Dance

2025


Hatchet as an exploration of beauty.


Designer
Role

Ideation, Model Making, Iteration, Finishing, Surface Modeling
Tools


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001b


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Research

Initial Research focused on two things:

Form experimentation

Philosophical research on beauty

I looked into academic references and tried to get an understanding of what I found beautiful. The project began with making an incredibly simple form:

A cordless wireless hard drive

Incredibly simple to get a rudimentary understanding of beauty. 

Then, I delved into theory:

“Beauty + Desire” by Mark Dziersk

“Beautility” by Tucker Viemeister

Beauty by Sagmeister and Walsh




Examples of Beautiful Objects


Experimentation

Understanding

Through preliminary research, I just began to get an understanding of beauty. It seemed to me that 
Balance
Craftsmanship
Proportion
Energy

were traits that beautiful objects displayed.

Precedence


Making a beautiful hand axe posed an interesting question:

How do you make such an aggressive tool beautiful?

Sketching

Sketching consisted of hand drawing, but more dominantly 3D quick iterations. It was important to see the object in space from all angles to get a true sense of the beauty of the form.

Minimal Viable Attributes

Head

Wedge Shaped
Hard/Dense Material

Handle

Long Enough for leverage
Sturdy width, but not too big
Potential hand stop on bottom

Connection

Sturdy enough to not come apart
Could be unified construction or separate

Conclusion

I was drawn to the bearded form. I found the proportions balanced and dynamic.

3D

Iteration 1

I made the first iteration out of scrap wood. This was not ideal, the material was too dense, but I was interested in the bearded shape.










Iteration 2

Began working with insullation foam. Much easier to work with. Also began using texture. Form was too short and stubby. Texture was interesting, but with the focus being on beauty, I felt texture was a cheat.









Iteration 3

Coming back to bearded form. Form was too short still. Elongating the form will give elegance.











Iteration 4

Began lengthening the form. Head was too clunky for the handle. Proportions look off.










Iteration 5

Form is getting a lot closer to final form. However, the connection between the handle and head lacks. Head is getting much closer to final form.










Iteration 6

Head and handle connection more thoughout out. Handle contours are more thoughout and elegant.








Iterations Side by Side


I used paper templates to help finalize the side profile of the axe

Final Form

Head

The head is balanced with a sharp wedge that curves up and around the top of the head. There is a slight concave surface from the bevel to the back. The head contains a blunt back so that the head can be struck with a mallet to force through tough pieces of kindling.





Handle

The handle is long and sculpted to form the hand ergonomically. It consists of long contoured lines that add visual interest and balance. Connected to the head with a wedge that secures the handle and head in place.

Recreation in CAD


After refining the form by hand, I went back and surface modeled the form using Rhino3D. Recreating the form gave me practice in CAD and made it so that the final product could be manufactured.

Manufacturing this object would include 4 or 5 axis CNC for the handle, forging and shaping the steel, heat treatment, grinding and finishing of the head, then finally attatching the handle and head. 

Reflection

Dance is a hatchet that exemplifies motion and beauty. I was able to dive into deep research about beauty and learn traditional analog skills in finding form. I was able to take this knowledge and adapt it to a modern context, in recreating the form and using AI tools to create the final rendering. I’m proud of the final form and learned a lot of new skills in the process of this project. To see more detailed pictures of the final form click HERE