An account of the final hours of furniture design...

 After the mould was freed it was time to flatten the design in solidworks and get the template cut out. I had bought a high quality trimmer bit, having delusions of grandeur that it would run easily down the side on a top bearing, maknig the cut out fast accurate, easy and safe.

 what a mighty wrong decision. I was pissed off, wet, and covered in mud. I had been building in the mud all day at work and i came to school with the project due the day after and with a firm inflexible idea of how to do this lost all sympathy for the process. i was stressed and the results were dismal. above is a photo of no les than three dangerous kicks from a trimmer and 20 mins of clmaping, jigging and cursing. This was with the sharpest the router piece would be as well. By the time the end was near it would be beyond the abilty to cut. After the final dangerous kick i pulled my head outa my butt and remembered to relax and start listening to what it wanted. I dotn smoke but if someone offered me a cigarette i would of taken it.

 I have a deep contempt for jigsaws bu they really came to party. The first one was a beat of a machine on its final legs; the gearbox sounded as if there were hungry rocks in there. Was licky enought to come across a fresh hitachi, well know for good jigsaws with a straight base and a good blade. It was teh obvious choice all along. My desire was to create and effortless piece of funrniture a nd so far it had been, but it my mind i ahdnt allowed for errors, which the trimmer idea was. The jigsaw revived the faith in myself and confirmed that the key was stay chilled and toy around with different methods. 10 mins later the jigsaw was safely cuttin g all the scrap way, and much more accurately than i though it could. A good lesson. It ws accurate enough tio actualyl get up to the scribe line and feel that a good sanding could finish the job. I dotn like furniture with overly safe eges or overly sanded surfaces. Its very apparent when somne decided to sand because that was teh only way left. here it was apparent, but given the circumstance, it realyl was the only way left. With dull edge and over bullnosed edges, done with a trimmer, the stool finally was coming to an end.

 It gets the sit test, and performs well.

 Its due in an hour, and there is a hole in the side where i made i mistake with the trimmer. with the chair to soft and floppy it feel it needs some hard edge, some colour and a touch of personification. After meeting an inspiring person the day before with a big story i name it after him and badge the chair in his honour. Even with only about an Inch of bearing wood it still feels stable. I dotn have time to glue it so the perspex it sits there by friction only. I have 3 kinds of finish for teh final touch, but its too late. It misses out on a water based crytsal clear finish, chosen not to yellow the timber, and misses out on the sure fire beeswax touch too- there is not even time to rub it down. Im happy with it tho, and relieved its a strong as it is.

 If i were to make these for some money i would refine the process. I also would refine the design. Im fairly sure i could drop a layer of wood, reducing it from 16mm to 12mm. it woudl save a days gluing, and also reduce the weight by 400 grams. I would also veneer the top, or play with printed plywoods. i would also like to rebate designs into with leaf, or detail the edges with acrylic strips, to play with the distances that i feel vaulted legs do quite well. I woudl also like to do a super thin model, with carbon fibre layers in between 2 layers, resulting in an 8mm chair, weighing under a kilo. All in all, moving away from being taught how to make stuff to aking the material how it was to be made has been a fun and encouraging experience. I fully intend to delve deeper into this rabbit hole. A big thanks to Ian for he Superb teaching during the semester, and a sharing of his enthusiasm and knowledge. Im also appreciative of the understanding he showed during my time away from class for personal reasons. A truly awesome unit, i wish Swinburne held more classes like this. Woo!!

Thanks again.

Ciao.

A QUICK APOLOGY REGARDING THE GRAMMAR...

This work is posted from my solidworks computer, which has a disastrously amount of fluff in the keyboard, and a slightly different layout on the keyboard, compared to my mac, which i normally use which has a much flatter keyboard,,,,,,resulting in some terrible reading and punctuation....I can spell. I promise. But after proof reading and realising the mistakes, but unable to Edit, i aske you to use your powers of deduction and logic and correct the error on my lazy behalf.

Thanks.

 UPDATE; I rushed to school after work, with stool in the back strapped to the mould still with straps keen to butcher it and peel it off its form.

