Seat Plate
To make the seating plate I started by sketching and making a template on paper, then tracing it on 1.6mm thick steel and cutting it out with the bandsaw. To clean off the pen I used methylated spirit then filed the edges smooth so it doesn't scratch anyone when in use. Hopefully This plate is strong enough to support someone, however if it bends too much I can use a thicker and stronger sheet of steel.
Refining
Garryson Garryflex Abrasive Block
These abrasive blocks are rubber filled evenly throughout, with abrasive grit. They are good at polishing metal and removing rust. The abrasive grit leaves small lines in the path that you brush it so its important to keep the direction consistent. This worked well at cleaning the plates so was the method I used for future plates before sealing.
Wire Wool Scrub
During my tests to see what was best at cleaning the metal, I came across this square wire wool scrub. As you can see from the images above, this was a useful tool at cleaning the metal and gave it a brushed steel look. However, the scrub struggled with the harder bits of rust on the frame. I will need to find a more harsh way of cleaning the metal bars in order to remove all the rust.
Grinding Welds
As I haven't been welding long they look quite rough. I knew I wouldn't be able to get them really neat so I planned to surround the weld in blobs so that I can grind them down after. This worked well as I could get them flat with the bar. If I was to create this piece outside of university I would pay an experienced welder to make these clean and professional welds.
Cleaning the Frame
Cleaning the frame was a slow and delicate process. The frame was rusty and greasy from being touched and moved around the workshop.
The bars were originally reflective and shiny. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this look if I wanted to get rid of the rust so I ended up with a brushed steel look.
To get the brushed steel aesthetic I needed to sand away the rust with low grit sandpaper. This left lots of scratches. To remove those scratches I slowly moved up grit levels of the sandpaper, starting at P60 and ending at P800. Once I had made it to P800 I finished it off with some wire wool to clean it up.
Sealing
Luckily the seat plate didn't have any rust on it and therefore didn't need as much cleaning as the frame. All I ended up using was the 'Garryson Garryflex abrasive block'. In order to seal the frame and plate to stop it from rusting and getting damaged over time, I needed to leave it to soak in protective oil over 24 hours.
This process can't have any moisture involved as it could leave permanent marks and not seal properly. In order to remove any moisture I wiped every surface with methylated spirit on a cloth. This cleaned any finger prints and dirt from the piece. Once the piece was fully clean, with rubber gloves on, I coated every surface in protective oil and left it to dry in a controlled area for minimum 24 hours. I used the chemical room.
As you can see from the video above, this step up from 6mm to a 10mm bar frame increased the strength enough for the frame to be able to hold up my weight. The frame also still bends in slightly which is something I had hoped it would still do. I am happy with the 10mm bar and wouldn't want to increase the width anymore as it may start to look too chunky.
The seat plate dips down when sat on also, giving some cushioning effect making the seat comfier than I expected. Each thin corner connecting to the frame will warp over time but I like the look of this effect as it looks like a basket you can sit in.
Rubber Caps
Once the piece was sealed and finished I needed to protect the ends of each rod from either hurting someone or getting damaged. I did this by placing rubber caps on each end.
Initially I had black caps as I didn't want to add a random pop of colour and distract people from the main aim of the seat. However, once the black caps were in use, I thought it made the piece look upside down, as if the rubber caps were the feet.
To work around this I found some clear caps online and ordered them to replace the black ones. These clear caps worked as they blended in and were not distracting.
Side Table
Now that I have the formula to my seat, I can prove it will work in multiple different forms, such as a bench, high chair or side table. With the limited time I had left I decided to make an additional side table to go along side my seat. This will be a slimmer and taller version of the seat. To keep the delicate aesthetic, I will make the bars thinner as they will not need to hold as much weight as a human, so do not need to be as strong.
Assembling the frame this time round was a lot quicker as I knew exactly what I was doing and there was no need for more testing. As usual, I cut and bent the steel rods into shape, marking out where each bend will be. Then I welded the pieces together, grinding off any excess welds after. The only difference in making this time round was that the bars were 6mm thick instead of 10mm. This made it a bit trickier as they were more flexible and wobbly while working with. I counteracted this by using a lot more clamps and weights to hold pieces down.
Water Jet Cutting
previously I had cut out the seat plate on the bandsaw. I wasn't that happy with how it came out as there was a couple of edges that weren't that straight. To stop this from happening again I wanted to water jet cut them this time. If I was trying to make this seat outside of university I would have to pay to get my pieces cut by an external water jet cutting company.
I contacted the engineering building about getting this plate cut and they said it could be cut in time. Because I already had one job being cut by them, I wanted to get my original seat plate cut again so it would look neater.
In order to get them cut I needed to create a .dxf file on coral. In the images above you can seen both drawings. I got three seat and two side table plates cut, so that I had backups incase it went wrong or something broke. I can also swap out the seat plate before the exhibition so that it has a flat plate rather than a bent one, if I think it'll look better.
It was a good idea to get multiple plates cut because one of the holes didn't cut all the way through. Luckily I did three so I still have two I can use.
