Final Detailing

Oregon inserts in the seat brace.

Plate of Authenticity.
Signed, Dated and Numbered.

And We're Done... Almost.

Final Fabrication!

The frame for the final prototype was made using 50mm stainless steel pipes with a 1mm wall thickness. I was lucky enough to have a friend's dad who has a steel fabricating workshop (Bayswater Steel Fabrication) and I was able to use his advice, tools and expertise. Working in his workshop was probably a ten times better than the workshop at Swinburne because there was no one waiting for me to do something wrong.

The seat and backrest were made using Oregon. These were made by me with some help from Andrew and Nathan from the workshop.

Matching the grain on the seat

                                     

Seat and backrest

bottom half of the frame - almost done!

Lou welding, he's better than me.

End of day one!

Some polishing, and we'll be flying.

1:1 Mock-Up

These were done purely to work out the angles of the chair. The 25mm steel tubing was NOT an option for the chair because it was much thinner than needed and would not cope with the stress.

Scale Model

This is a 1:5 scale model of the chair built using balsa wood. The 'stand' was glued on the wrong way...

Scale 1:5 

Scale 1:5

Scale 1:5

CAD Models

I used SolidWorks to model the top two designs to figure out what could be built in the given time frame to an acceptable standard. The CAD models also helped me better understand the form and functionality of the different designs.

Bent Plywood Chair
(Was meant to fold, but I decided against modelling
the hinges because it was pointless.)

Bent Plywood Chair

Bent Plywood Chair

Bent Plywood Chair
Back.

Bent Plywood Chair
Front.

Steel Framed Chair #1

Steel Framed Chair #1

Final Design

Final Design
(seat brace, stainless steel)

Final Design
(legs capped with the same timber as the seat and backrest)

Final Design

Final Design

Final Design
(SolidWorks stress simulation)

Concept Refinement

The concept refinement was done everywhere... on the train, while eating, chillin', on napkins (those were a bit grotty for this blog). Here are the neater ones.

Initial Concept Ideas

Here are the initial concept sketches I did to come up with design that stood out.

These are the three (semi)final concepts I came up with.

Cantilever chair. Plywood and stainless steel construction.
This was designed to fold.

Slot-fitted plywood chair.

Laminated bamboo and steel chair.
This chair has a suspended seat.

Some cool chairs that I drew inspiration from...

Concrete Chair, by Omer Abel.

Lusia Chair, by Franco Albini

Hero Chair, by RaymentWire

Cut Chair, by Peter Bristol

Harp Chair, by Jorgen Hovelskov