Laura's Laneway Project

Sunday, November 7, 2010

prototype development

final design

technical drawing

construction of prototype

This is the 400mm x 400mm box I made to mould my stool design, I used screws so it can be easily disassembled and I covered the inside with plastic so the stool is easily removed.

Once the dowels were all glued in the mould as close together as possible, the stool was then removed from the mould. I then used a table saw and a router to cut a rebate into the chair in order to hold the metal strip. I had to clamp a piece of wood on to the stool in order to guide the router.

Once the dowel was out of the mould I had to let the glue cure as the mould was stopping it from drying on the base of it. The glue needed to be cleaned out of these gaps too.

Once the rebate was made a used a 120 grit sandpaper to clean up the rebate and sides and legs of the stool. A belt sander was used with a 40 grit sandpaper to remove any glue and saw marks, then I used an orbital sander to smooth and give it a final perfect finish.

After the top of the stool was cleaned up and sanded smooth I wanted to finish it was a clear satin paint. This was a spray paint in order to get into all the gaps and achieve a even finish.

This is how I bent the aluminium strip. I used a piece of wood a clamp and a hammer. I am joining the metal strip in the middle for extra strength and I used liquid nails and screws to secure the stool.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

concept development: dowel

material: dowel offcuts

I choose to use dowel in my stool design because I love the look of different diameters of dowel grouped together to make interesting patterns. I really wanted to work with timber too and the grain on the end of a piece of dowel can be quite an interesting feature.

I found dowel offcuts at reverse art truck, they came from various sources including 'kookaburra' (cricket stumps), construction and building industry and also roman blind manufacturers. These dowels vary from 10mm in diameter to 50mm in diameter.

My main inspiration for my dowel concept was this Edwood Moore offcut stool. I love the patterns created on the seat by grouping the timber offcuts together. I also lovc the fact they are completely sustainable as they are using reclaimed timber offcuts.