Another issue that happened was that the side table plates had wonky holes. This wasn't in the drawing I sent them so I presume the smaller plates may have moved in the machine while getting cut. I would have asked to get them recut however they had a waitlist of two weeks and I didn't have enough time to get them cut again.
Curating Exhibition
As my work is furniture based, I need a larger space and lower plinths than most people on my course.
I'm thinking of exhibiting my work on a low down white plinth. This is to avoid anyone using my seat during the show. As you can see above, I also want to have a secondary plinth on-top to elevate it slightly higher. This is also because I may be sharing this plinth with another furniture maker and will make it easier to distinguish between our two different pieces. This second plinth will be a different colour to white as it makes it stand out from the larger white one. The colour and size will be fine tuned closer to the exhibition date during the setup week.
Dezeen Submission
Dezeen requested images and a small statement to be submitted and potentially published on their 'ones to watch' section. I hadn't had a photoshoot for my piece yet so I quickly put together a shoot with a course mate's help. Below are the five images and statement I submitted.
Cleaning Water Jet Plates
Each plate had a slight burr on them because of the water jet cutter. To remove this and create a safe edge that wouldn't cut anyone I used a fine metal file all round the edges, then followed it up with sandpaper to get it as smooth as possible.
Once all edges were smooth I used the Garryson Garryflex Abrasive Block to remove the rust and clean up each face. Unfortunately, some of the rust had etched itself into the metal and I was unable to remove all marks. These marked edges will be facing down on my piece so will not be visible.
After all the edges were smooth and faces were clean I removed any grease with methylated spirit to avoid any markings and coated it in protective oil to let seal for 24 hours.
Finished Seat
I am very happy with how my seat turned out. I feel that it meets all the criteria I set myself in order to explore dependence between people and furniture. As you can see from the video above, the frame bends and cushions the user while they sit down.
Welding Refinement
Now I have finished my pieces, I have time to reflect on my making processes and how I could have refined them to a better standard.
One process I wasn't happy with was the neatness of the welds. I felt that they were roughly welded together and not ground back as seamlessly as I had hoped. The solution achieving cleaner welds would have been to shape the ends of the middle rods, to fit better and more flush against the long side of the bars.
I wanted to do a test and see if this would have worked. I filed in to the flat end of a rod down to a curve. As you can see above this made the two bars sit better together. If I then welded this it would be a lot easier to grind down into a seamless finish. If I was to recreate this piece in the future this is how I would assemble the frame together before welding.
Context Video
For each of our projects we had to create a context video that will be shown durning the exhibition on a projector. The aim behind these videos is to give context to our projects in a minute long clip.
My project is all about how people engage with furniture so I decided to record people reactions to their first time sitting in my seat, showing how its not the standard experience you get when sitting down. These reactions are playing in the background while captions pop up explaining the context of my project. I didn't want someone to talk over the video or have music as I felt it to be too distracting so I settled on white noise background chatter so the video doesn't feel silent.
Final Shoot- 'Dependence' collection
In this shoot I aimed to capture the thin frames of my 'Dependence' collection. Showing how weak they appear to be, while still being surprisingly strong.
S&R Review
Furniture is an essential component we all use daily, without a second thought. The goal of my ‘Dependence’ collection is to highlight how much we rely on furniture by altering our interaction with it. My project took on board many changes, through physical form, and rethinking how to accentuate the dependence we have on furniture.
Initially I researched furniture that had an element of ‘interdependence’, where furniture and people relied on each other to achieve a mutual goal, for example a chair that is missing two legs forcing the user to replace them with their own to sit down. Although I liked this concept, ideas of what I could make felt restrictive, as there are a limited number of functions from a piece like a chair. This is where my project took a turning point, solely focusing on creating a piece of furniture that just relies on the user for form or function. To me this felt effective because the roles were being reversed, making the furniture depend on the human, rather than the human on the furniture.
Another key moment was swapping from wood to metal; a risky swap as I had more experience using wood. However, I felt it was important as metal offered more suitable qualities including weight, size and strength to my ideas. Having swapped, metal warping was an eye-opening discovery. Warping displays usage over time, a great way to illustrate dependence. I believed that warping would be a key component of my project to the end. However, after many prototypes it felt too risky as the metal weakened overtime. Heavier people may not have been safe on my seat if it intentionally warped too much. Hence, I moved towards thinner but stronger structures.
When people use furniture, they trust that it will be able to support them. I have created a piece that seems weak at first glance, encouraging the user to sit down cautiously, tentatively testing its stability. This trust is then earned back when the slim frame wraps around their body, holding them securely in place. This element of trust links back to dependence well as it forces the user to think about how they approach, interact and use furniture - placing a spotlight on the dependence that we subconsciously take for granted.
Progressing forward with this project I would expand the types of furniture made with the dependence theme. Now that I have the formula on how to highlight the theme, it will be easier to apply to different forms. For example, I made a side table with a thin frame that deceptively appears unstable, as if it wouldn’t be capable of withstanding the lightest object placed on it.
Through my ‘Dependence’ collection, I aim to reshape our perception of furniture, inviting deeper reflection on the profound reliance imbedded into our daily lives. Let’s reconsider our interaction with these essential objects, welcoming a newfound appreciation for their significance in our lives.
