This section is documenting my refinement during Unit X through my ideas, making and prototypes.
Gathering Insights
Alongside Beta Project and Unit X I have been writing my CP3 essay about peoples relationship with furniture, highlighting the dependence we have on furniture. In order to research further into this I created a survey to gather insights on peoples relationships with furniture and how they differ between one person to another. These are the 14 survey answers that I gathered:
These results have really helped me write my CP3 essay and could also tie into my Unit X exploration, linking and influencing my physical practice.
Applying to Young Furniture Makers Exhibition 2024
During this term, to get an insight on other people work in the furniture industry, I visited the 2023 Young Furniture Makers Exhibition. This was an inspiring visit as I saw work from people of a similar age to me and what they had been able to achieve. Here are some of the pictures I took:
These are all pieces that I felt had some sort of link in what I am trying to achieve in my project, whether thats aesthetically or through form. One that stood out the most was the first image in the grid above, the designer used felt as the hinges. This inspired me as its similar to my project in the fact that they used fabric as a hinge in their piece, like my tambours. It was good to see it done before and displayed in an exhibition as it let me know it was possible to be achieved.
Following this trip to Young Furniture Makers 2023 I was inspired to apply to the 2024 exhibition. I had a look at their website on how to apply however they didn't have a section on how to do so. I feel like this was because it is too soon after their previous show so applications aren't open yet. Just incase I was not looking in the right section I reached out and contacted them asking how to apply.
I heard back from Young Furniture Makers and found out that the applications open in April, this is something I am planning to apply to when it comes around.
Following on from my Beta project presentation I discovered paper hinges that are a traditional Japanese method of joining. In Japan these paper hinges are used for pieces known as Byoubu, which are Japanese folding screens.
This joint works by two paper strips freely crossing over one and other to allow the wood to bend both ways.
I experimented more with this joint as it felt similar to the tambour but will allow its form to be more free with movement as it can bend in both directions.
My next experiment with this joint was scaling it up and adding more directions. It can fold in as a tambour but is only limited to one.
This experiment was interesting as I was only working with one direction of movement before but now I had four potential directions. This free movement added a lot of fluidity to my models that I wasn't used to. However, I would not be able to expand this any more than four pieces as then the joints would start overlapping and locking itself in place. This stoped me from exploring adding more directions as its form was very limited.
Although I was not planning on experimenting with directions of movement anymore this didn't mean I was finished with these paper joints. Instead I decided to focus my aim on trying to substitute the fabric tambour with these paper joints to see if I can get more interesting forms that the tambours cant achieve.
Next I replicated my first tambour model to keep things simple, I wanted to see how these paper joints would react differently.
From this I realised that these paper joints are a lot less stable and will not hold a straight line well. They caused any sort of structure the original tambour had, to disappear. It could bend in both directions which meant that it could stack on itself and create more forms. However I found it very difficult to get it to stay in one place when interacting with it, which I can see being an issue if I scaled it up.
As both ends were floppy and hard to keep still, I was curious to find out if I attached each end together, would it create more stability and structure?
Similarly to the tambour loop I previously made, this paper loop could not hold its structure. So once again I placed the MDF circles in the centre to see how its form would react. Unlike before, the middle section sagged down as now it didn't have any of the tension the tambours had. This created more of a seating look, however the looseness of the frame prevented the loop from rolling anymore. This is something I hoped would have stayed as it was the best feature from the last model.
As you can see from the images above, the middle section bunches up and locks the from moving when pushed. Although, it can still move if you pull it, as it separates the circles preventing them from locking. This leaves it with some sort of movement, just not as fluid as before.
One piece of feedback I was given about my end of Beta project presentation was to add elastic to my designs to see how the tambours react. Before doing this on a large scale I decided to start small with rubber bands. I wanted to see if I swapped the fabric in the tambours to elastic, how it would change the form.
