Arend's Tamper
a personalized coffee tamper for a barista
Arend's Tamper was designed to be a personalized tool that meets his emotional and physical needs. After observing Arend and coming up with a need statement I sketched based of of three different needs. Arend needs a better way to tamp coffee that reduces the strain on his wrist, to reduce wrist strain while knocking coffee out of the portafilter and A more precise way to steam milk. These needs were paired with insights in order to personalize the product. This led to some interesting explorations and forms.
The first models were made out of foam and matte board. These were not functional but they served as look alike models. The tamper was a bit too sort and thick, the base went to far down and the rim was not big enough to hug around the portafilter. Arend seemed to enjoy all of them but I noticed him lean towards the coffee tamper out of all of them.
For the functioning model I used maple wood and turned it on the lathe. I painted the section that was meant to be rubber and covered the base in copper foil. The rim was just short of resting on the portafilter but it fit in well. Arend suggested making the top of the handle thicker and the bottom thinner.
The tamper was made in three separate components on the wood lathe using cherry wood. the middle was casted into a mold and then casted to a navy blue urethane rubber.The end result was fully functional and fit Arend's needs just as intended. He loved how the rubber felt in his hands and loved the look of the old-fashioned wood.