 There was alot of waste, which i wasnt happy about, and was a little made at myself for not refining it, but it still was only single sheet 8X4 sheet.

 Here is a great over exposed shot....its meant to capture the amount of waste. the form is purposely built 100mm to long in every direction. This allowed a number of things, such as a good footprint for the router when its needed to cut, flexibility of choosing the better piece of the final  form if some glue didnt stick, and the option of tacking the edges with screws and still not mucking up the final layer if it was needed to get the curve, which it was/

 After cutting off the unglue layers, about 50 mm set in from the edge i could take the screws of the first sheet out, which held it while i put the second layer on....i was nervous to see what the actual final join would be like, but it turned out to be top notch, And i was overly stoked. Had that been messy and loose i would of suffered a mood fouling bout of the shits. Seeing that this was the first time i had ever done this i was stoked at the result, and grateful for the luck so far...

 One screw was burried in a place that i couldnt get to, but being in a offcut area of wood a hole saw was called in to remedy the problem, liberating the from from the mould without hassle..

 some sweet bends and it loosens off nicely. It probably flexed out 10mm either side from the tension, increasing the size of the footprint, but not too bad.

 Happy kid

Whoa! Hot dog! It takes the load with ease...100kg applies and no sweat. It feels sturdy and its ergonomically comfortable straddling it and sitting normally. The arch feels nice and the butt is held well. Im really pumped now. The thing i dislike the most is the simplicity of the shape, but hoping once its cut into shape it will become more interesting.

Tech Specs

I also did some research looking at weights of materials. Using solid works i looked up the assumed weight of the proposed design. It comes in at about 1600 grams, but that was for using beech. Hoop pine wasnt a default setting in solidworks, so i did some research and found that hoop pine also weighs the same as beech. This allows for some added strength down the line should it need it, either some extra veneer, or some aluminum. It also leaves room for veneer.

 Here are some more variants of the stool. This one is winning so far. Wide at the top, it offers strentgh ass well as i like the look. Its missing something however. It would help if i could visualise the finnished surface, as the shape should complement the finish. with time dissapearing, and the weather pissign rain, with high humidity, im not so sure about trying to get this laquered before wednesday at 12.30. for some intuitive feeling, that is really affecting my decision on which shape to cut. Its awesome to be in the process of making something, and knowing the procedure is flexible enough to accommodate change with ease throughout. That is rare in the construction of anything, and i think that is quite cool and win in its own right.

 Another variant. Personally i dont like it, but it maintains interest far more successfully than the one above.

 These are the dimensions of the inner line of the stool. all the variants pictured can be built of this drawing.

 I like this one. The little nodules cut out at the top lengthen the legs, and are cut in a way to reduce fatigue. It also has the nice effect of lifting the seat further from the ground, and it seems to find pleasing stance easier. Its alot weaker than the one above. Once the mould comes out a dry ill flex test it, and if it feels strong, ill consider this look.

 A brutalise flat nosed version of the one above. Weaker again.

 Another cool one. Strong as an ox its called the austrian tank. I like the common sense of it. But it seems like something you would find in a barn in the alps or a primary school house of the Austria. It doesn't connect to my original brief of capturing the language of a lonely bovine beast, meandering in a herd. Still to be considered.

 MMMMM. Not sure. If the structure was built in less lazy and mechanical manner, and with more love, such as real wood, and steam bent oak and some nice dovetails, id consider this, as the interest woudl be there. This is too void of something. Still dit it, a little bit sentinel like.

The fatty. This guy has been muching dortios and wathcing too much late night telly, his waist line growing as a consequence. Heavy in top, and gaunt in the legs, hes a top heavy cat that cant connect with balance.

Start of prototyping.

 This is the beginning of the form  that will shape the main structure. Over the top will lay thin ply laminated together, with stock standard interior aquadere. I would prefer to use an exterior + PVA but a 4 litre container will cost 50 bucks. After reading glue reviews interior should suffice, with a proper join being stronger than the wood fibres themselves. Here is the mothership template that will be used as a template for the others. I cut them out with the bandsaw and cleaned them up on the vertical sander. A CNC cut out would be better but the red tape and line up kill any sense of connection to the prodcut and process, and frustrate the hell out of me. 