This elastic tambour reacted the same as a normal fabric tambour but with a few more features. The elastic allowed it to be pulled apart slightly and bend in the other direction. The elastic could stretch and was less stubborn than the other materials. I really liked how this added a bit more flexibility to the tambour making it less of a solid structure while not letting it get too loose and sag like the paper joints.
With this model being so successful I wanted to do more experiments with it, seeing how far I could push the elastic and what its limitations were.
The image above is a rubber tambour I made but instead of laying the bands flat on the wood, I stretched them apart first to see if it created more tension. From this model I discovered that the elastic hardens too much once glued down and that it wants to spring back. This caused the elastic to be hard to work with and brittle, removing all of the qualities I liked from the model before.
This experiment above was me replacing the paper joints with elastic to see what different reaction it caused. This behaved similar to the paper joints, except with some ability to slightly stretch the wood apart.
Something I didn't like from this experiment was the thickness of the rubber. It didn't allow the wooden planks to lay seamless and flush with one and other. This was a feature I liked from the previous models giving the visual indication that the flat edge was solid enough to be used, whether for sitting or placing objects on. These gaps give the impression of a weak surface that you shouldn't use as it looks the same as the rounded edges on my loop models.
While thinking of where else elastic could be incorporated in my designs before setting on its best use, I thought back on the paper joint loop and how it would droop around any shape on its inside. I added some random cuts of wood to the inside and wrapped an elastic band around the outside to eliminate any sag. I realised that this paper loop would copy the form and extend it outwards along its width. This was something I didn't explore much further but I found interesting and could come back to at a later date.
After all this experimentation with elastic I realised that this could play a crucial role in my project.
I wanted to attempt to create a large scale elastic tambour loop. In theory this would be tight with tension and create a ball when not touched. When sat upon, it will absorb the form of the user and create more of a chair shape. This furniture piece becomes interdependent on the user to become its chair-like form and stuck as a ball when the user leaves it alone.
In theory, this chair will not become a chair until the human allows it to be, creating interdependence between the two.
This was the first rough sketch of my design and notes on what I would like this design to achieve.
Above is my first test to see how I could create this large elastic tambour. Initially I tried the original method of using wood glue in order to attach the elastic sheet. From this test I was hoping to create an elastic loop that has enough elasticity to bend inwards when touched.
However, this was a failed experiment as the elastic did not stick as strong to the tambour as I had hoped and started pealing away when bent. I had a feeling this might happen when conducting the test as wood glue works by soaking into the material its stuck to, in most cases absorbent wood, whereas the elastic sheet is not porous so was unable to soak into it.
Because of this test I had to figure out a way in which I could attach the elastic to the wood.
This was my initial design on how I would connect the elastic to the wood. The idea was to have the elastic pinched into a wooden dowel or metal rod. The rod would then be able to slide into the wooden planks over every gap to create a full circle. I knew this design may be time consuming as I would need to create an elastic joint for both sides of every plank, in theory it would work as long as the elastic was strong enough to hold it all together.
I drew a couple variations of different angles that the elastic would slot into to see if there was any variation.
Before making my elastic joints I spoke with a tutor. I did this to get a second opinion on what I was planning to do, to see if there was a simpler method I could attempt first that I wasn't thinking of.
From this talk, we discussed the possibility of using bungee cords instead of this complex elastic hinge first. This came as a practical solution as it would just take one bungee cord instead of creating many elastic joints.
In this talk we also discussed the context in which I would like my piece to exist in, whether that be as an exhibition piece or domestic piece.
I personally would want this piece to be a domestic piece that would exist in a home setting. With my piece being made up of planks, this means I could sell it as a DIY pack for people to buy its components and assemble themselves. Being DIY also helps with shipping as it could be packed down and packed small, saving money and also reducing the risk of breaking in transit. It could consist of a main kit, with all of the planks and bungee cords needed to assemble it, and create additional packages with extra add-ons for purchasers to customise their own piece. The use of bungee cord also eliminates any need for glueing which means it can always be changed, adjusted or added to.
The new addition of bungee cord meant that I had to do some research to make sure they were suitable to use.
I discovered that bungee cords tend to loose their elasticity after a year of use. This could be an issue if they're constantly under tension in my chair. However, because it isn't glued and fixed together I could allow people to send them back and purchase new ones for a discounted price. Or even have a subscription system where customers receive new cords yearly without having to do anything.
Another potential issue is that these cords will have a maximum weight limit before they snap. This could be an issue as everyones weight is different and I wouldn't want it to collapse on someone. To solve this I could sell different strength bungee cords to people dependant on what they require.
A factor I need to consider is sustainability. I found that some specific rubber bungee cords are sustainable so I would need to offer specific rubber cords to my customers.
Daylight Studio Camera Induction
To practice taking professional images we had an induction session in which we learnt how to use the cameras, backgrounds, lighting and what to focus on when taking pictures of our work. This session was very useful because pictures are the best way to document and show our work so we need to be able to take them well. These are some of my test shots from this session.
NOMA
As work experience a student friend, Archie, and I volunteered at 'NOMA', a development project in Manchester, setting up a mushroom shed in an open space. We were supplied with a pile of scrap timber to create a large 3m x 3m box-shaped shed frame. We were both then left alone and given the freedom to come up with the design and assemble it ourselves.
This was a good experience as it gave me the chance to collaborate and compromise with someone; working together to create something we were both proud of. It was refreshing to assemble something that does not need as much precision as furniture, allowing it to be a much quicker process. It was also a good opportunity to network and meet people in the industry, learn how they got started and ended up where they are today with these spaces that they are allowed to create. I learnt that the type of wood select important as the timber we were using had been left outside and had weathered. It had twisted and warped and would be impossible to work with if I was making bespoke furniture as measurements have to be precise and square. In our context this wood was manageable as we were using screws and clamps to force and hold them in place to fight against the warp. This can be seen in the last picture from the grid above.
This was an opportunity that I would love to repeat to continue developing my skills. I feel that there is no faster way to learn than being in the environment itself. Sometimes all it takes is being in the room for opportunities to present themself to you. Hopefully I get another opportunity like this in the future.
Above is the final structure for the mushroom house, this will eventually be lined with slats and acrylic to create an airtight environment to keep the temperature, light and humidity regulated easily.
Returning from NOMA I had to hit the ground running and build my 1:1 model to see if I was able to bring my furniture design to life. In order to get each block in the circle to be flush they would need to be cut to a specific angle. This mathematical equation took me a lot of figuring out but after speaking to a technician, the answer became clear. I needed to create a paper template splitting a circle into sections, where the top four inch surface was at the correct distance away from the centre to create tension on the bungee cord. After many attempts I figured out that it would take 14 equal blocks to create the size I needed. I would also need to drill a hole 20mm wide on all of the sides of the blocks to allow the bungee cord to thread through, and a 30mm hole on the two that will contain the bungee clips hooking together.
Using the template I marked out each block in preparation so I could quickly make the cuts I need at once.
Making the blocks was quite a rapid process because of the preparation I did. I simply drilled a hole in the side, flipped it then drilled through the other so I wouldn't get any tear out. Then I used the bandsaw to cut them to the correct angles.
As you can see I didn't cut all the way with the bandsaw. To the line to allow me to have a more accurate edge, I brought it right up to the line with the sanding disk.
Even being as accurate as possible I still struggled to get the circle to match up perfectly. This is because the wood I used was very warped making it difficult to get every block exactly the same. However, I was happy with how close I got it, as it was just a prototype. In future I will use better shaped wood.
After threading the bungee through, I had a play around with its shape to see how it would react to pressure being added in different places. This test showed how the bungee wasn't taught enough as it wasn't springing back to place as much as I hoped. As this test was done horizontally, it didn't give me much faith that it would work any better when stood up, as it would also have to support its own weight.
I originally saved the off cuts from the blocks to use as door stops. I had the idea to add them to the loop between each block to try and increase its size and therefore increasing the tension of the bungee cord. It did end up increasing the tension of the band but I wasn't sure if it would be enough to stand up.
As I suspected, the weight was too much for the bungee cord to hold. This was something I forgot to consider when sketching out my design as I didn't know the weight of the wood and wouldn't have known until I did a 1:1 model. As this was just a section of the design, my final design will be planks not blocks. I knew this design may be a lost cause as I will not be able to get hold of any bungee cord strong enough to hold its own weight, plus the users. If I was to use a cord strong enough, the tension would be so large that I would fear of the risk of it snapping and injuring someone which would be the last thing I would want to happen.
I wasn't sure whether to try and resolve my design and think of a functional way for it to work or to learn from my mistakes and move on. I booked in a tutorial to get a second opinion but it wasn't for a couple of days. So I decided to try to do a bit of both and see which one had more potential. I started by trying to think of a solution to the weight problem with quick sketches.
I was originally thinking of ways in which I could make the frame lighter. This could be by either hollowing out the wood or changing the material. Hollowing would make the wood significantly lighter, but it would compromise the strength of each piece and also be very difficult as I had planned on using long planks not short blocks in my final piece.
Changing the material to a lighter wood would improve the weight issue but I don't think it would be substantial enough to make much of a difference, especially when someone sits on it. Another material I was considering swapping to was metal. I feel that metal would have worked how I wanted it to and also eliminated the issue of weight and springing back. Having said that, I feel as if it would have made the design unoriginal as it would have just been a simple metal band that eliminates any resemblance to a tambour. I would have also liked to have proceeded with wood as I have throughout this project so far.
An additional way I could refine my design is to slightly alter it. I was thinking of potentially using wooden dowels instead of blocks. I felt that these dowels would be lighter as I could use skinnier pieces of wood for them. On top of that I felt that the circle structure of them would allow the wood to slip over one and other easier, causing it to require less force for it to move as there is less friction. I did briefly consider a pile of dowel held together with bungee cord but quickly decided that it wasn't practical enough and theoretically wouldn't work as I had hoped.
Just so I keep my options open, I started coming up with some quick new potential designs. As a starting point I was trying to think of pre-existing objects that require human interaction. The first one that came to mind was kids 'Pinpression' toys, these are made up of lots of small metal pins that leave an impression when pressed into. These fit the same ideology that I have been exploring, needing human interaction, without it just being a blank canvas.
From this inspiration I came up with the design above. The first iteration of this design works by having multiple wooden rods projecting out of a wooden frame and a layer of foam hidden in the base. This means that when sat upon on the sticks take shape of a chair, and moulding themselves to the users body. When left alone it returns to its original blocky shape.
At this stage I was quickly trying to create iterations and resolve this design so I had something to get feedback on when presenting my idea. The next iteration consisted of the same idea that it takes shape when in use, but this time it was smaller and had arm rests to present itself as more of a chair. The arm rests on either side would have stoppers higher up than the bottom so they stop at different heights than the middle.
Something that I wasn't happy with in these designs was the use of foam because of its unsustainability. I included foam in these designs as it is something that I know would easily spring back to shape when weight it removed from it. I knew that if I was going to pursue this design further I needed to find a good enough substitute that could withstand pressure and spring back to its original form.
An idea I had was to replace these foam blocks with bent sheets of metal. The use of bent sheets would mean that they are constantly trying to move back to their straightest form. I could utilise this use of built up tension to replace the foam because if any pressure was placed on them they would fight back, causing them to spring the blocks back into place when pressure is removed. The only issue with this is that over time they may warp and loose their springiness, however this could be combated when resolving this design by replacing the metal plates every now and again, or attaching to each rod.
Although this design answers my brief and I would be happy to continue with it, I was sad to see the tambour not be involved in my project anymore as I had spent so much time experimenting and exploring different ways to interact with it. Heading into my tutorial I definitely had a form of bias to the tambour designs but was open to change if needed, as I knew I was struggling to pursue the tambours with the practical and workshop limitations that have been set before me.
After a discussion with tutors, I have decided to shift my main aim slightly from human dependance to object dependance. This means that my piece will be relying on an object to function rather than a human. This decision came about because scale was too much of an issue when working with elastic as the pressure of holding a body was too much for the elastic to handle.
In order to resolve my project to a level I feel satisfied with I planned on scaling the piece I make down. This means my final piece could end up being a side table, stool, coffee table etc. This also allows me to work with the workshop limitations that the university is capable with as I do not have access to all machinery. This allows me to build more of my project myself instead of relying on the technicians to create most of it for me, allowing me to develop my skills in my practice more efficiently.
Swapping directions to object dependance also allows me to continue my experimentation with tambours as I have so far, but this time changing the way in which someone interacts with it, e.g. though another object. This idea of object dependence relates to the 'Codependent' piece I referenced in my research.
Above this text are the next load of ideas, sketches and iterations I came up with after my feedback starting from left and finishing on the right. I started by creating objects that are reliant on mugs being placed on them, to create a mug coaster and when not in use springs back into a table decoration. I wanted to keep the element of elastic now that I was working on a smaller scale as it would now be manageable to work with, with less chance of it snapping.
These mug coasters inspired me to come up with the idea of creating a stool that needs a mug to be placed on it for it to exist as a stool. The idea of this being that you need to be drinking something in order to sit down. This was an idea I liked and help me come to a realisation that if someone sat on a tambour that was running along a track, the track would take all the weight.
Discovering this, it started to take over my sketches as I obsessed with the idea of creating a stool that sprung away from underneath you when not in use, as I felt that this was in theory achievable, although complex.
After a day of sketching out ideas I spoke with tutors again to see if they think I'm going in the right direction with my project.
Something I didn't realise I was doing is I was trying to move back to human dependence even though I had planned on moving to object dependence. Looking back now I can clearly see it was happening as well, I think this was because I had spent so long focusing on human dependence previously that I was just slipping back to my old thesis without realising. This is why I like feedback and a second opinion as often as possible. Luckily I had only spent a day on these sketches so I could easily make back the time I lost.
I tend to also set myself really over complicated tasks as sometimes I feel the more complex the better. However, I do agree that this is not necessarily the case and my tutor thought so too. I got told that I was setting myself a whole new area to explore with tambours and tracks and that I should strip it back to what I already know. I agree with this piece of feedback and I feel it really helped me come to a resolved body of work as I would be back to square one with experimenting again if I continued the way I was going.
A good way in which I found striping back my ideas to a simple form was to use some of the many existing models I had created through my experimentations and see what they create. This process helped my come up with my final design and because I had already made the models this saved me a lot of time making prototypes.
This prototype is a coffee table made from a mixture of the original first tambour I made and the loop tambour rotated onto its side. I feel that this design meets the thesis that I have been exploring as both tambour are dependent on each other. The flat surface tambour would be on the floor if it wasn't for the loop tambour holding it up. The loop tambour wouldn't be able to hold anything if it wasn't for the flat tambour creating a surface. It would be hollow.
This design reminds me of both 'Codependent' by Fletcher Eshbaugh and 'The body' by Kirsi Enkovaara. 'Codependent' because it has two objects that are dependent on each other to create its form. By themselves they wouldn't serve any purpose. It also resembles 'The Body' because it is dependent on the user to create its form and can be customisable. Enkovaara's piece was also my original inspiration in creating the tambours because of their similar form and movement.
Because the top surface is a single flat tambour, it has the ability to be rigid or to be floppy. This means that if the user flips the top surface over they get a larger and more solid face to use. Whereas if the user is wanting a smaller top surface over they can flip it back. This side will also show the woodgrain and be decorative. This change in side can be practical or aesthetic. Changing the size will allow it to fit into smaller spaces and be more adaptable to different environments. I am also contemplating replacing the calico fabric with a table cloth so it aesthetically looks more like a table.
If I use a table cloth to attach the tambour together, I could test it with a PVC coated fabric. This will be wipeable and easier to clean, preventing stains and permanent marks.
This was my test to see if a PVC table cloth would be a suitable replacement for calico. I used polka dot table fabric for this test because I grew up with this pattern on my take at home. So it personally reminds me of my childhood. Although I was worried that the PVC would stop the table cloth from being porous enough to absorb the glue to attach it as I discovered in previous experiments with elastic, the test worked perfectly. The PVC had no negative effect on how well the tambour held together. Because of the PVC coating, there were no fraying edges to the fabric, giving it more of a clean finish with neat edges.
However, issues started to appear when I was playing with its form. The stiffness of the PVC caused the tambour to want to stay in more of a curved shape rather than being completely loose and free moving. This created bowed edges when the top tambour would sagged either side of the base. This is undesirable for my end product as I liked the rigidness of the harsh 90 degree drop either side. I also feel it doesn't create an aesthetic form. The whole piece is made up of straight strips and lines, so starting to introduce soft curved edges felt wrong.
Although this didn't work I learnt that I would like to form some sort of decorative side to the tambour at a later date. I plan to act on this later in the year in the 'Synthesis & Resolution' module, collaborating with other students in different practices to create a personal screen printed table cloth for my table.
These were my notes on trying to figure out the dimensions I want for my 1:1 scale piece. This also included calculating the pricing of wood that I will need.
Through speaking to the technicians, I discovered that the Birch Faced Plywood that they supply was bought in bulk three years ago. That means that their pricing reference was from three years ago and doesn't match today's market value. Nowadays Birch Faced Plywood is three times the price that it used to be. This is because of the conflict in Russia. It has made it harder to import and is now a rare material.
Even though I had a tape measure with me and was trying to imagine the actual size, I was struggling to visualise my piece. To help me visualise the scale I used my home coffee table as a reference point.
My home coffee table is 1200mm length x 600mm width x 380mm height. I used these measurements as a reference point and adapted my existing measurements.
Most coffee tables are 14 - 16 inches (355mm - 406mm) tall and you want to match the sofa to the height of your chosen coffee table. As the standard is 14 - 16 inches I met in the middle and chose the base to be 15 inches tall (380mm).
Above is the size, cutting list and receipt of the wood it took to create my piece.
The loop ended up being 1500mm length x 380mm width 6mm Birched Faced Plywood and the flat top was 1000mm length x 500mm width 15mm Birch Faced Plywood.
Initially, I intended to order Birch Faced Plywood for the top tambour with a thickness of 18mm. Unfortunately it was unavailable due to the afore mentioned factors such as the wood being purchased 3 years ago and an increase in rarity and price. Consequently, the workshop technicians decided to discontinue ordering it and it was replaced with Poplar Plywood. This is a cheaper, lightweight alternative that has a less decorative grain. However, thanks to luck the workshop had just enough 15mm Birch Faced Plywood to complete my order. Therefore, I opted for the 15mm Birch for continuity with the base with its decorative grain. Although that was the last of its stock so any future models will have to be made with Poplar Plywood.
When showing the sizes of wood needed to the technicians, because they knew my intent was to cut them into strips, they suggested that they cut the boards for me as the boards would have been too big for the bandsaw and too dangerous for me to cut. In order to facilitate their requests I had to provide them with a cutting list of the size of just the strips, not the total board, and how many strips I needed. Both the base and top needed 20mm strips, the base needed 75 and the top needed 50.
