Old Slice

In the first STEAM class of my junior year, Design and Engineering, we are going over what really makes a tool a tool, and all the steps designers have to take when making one. In the first unit of this course, which is called Stronger, the class went over the history of some tools, and we were also introduced to some math concepts that include angles, pressure, force and leverage. For the action project, the class was assigned to work with a partner and brainstorm ideas of how to improve and redesign an existing tool. My partner and I decided to look into the machete. We looked into all the different designs that were available and came up with a better one that would also be safe for an elderly person. At first, my partner and I had a hard time thinking about why an elderly person would even have a machete, but then we also thought about the possibility that they would, and how we could make it easier for them. I'm proud of how my partner and I communicated during this project, and I learned about new steps that could help me in the future when it comes to redesigning something.

JB. Machete. (2015) 

As my partner and I were talking about the machete, we were also discussing the consumers, because we wanted to make sure that we added an element of empathy, which is being able to understand and share the feelings of others. We realized that machetes are pretty dangerous, especially for an older person. As I did research and looked at the ones at the store I noticed that the machetes are just out in a long box and it was pretty easy to just simply take the machete out and use it. Just looking at one scared me, which is why my partner and I decided to give our machete a rubber blade cover. It protects the user from the blade, along with stopping the look of the blade from scaring people away. As I was interviewing my grandpa, I asked him why he doesn't really use tools and he responded by saying that "sometimes they take up too much space and are too heavy." This got me thinking about a way to make the machete lighter. We decided that the handles would have a gel grip handle that would make it more comfortable for the user, and it would also be lighter. We also have a notch for cutting wire and other strings or cords. Other machetes have that feature, but they don't have a button that controls the retractable blade. I did more research and I noticed the curve feature usually makes the price of the machete go up, but that would not happen with ours. We also made sure to add a lock to that button to let the user know the blade won't just come out. Along with the retractable button, we added a hinge so that the user can fold up the machete and put it into the rubber blade cover. It would look better but it would also take up less space. The Old Slice is also a few inches longer in the handle, which means that the consumer would not have to do as much bending or going on their tippy toes while chopping something down. Our machete would be considered a wedge because the blade is used to cut and separate objects. Even though we made the machete more safe, the Old Slice is still able to do all the monster chopping that you need it to do. Below there is a storyboard of the Old Slice.

JB Storyboard  (2015)

JB. Old Slice storyboard. (2015)

RD, Old Slice. (2015)