Buying products that reinforce your geek credentials usually involves a trip over to ThinkGeek, but for once they dont have the geekiest item out there in a specific category. In the area of footstools, that award has to go to Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.
The 555 Footstool is a typically functioning footstool, but it looks like a 555 timer chip. The chip dates back to 1970 when it was first thought up by Hans Camenzind and Jim Ball. It contained around 20 transistors, 2 diodes, and 15 resistors, but we dont expect the footstool version to have the same configuration inside.
As for what the chip was used for, the Apple II used one to allow up to four joystick to be connected, as did the IBM PC. Two 555 timers were also used in the creation of the Stepped Tone Generator, otherwise known as the Atari Punk Console due to its ability to create sounds reminiscent of the Atari consoles from the 80s.
As with all tech, theres still a following for the useful 555 timer chip, and what looks to be a yearly competition to boot over at the 555 Contest site. This years winners included a 555 adding machine, 555 servo controller, and a 555 AM radio.
Regardless of your interest in the actual chip, you cant get much geekier than a timer blown up to the size of a stool that uses its 8 pins for legs. Its constructed from plywood and has been scaled 30x from the original meaning it measures 12.5 inches long and 8.5 inches tall.
Using a CNC router the different shaped parts were made from an original datasheet for the chip. They were then glued together to form what looks to be a very strong construction that could handle even the heaviest of feet. After a primer coat of gray the stool gets several layers of black paint for the main body and silver on the legs. A frosty matte clear spray finishes off the look. As for the writing on top, a laser engraver was used to scratch off the black paint to reveal the gray primer layer (clever).
Heres a scale comparison using the original chip to give you an idea of how much bigger the stool is:
At the moment there are no details as to when the 555 Footstool will become available to buy, but surely it must happen so geeks everywhere can put their feet up on such a fitting stool.
via Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories with additonal information from Wikipedia
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Tags: Geek, Geek Footstool