaya Chitra — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 17:34:43 +0000

good job, what about the impact strength.

By: Clay Alchemist

Clay Alchemist — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:48:18 +0000

That’s definitely true. I would hope he runs tons of experiments to see how it holds up before selling them. It’s a really novel idea, but I wouldn’t appreciate buying something that only lasts a year or two–it would be wasteful.

By: Clay Alchemist

Clay Alchemist — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:45:57 +0000

Wonder if it lets out a nice aroma when it gets hot the first few times….haha.

By: MAKE | Your Comments

MAKE | Your Comments — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:01:34 +0000

[...] the article Lampshades from Coffee Grounds, user trkemp writes: One of the questions I have when I see a “new” material, like wood putty [...]

By: Tim_C

Tim_C — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 15:19:57 +0000

Definitely going to try and replicate this. I was thinking garden pots/citronella candles. I reckon if you mixed it with bentonite clay and compressed hard enough you would get some fairly long lasting pots. Or a natural resin. To stick to the green theme you would have to use an organic based binder.

By: Poet

Poet — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:40:58 +0000

Looks like they may have borrowed from the folks who make the logs out of coffee grounds.

By: Poet

Poet — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:30:17 +0000

It looks to me the patented process is called a heated pressure vac mold. Suck the moisture out and you have hard material left. could also be simple dehydration for the same relative effect.

By: trkemp

trkemp — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:04:30 +0000

One of the questions I have when I see a “new” material, like wood putty made from coffee grounds, is: what is the long term stability and safety of it? Will it retain it’s color? Will it disintegrate? I know that as a child I often built things out of unconventional materials. When I went through boxes of my old stuff from my parent’s I discovered that many of my early creations looked awful or were falling apart.

Just because this is “patented” doesn’t mean that any long term testing has been done on it. Will it out-gas something when the light bulb warms it up. Will sitting in the sun make bits flake off and fall into your Cheerios.

Using traditional materials and finishes may seem less wonderful in some way, but you know what the end results will be.

By: CG

CG — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:20:44 +0000

The good thing about a patent is at least (in theory) you should be able to go find the patent, learn how it was done, creatively engineer around the claims, and go on about your business, which can’t be said for trade secrets. While technically using the art described in the patent for personal use is infringement, (if you are in a location under the jurisdiction of the particular patent authority) you probably won’t have someone knocking down your door because they saw your fancy new table lamp through your front window. If you post about somewhere, say, on a DIY website, you may draw attention however. A quick search of the USPTO and EPO didn’t find anything for Raul Lauri yet.

By: mpechner

mpechner — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 20:09:03 +0000

I have the same problem with this. Although, some people patent just to keep control, not to make money from people or prevent others from doing it. More to keep the trolls from patenting it first.

Lets hope this is the case.