I have a New York design collection.
The other day I was thinking about a new motif.
You may know there are many food trucks in New York.
Hot dogs are a very popular snack.
And almost 100% of them sell pretzels too.
The pretzel is originally a German baked pastry.
In the 18th century, immigrants from Germany introduced the pretzel to North America.
In the 20th century, soft pretzels became popular thanks to mass production methods. Street vendors started to sell pretzels on street corners.
Maybe this is a New York motif too?
I sketched some pretzel shapes.
Realistic ones, narrow ones, heart shaped ones...
I also drew several designs that showed different dough thickness.
This time I posted a survey on instagram.
My first idea was C.
Even though only a few people chose C, kept thinking about that one.
Because we often feel positive about our first idea.
B is modified into a heart shape.
This was also an option.
But A was the most popular, chosen by 58%.
So this time I decided to make pattern A.
(Thanks to those who participated in the survey!)
I attached the design to a metal sheet.
Using 'Elmer's no-wrinkle rubber cement', I glued the tracing paper to the surface.
This glue doesn't make any wrinkles on the paper.
Then I drilled holes.
I mostly used a 0.7mm drill bit.
When you drill, if the drill bit is not exactly vertical, it easily breaks.
Using these holes, I started to cut with a hand saw.
I started from the smaller area.
The saw blade is also very breakable if not used at a right angle.
I used to break saw blades often when I changed direction at sharp corners.
In fact, cutting metal doesn't require power.
It only needs the weight from one's arm.
I finished cutting it out.
I filed the edges and adjusted the shape with a small file.
This process takes more time than cutting the shape out of a metal sheet.
To be continued in the next article...