The process of making my final design is a very long one in order to get the finish that I want.
The first thing that I had to do was create a template for my design as it would have the same pieces on both sides. Using a template would ensure that each side of this design will be exactly the same. Once this was done, I had to draw each design onto a sheet on Plywood. I chose to use 8m plywood as it was the size that fitted the design the best, making it wide but not too long in order for the entire design to look odd. Plywood was my first choice as I really liked the edges of it, the lines look almost like the lines in corrugated cardboard that Frank Gehry uses. Instead of tracing each individual template twice, i stuck two pieces of Plywood together using double sided tape. I did this as each design has to be exactly the same and cutting and sanding them as one then splitting would make them more identical than doing each at a time. The double sided tape is easy to get off too by using a little trick my workshop tutor taught me, put the piece into the microwave for about 30 seconds and the pieces of wood split so much easier as the tape warms up and becomes malleable. Cutting the pieces out proved to be a lot harder than I imagined. This is because the inside curve was very tight, and I had to keep stopping, moving the wood back, then carry on sawing in order to not cut into the shape. It was also a lot harder as I had to cut the shape but leave a 1cm outline around the edge so that I don't cut too deep into the shape so that I cant sand it to a nice finish. Overcoming these slight issues was easy once I got the hang of it, I had to be really careful when cutting each piece, and take my time in order to do the correct shape. Because of these two problems, it look a long time to cut out each of my pieces but it was well worth it in the end.
Now it was time for the sanding. Due to most of the curves curving inwards and not outwards, I had to sand each piece on the bobbin sander and the disk sander. This was a very tedious task as the bobbin sander took a while to sand, due to me having to be really careful with where I was sanding but also putting a little pressure onto the wood to keep it on the table. I was a little scared with using the bobbin sander before, as I have only previously used it once and that was only in my workshop training, so I didn't have any lines to stick to. Despite this, I quickly got the hang of it and enjoyed sanding my pieces. I had to be extremely careful when using the bobbin sander as I have previously caught my knuckle on one before, sanding a deep gash into it as my wood slipped because I weren't holding it hard enough. I didn't repeat this accident and I didn't harm anyone else either. When each piece was sanded enough, I could now split the pieces using the trick stated above. Once the parts were peeled apart, all I had to do was get a chisel with a straight edge and lightly rub away any of the double sided tape residue that was left. I had to be really careful with this as even the slightest too much pressure on the chisel would cause it to go into my wood, making dents into it. I could then line all of my pieces together, arranging them how they should be arranged in the finished product to see how it looked. I was very happy with how it looked and then started to get joining some pieces together. As I wanted every part of the outer layer of my design to be smooth, I would have to sand parts down again when they were stuck together. This is because some parts of the pieces were prouder than other parts and it wasn't smooth down the edge. As this would mean using the bobbin sander again, I could only glue half of the design at once as the bobbin sander didn't go high enough to sand it all in one. I clued both half's of the design by using wood glue and clamps, in order for the design to be secure.
Once the pieces were dried, I could get back to sanding them. To start with, I sanded each side so they were smooth, not focusing on the other half of the design just yet, but then things got a little more complicated. I then had to line each half up, and figure out which parts were prouder than others on both sides. Once this was figured out, I drew a line onto the pieces to show how far I could sand them to and got back to sanding. This process of marking out the prouder parts then sanding went on for a while before I felt like the pieces looked good. Once I was happy with it all, I could glue the entire piece together, again using wood glue and clamps. Again, when this was dried completely, I was able to sand all the edges down by hand in order to make it feel as if it was made out of just one block of wood, not 9. This took a while as I started sanding against the grain on the wood and it left lots of marks that looked tacky and as if I rushed it so I had to go back and re-sand it following the grain of the Plywood to correct this.
Now the centre of the design was finished, I was able to start the edges. I saved the edges until last as they would be done in a different style than the rest of the design. These pieces were the pieces that created the 'lip' of the design, where it went over the edge of the centre. I used the same process for cutting out and sanding each piece as I did for the other pieces so far, but after I got to start experimenting. In my design, I stated that I wanted to use plastic, this meant that I had to cut and sand the plastic in order for it to be the right shape. Cutting the plastic on the band saw made a really loud noise, a lot louder than cutting normal wood. The plastic seemed easier to cut though which I think may be down to the plastic being a more light weight material. Sanding it too made a louder noise on the Bobbin sander and Disk sander, but again the plastic was a lot easier to sand than wood. I didn't remove the cover from one side of the plastic as I didn't want this side to get scratched or damaged. This side would be the side that would be seen from the user of this chair. Once all of this was done, I had to scratch the surface of the plastic a lot, using sandpaper and sanding in a cross hatching style. This was so that the glue could latch onto something and a smooth surface wouldn't have worked. The glue that I was using would push the plastic and the wood apart as it expanded when it dried. The way I overcame this was that I used clamps all around each piece, in order for it to be unable to be pushed apart. When the glue had dried I could easily see how the pieces would have been pushed apart.
Gluing wood and plastic would have been a lot better than gluing plastic to plastic like some of my other designs needed. This is because the wood is porous and the glue can seep a little bit into the wood, making it stick strong. Plastic on the other hand isn't, which is why I had to scratch the top of the plastic. Sticking plastic and plastic would create a weaker bond than plastic and wood.
When the glue was dry, I then had to sand away all the excess glue that had come through the sides. I found this easy as it seems to just disappear when I touched it with the sander because it was so thin and weak. In order to stick this onto the centre of my design without more glue seeping out and I not being able to sand it away like before, I had to insert metal rods into the pieces and glue the rods. I marked out where I would put the rods the same way I did while creating the Steltman Chair. Although I thought there wouldn't be any problems with this, when I pressed the metal to the plastic it slipped a little without my knowledge so the markings was a little off. This was a problem as the holes I drilled didn't line up, meaning the rods wouldn't go in. Because the markings were only slightly off, I was able to get the hand drill and make the holes wider so the rods would fit. If I used the pillar drill, the drill part would only bend and slide into the original hole instead of making it bigger. The hand drill would do this too if I went straight down to where the hole should actually be, but I started drilling at an angle to the edge of the hole then slowly pointed the drill straight down, which I wouldn't be able to do on the pillar drill. When I had made these holes bigger and the metal rods fit, I added a little glue to the inside of the holes, added the rods then clamped it all together.
Although I felt like this was the end of making this design, it was not. I then had to paint the middle part of it, which felt like the hardest task of all. To do this, I painted the centre piece of wood red, in order to resemble Ron Arad's brightly coloured style. When the paint had dried I had to sand it down so it was smooth, paint it again, then continue this process until I felt like the paint had enough coats and was smooth enough. I felt like this was so hard as I had to be really careful not to go out of the line with paint and the way I had to hold the chair itself was very hard. I had to place it on a table with things underneath the back, and other awkward ways of placing it in order to paint the entire design. My initial idea for this design was to use a clear spray over the top to give it a nice shiny finish, but whilst I was painting the design I chose not to. This is because I wanted this design to look raw to emphasis the inspiration from Gehry. I wanted the wood to be left as it was just like he left his cardboard designs as they were.
I am really happy with how this turned out, I didn't expect to be able to produce a piece like I did. There were times where I wanted to give up with it all together as I felt like I was getting nowhere, but I am glad that I didn't give up. I feel like this design really fits the brief, and I have developed it thoroughly. There isn't anything I would change about this design if I were given the chance to, I am immensely proud how this turned out and I hope that it reflects with the amount of time and care I took while finishing it.
