TESTING THE DESIGN AND THE FINAL PRODUCT

Originally the design of the chair was to hold the required weight, through testing, I found that the legs were tending to split and flare out after a certain amount of weight, therefore I decided to add 3 lengths of rope to connect the three legs together, thus the tension gets spread around evenly through each leg and it all holds together.

Final Prototype..

MODEL PROGRESS

First four layers of veneer..

Up to 11 layers..

Final 15th veneer..

Used pine wood filler to fill some of the gaps and give an even layer around the edges. Followed by giving the whole chair a few coats in exterior satin varnish to seal the timber and further weatherproof.

 Drilled holes into each of the sides and using 8mm rope to pull each of the legs together, therefore minimising the chance for the legs to pull out when weight is applied. The knots that were tied into each end of the rope were then strengthened by applying resin.

The final outcome of my stool prototype..

PREPARING THE JIG

Illustrator file set for laser cutting..

Laser cut result

Built jig

Design Development

Final design development

Front and side view elevations and stackable mechanism

1:1 Facade of chair design

Model progression

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Material Experimentation

            

 

Experimenting with 0.6mm bamboo veneers. Layered thin strips over in a spiral form, held quite well and a very light resolution.

    

Stainless steel, has a great aesthetic and properties as a durable material, aside from the fact that it is such a heavy material. Very strong, but not suitable for a lot of use for this project.

 Aluminium is a lot more flexible and easy to work with and a lot lighter.

RESEARCH PART B: MATERIALS INVESTIGATION