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My Primary Roles: Physical Prototyping, Pattern Making, Metal Casting, Machining, Woodworking
Digital Tools: AutoCAD
Project Context: Design & Manufacturing Project at the Product Realization Lab (PRL)

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Stand By Me

Designing and creating a Fender guitar mount @ the Product Realization Lab

Stand by me serves as a guitar mount that takes advantage of the signature geometry of Fender Stratocaster headstocks. It uses two headstock structures to stabilize and mount a guitar onto a wall.

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Background Story:

My guitar teacher once told me, ‘keeping your guitar outside your case will encourage you to pick it up and practice more’. I followed his advice, and realized a tad too late that placing my guitar precariously, without any stable support can be largely detrimental; my first guitar (thankfully an inexpensive one) snapped due to no support structures outside its case. Ever since, I made it a point to always use a guitar stand regardless of how menacing and unappealing they may look. Now that I had the chance to design and create a product that means a lot to me, I thought I would make a companion of a stand that is as appealing as my guitar itself.

The name Stand By Me is a reference to legendary Ben E King's song of the same name.

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Prototype Creation:

In order to create my prototype, I used a bandsaw and circular sanders to make the two wooden, Stratocaster headstock-shaped holders. I then attached them to a wooden backboard using wood screws and a hand drill, and joined a carved, (largely) cylindrical wooden piece between the two holders for increased stability. I used nails and wood glue to hold the cylindrical piece in place.

There were several learnings I took note of as I created my prototype out of wood. Firstly, I would need to decrease the length of the headstock projections; given that the actual guitar would be placed only at the ends of the projections, the moment of force about the point of contact between the base and the projections would be high. Decreasing the projection length would reduce this moment and increase product stability.

I specifically chose the design of the Jimi Hendrix tribute Stratocaster because of its geometry and large curvature - things that would allow a guitar to be placed with stability. However, I realized that I don’t need all the breadth that the original shape has, since this breadth was unnecessary added weight. To account for this, I reduced the dimensions where there is no contact with the guitar, so that the overall weight of the metal was lowered and there was less load on the wooden base that runs perpendicular to the headstock projections.

The final product would have wood-metal interactions, so the joints would need to be changed accordingly. I planned on having a tapped hole in the cast piece (headstock) and a clearance hole in the wood in order to screw the two together from the back of the wood piece (face that is in contact with the wall). With regards to the type of wood to use, I considered using two american hardwoods (one dark and one light) to create a striped design while the metal I used was an aluminium alloy, something that is both light and durable.

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Manufacturing Process:

In order to take this stand from the prototype to the finished product stage, there were four major processes to complete:

1. Pattern Making: Creating the pattern board for the cast mold
2. Metal casting: Pouring aluminium alloy into the mold
3. Machining: Creating the tapped holes and smooth finishing on the headstock surface
4. Woodworking: Creating a sturdy and aesthetic wooden base for the stand

I documented each of these processes through photos, as has been presented below.

Pattern Making

Metal Casting

Machining

Woodworking

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Finished & Tested Product: