In Quarantine: Last of Physical Development

The semester is now done. I can no longer go into the shop to fabricate what I had left to build. My coat rack and new lounge chair must wait until a later date. To get out of this semester without having to produce a physical object is difficult. I was full-steam ahead, motivated by the final few weeks of the semester, to complete my designs and construct the end of my eight month journey. It is no longer possible to build what it is I designed. This post will outline the extent of the progress I had made.

Ernest and I about to bend the coat rack form.

On March 11 I made the discovery that the original steam bent chair backrest forms were not what I wanted. They were smaller than I wanted to have for my chair. So I spent the next few days cutting new bending forms out of particle board on the CNC and prepping the steam box and bending table.

Ernest, Jordan and I preparing the metal strapping with the material.

On March 15 I was ready to bend the new chair backrest and coat rack forms. The pictures in this post as from the day we bent all three pieces successfully, on the first attempt I might add. All the knowledge we had gained from bending had paid off and we now have our process down to a science for near 100% success rate. Putting the wood in between two stoppers and backed by flexible metal strapping allows the pieces to be held tightly so as not to slip or blow out when forcing the piece around the difficult bends.

Once clamped to the form, the piece bends easily.

Slowly making my way to the end of the form.

The difference between bending wood that is dry and wood that has been steamed is the strength equivalent of cutting through frozen butter and softened butter. Ash works especially well for steam bending, as soon as it has been fastened to the form the wood gives way to my strength. The metal strapping makes it so the wood does not fracture along the outside. The amount of tension within the wood, even after steaming, is too great to bend without the strapping.

Finishing by putting clamps all over the hold the piece to the form.

And just like that the coat rack form is complete with ease. The bend was relatively easy, whereas the chair forms will be much more work.

Myself grabbing pieces out of the steambox for the next bend.

Ernest, Jordan and myself setting up to bend.

Same as before, we make sure the pieces are snug in their holdings and firmly clamp them to the secured forms I made. We do not have much time once taken out of the steam box. Maybe a total of five hot minutes to be able to bend it without trouble, any longer than that and the piece is un-bendable.

These pieces were smaller than the coat rack so we needed extra leverage to be able to bend them.

Nearing the end of the bend I needed an extra body to be able to push it into place. I managed to complete all 3 bends successfully on the first attempt. The plan was to wait two weeks for the pieces to dry in the forms. But now they will wait until we are let back into the school. Whenever that will be.

The next step was turning new continuous legs for my chair. Unlike the prototype before this the joinery was all done on the lathe, calculated the angle and shaped until it fit the mortise perfectly. I start by turning the leg portion, because it is the easiest part to do.

Because the piece is so thin it must be held by a stabilizer in the middle to reduce vibrations.

This is all I had completed that I have taken pictures of. Everything now sits at school untouched and awaits the end of this pandemic. Hopefully we can get through this soon, not making furniture is hurting my productivity.