CHAIR DESIGN
Entry 11: Progress
3/25/21
This week, I finalized my chair design and shrunk the semicircular holes that will significantly ease the manufacturing process, which you can see on the right. I also decreased the slot width for the cotton webbing from 1 inch to 3/4 inch, since I decided 1 inch was a bit too wide and did not conform to the edges of the seats well.
Entry 10: Progress
3/22/21
Over the weekend, I used SOLIDWORKS on my computer to finalize my chair design. Essentially, I added small .3" semicircles to the interior bores that the chair features that would otherwise be difficult to machine and require manual chiseling or jigsaw-ing to repair.
Entry 9: Weekly Progress
3/16-3/18/21
This week, my progress was limited because I had no access to SOLIDWORKS at school, but I was able to load some files on Inventor and AutoCAD to loosely test how to arrange parts on a 2x4' sheet of plywood.
Entry 7: Weekly Progress
3/12/21
This week, I tweaked my chair model so I can begin manufacturing when I come back to school next week. The original design was a bit too large for a 2x4' sheet of wood, so I shrunk the height of it, as shrinking the legs would make the chair too close to the ground.
Entry 6: Weekly Progress
2/26/21
This week, I created a 3D printed study model using a simplified version of the CAD model I worked on last week. This model was partially successful, as I was able to put the model together using the arrowhead joints. However, due to 3D printing's inaccuracy, The arrowheads did not snugly fit in their slot. However, when CNC'd, these parts should fit better. I plan to make a better test model of this joint next week.
Entry 5: Weekly Progress
2/26/21
This week, I created a first iteration of the CAD model.
Entry 4: Weekly Progress
2/12/21
This week was a week full of sketching, CADing, and erasing, but I got a lot done. I made sketches trying to decide what my final design would be based on, and I figured out how I want to specifically design the necessary joints. Below is a compilation of the progress I have made.
Entry 3: Sketching
2/9/21
Freehand sketching chair designs. I am trying to incorporate design elements from the two chairs that most spoke to me: the Pentagram Flat Pack Chair and the Hans Wegener Butterfly. Both have very angular designs, but the Wegener incorporates contrast with a curved seatback and back legs. My priorities are to incorporate the curved elements with angular without getting to complex in design -- quite a challenge.
Entry 1: Preliminary Research
There are many chair designs in the world, but I wanted to focus on researching more casual, relaxed chairs. Several designs piqued my interest, but the most significant one was Design 5 on the document below: the Pentagram Flat Pack Chair. Its stance reminds me of the non-CNC chair in design 3 by Hans Wegner, though the Pentagram is made with mostly flat parts and is joined using very interesting techniques which I hope to look more into in the near future...
