Post 14 - Realization of Chair

From Tuesday through Thursday Em and I put in a large amount of hours to bring what was only a 1/3 scale model into reality. We made sure to create test CNC pieces focusing on the joinery used (dog bones), which helped in calculating the tolerances that we used in the final product.

  We went to Home Depot and made sure to get enough material in case something uncertain occurred we would have a back up. Two 4 by 8 boards were more than enough – when we returned Frankie aided in us cutting one in half that we then used to create the test pieces. Once we determined the model was right the CNC was in use so we had additional time to continue exploring negative area designs within the chair.

While the parts were being cut from the 4 by 8, Em and I immediately began sanding edges and rounding corners in order to reduce in the amount of time wasted in waiting. In the middle of cutting out the drill was knocked off of its zero which rendered the later half of the board useless. We asked Fred for some help and advice on whether or not the additional boards were salvageable he suggested not. But once we cut out the front half we decided to attempt to cut out the later half. Em did an awesome job operating the CNC and recreating the zeros in order to salvage the additional side of the board for the chair - that alone saved us hours. Before the marathon cutting was over all of the boards besides 3 were completely sanded as well.

One the pieces were free I worked on finishing the sanding for the last 3 boards and 1 side panel practicing the assembly with Calvin’s aid. Although the pieces were easily assembled prior to painting, once additional coats were applied it became very difficult to assemble while not using the aid of a mallet.

I’m glad to have worked with Em, her and I reached a good medium and balanced out and kept each other in check.