I also needed 2 6mm thick MDF boards, slightly bigger than the tambours, in order to make the jigs. Their sizes were 1600mm length x 480mm width and 1100mm length x 600mm width. As you can see I decided to make these boards 100mm longer and wider than the tambours to allow 50mm either side for wooden strips to hold the tambours in place on the jigs.
Contacting Tord Boontje
I met and spoke to furniture designer Tord Boontje at a 60th birthday party in London. While speaking to him he offered me the opportunity to come and visit his studio space the following Monday. Unfortunately, I was going back to Manchester before then and was unable to attend. I mentioned this to him and said I would still love to come and visit but just another time.
Recently I followed him up on the offer and reached out to him via email, this is the email I sent.
Hopefully he responds and I get the opportunity to visit his studio and see how it runs, this will be very insightful as he is a very successful furniture designer.
I recently heard back from Tord Boontje and he has confirmed that I will be able to visit his studio in the new year. This will be an insightful experience and I hope to stay in contact with him in the future.
Once I had decided on a final size for the wood I could then buy some calico to fit its dimensions. I ordered 1.5m x 2m of medium weight calico as that would be more than enough to cover each face plus overhang. This cost me £28 in total and I kept note of this to calculate my pricing later on.
Making
Once everything arrived I was ready to assemble my piece. I was informed by the technicians that not all of the 75 strips for the loop were cut, the smaller the piece of wood got the more dangerous it became for the technician with the circular saw and we wasn't comfortable with its safety anymore. This meant I had to cut the rest on the bandsaw, this was no issue as the piece was small enough now for me to easily run it through. 42 strips were cut by the technician so I had to do the remaining 33.
I originally wanted the wood grain to flow throughout the piece, with each piece matching up to the next. As the technicians supplied me with a random assortment of strips I was unable to match them up as it is very hard to figure out where each of them lay, especially if theres 75 of them. So I still had a part of this flowing grain I just matched up the the grain of the pieces I cut myself as I could keep track on what went where.
The circular saw is quite a vicious piece of machinery with a thick 5mm blade, this caused lots of tear out to appear on the strips. In order to get these pieces flush I sanded each strip to get them level. Although this did make them level it also left big chunks missing from the side that had the tear out. In order to hide this I organised the strips to have the ripped side facing up and therefore to go underneath the fabric.
While laying out all the strips to create a jig, I discovered that turning the wood 90 degrees so the edge is facing upwards has a nice stripy look. I feel like it creates a more seamless countertop as you cant tell where one edge stops and another starts. I was also thinking that when the tambour turns it will expose the normal light wood grain and create more of a decorative feature out of the exposed and curved parts of its form. This is something that I want to explore more in my project, however now is not the time because it threw off the dimensions of the top surface making it smaller. This would have made my table look disproportionate.
Although I preferred the edge face upwards, I decided to stick with the face I had planned to use to keep the scale the same and come back to this discovery at a later date when resolving this table.
Once I had nailed MDF strips around the plywood to hold it in place, I had to attach the calico with simply PVA as I have done many times before. This will be left to dry overnight.
An issue I discovered when trying to form a jig for the longer and thinner loop tambour was that there was a lot of warping throughout the wood. This had probably formed overtime as the wood has been stored in their back room for about 3 years. This would cause many issues in trying to get the loop to stay flush when gluing.
A technician recommended that I line the glued down calico with weights and scrap wood to press the warped wood as flat as possible. This was a good solution to reduce the warping that I would have to deal with however I knew it wouldn't be able to get it completely flush. PVA glue needs to soak into a material in order to stick. Therefore I lined the calico with clingfilm to stop the scrap wood fusing with the tambour and potentially ruining the movement of my piece.
Although I've been in this wood workshop for nearly 3 years now, I never realised the tool cabinet was a plastic tambour door. Here is a video of it above.