 Here the other templates are cut. They all sit within .5mm of each other and it took about half an hour. Now im pumped. Anticpating a slow workshop start in the morning i went to bunnings the night before and bough some 12mm no structural ply for 20 bucks to get into it quickly.

 By Lunch the form is built. It need slight adjusment to get all planes matching nicely. Its important the planes are flat. Any discrepancies will end up fouling the following wood and concentrating the load on that particular spot, causing both cracking in the veneer, and causing a warp in the plane with a tiny vault. With pva being a close proximity glue with no expansion capability voids between veneers are a big no no.

 Top rails will make sure the tensioning straps will stop the veneers deforming when under load. sheets in the face will also keep veneer at the desired plane.

 I got some hoop pine A-C 4 mm sheet. The line up for the rip saw is large. I nab the festool track saw instead and get dirty outside in the rain.

 aforementioned rip sheets. The workshop staff are really advising to go with 1.6mm sheets. I reckon i can get away with 4mm. With sheets costing the same despite their width, i cant afford buy 3 times as much. It also boosts the drying time and the weight. To boot, i believe the 4 mm will give a better vaulted line, with less sagging than a thinner sheet. They then tell me i have to wet it to get that radius bend. Now i feel like an arrogant dick,  but i get feeling the sheet it doesnt come across as a timber that wants to be bent or soaked, soaked especially. More plys of the same sheet width would be good, but its not on hand. I suspect the thinner plys, and ther extra layers would make for a more tangible sheet. Birch would be better, and i assumed teh workshop would have some as its a common species, and more durable and more tolerant of abuse than hoop pine, and if i do this again ill source some of that. Simiular cost as well, and just as renewable. (  I think)

 With hesitation and a quiet confidence i start trying to get the sheet over the form without snapping, and without steam. It takes time but with straps and some screws its a goer. Its slow and tense, and there is alot of load on those straps.

 Slipping boards under helps concentrate the load on high spots. it also allows for adjustment without taking of the straps.

 The layer is on. Now with a better substrate and an increased radius ( anticipated dimensions are 440*420*400- Increased because of the unusual ergonomics of the design) its now not as foreboding to lay the next piece. The next piece is balanced on centre aqnd on top, allowing stresses to flow feely out down either end without being concentratd in the chair, resulting in less deformation.

 Screws are kept relaxed so the wood feels loose in the bend, but still maintains a cetral postiona and the sheet parallel to the vault line.  

 A test at 10 pm informs me that i dont have enough chocks for between the straps and veneer to get the preferred glue contact. Its worth waiting till the morning to go and get more ratchet straps and chocks. I drink scotch and listen to the rain instead, And watch some HBO deadwood before crashing out, defeated but the flex of the sheet.

 Glue is now being applied, but only to the inner 450mm. The outside is left glue free so i can trim it a certain depth and strip the wood easily, allowing access to the screws under making easy reuse of the form if the prototype works. The glue is painted on with a brush, and really worked into the fibres.

 Some delam is evident during the clamping process, but with the actual piece wanted being 75 mm set in, im hoping that the contact there, which i cnt see is good. There is so much pressure on the straps that the ratchet is maxed, and the form is deforming.

 Some solid connection here, Im hoping this is what is happening internally.




More pics coming soon.
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CAD DESIGNS.

CHAIRS IN WOOD, ABOVE, AND DIFFERENT MATERIALS BELOW.  BOTH CUT OUT AND FULL MODELS.  THE CUT OUT MODEL IS A GOOD BASE FOR FURTHER ALTERATIONS TO THE SEAT DESIGN. ITS ALSO MORE ERGONOMIC. THINKING ABOUT EITHER HANGING FABRIC, EXPRESSED COPPER/ METAL (WEIGHT ISSUE) TUBES AS RAILS, OR TRADITIONAL SLATS OE EDGE APPROACH. TIME TO CHAT TO IAN.