Once the tambours had dried and I had taken them out of their jigs, I realised that some of the wooden strips had glued together. I think this was because of tear-out and warping leaving gaps for glue to seep between them. In order to fix this I had to slowly push them away from each other using the edge of a table for leverage. This worked on the thicker top surface tambour as it had only seeped in slightly. Some parts of the thinner loop tambour had seeped much further causing them to be fused together. This is something that I will have to be extra cautious about when making my next model at 1:1 scale as it slightly ruins the aesthetic having clumps stuck together. Next time I think I should try using less glue so there is less chance of it falling between the gaps.
To get a visual representation I propped up the tambours to see if they work and react with one another as I had hoped. At this stage all I had left to do was complete the loop and cut off any excess fabric from the edges of the tambour.
Gluing the loop was a bit more complicated than before now that I am working on a 1:1 scale. I used the old jig to line up each side however the edges kept sliding away from each other. To stop this from happening I used heavy weights as stoppers to hold each side against each other. To allow myself more room to work with inside the loop, to line everything up and glue down the calico, I used scrap pieces of wood from the scrap bin as supports to hold up the middle section. Once I had glued down the fabric overlap in the middle, I used the same technique of clingfilm and weights as before to make sure everything was held in place, then left to dry overnight.
To trim the edges I used scissors and tried to get it as close to the edge as possible. Normally I would pre-cut the fabric to be smaller than the tambour frame, but this time I tried something different. This time I had excess fabric around all edges to see if I could cut it back and have the fabric reach each edge. This did not work as well as expected because some edges didn't completely glue causing fraying. I have learnt from this model to always have the fabric smaller to avoid this from happening again as it makes the edges look messy. Although, I could try hemming the edges next time to stop any fraying however it may cause the fabric to be thicker and therefore stiffer.
Above is my finished final 1:1 scale model. This took 3 days to make because of the gluing time and waiting for it to try overnight.
Reflecting on this model, I am happy with how it turned out and looks very similar to my smaller model I previously made. However, I feel that this coffee table feels a bit flimsy compared to the smaller model. I think this is because, when scaling up the size of the table, I scaled up all the length and hight of this piece but not the width of the wood used. I think that if i used a thicker wood it would look more stable and structurally strong. As I used the thickest plywood the workshop had to offer, I would have to outsource wood from another supplier. This means that I either get a really thick plywood or, if I wanted to use more natural looking materials, order a thick live edge piece of wood for the top surface. However this could end up being expensive.
Although there are a lot of changes I would like to add to my piece I am still happy I made it as I learnt a lot more making this larger 1:1 scale model than the usual smaller ones. This model has helped me understand where I want to go next with my project in Synthesis and Resolution.
Context
The context in which I can imagine this piece, is being sold through a shop. This is because I could make them quite quickly to order as it is only a three day process. I could also ramp up the production speed of this table because I could cut hundreds of wooden strips all at once. The longest part of making this table is to wait for the glue to dry. If I could make a couple at once, then whilst they dry, make some more I would have a very efficient system to increase my production speed. This piece isn't made up of many components so I would be able to customise features, for example change the wood colour, material or size. This would broaden my target audience.
Setting up WIP show
Once we had created our pieces we had a Work In Progress show, this was to show other students from different years and courses what we have been discovering through our practice so far this year. This was a good chance to experience curating an exhibition space for ourself as we had to collaborate as a class on the layout and format in which our work would be displayed.
Pricing
Now that I have made my piece I can calculate the pricing. This is because I know how much I spent on materials and how long it took me to build. To get an accurate pricing I will have to include a workshop rental cost. As I am currently a student and do not have to pay for a workshop space, I will have to look locally to get a rough idea on how much that would cost me.
I found this company called The Boiler House that has a wood workshop available for hire at £100 a day with all the equipment I would need. As this piece took me 3 days to make, my workshop cost will be £300 in total.
After calculating my day rate, material and workshop costs I was able to come to a conclusion on my pricing for this piece:
Wholesale Price - £1558
Retail Price - £3116
