furniture specs

7/29/2019 Furniture Specs

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FurnitureStructure and Materials

Quality of materials and technique in furniture construction has a major

impact on both its durability and its proper use.

Generally the details of construction of a piece of furniture are at least

partially concealed in the finished piece. Because of this, the

reputation of a particular manufacturer, published specifications, and

price are all clues to the quality of construction.

Well made furniture need not be expensive, but cheap duplicates of

high quality products are almost always the result of some skimping on

materials, or details of construction.

Good furniture is not weak, fragile, or shaky when new, and will notdevelop weaknesses with normal use over long periods of time.


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FurnitureGeneral Guidelines

Just how sturdy a piece of furniture needs to be depends on its

intended use.

Many fine antiques that have held up for centuries are quite

delicate, but they have been used only under conditions that donot impose too much rough usage.

Delicate materials and finishes can survive in private living

spaces or in executive offices better than in hotel rooms,

dormitories, or where young children will be regular users.

Whatever its intended use, good furniture is characterized bygood materials, techniques of construction, and finishes at an

appropriate level of durability.


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Materials used to make furniture

A variety of materials are used to make furniture, but the primary

structure of most furniture is based on three families of

materials, used alone, or in combination.

The three families of materials are: wood

metal

plastics


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Wood furniture

Wood is still the most used furniture material, and was almost

the only material used in most historic (pre 20th century)

furniture.

Wood used for furniture is either: solid wood

plywood


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Solid wood furniture

vs.

plywood furniture

Solid wood

To produce a board measuring 1 inch thick, a tree is cut down

and sawn to random lengths of 6 to 12 feet.

Since trees are round and boards are rectangular, there issubstantial waste.

Imagine a square within a circle and everything outside of the

square is trashed.

Next, the board desired is rough-cut from the log, and the saw

kerf wastes another centimeter down the length of the log everytime it makes a board.


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A 1 inch thick board must be rough cut to a little less than 1-1/2 inches

thick, then dried, which causes slight warpage.

To make the board flat and smooth, it must be planed, this trashes

another 3/8 to 1/2 inch.

In producing a 1 inch thick board already the waste is greater than the

yield.

The board is just a random width and length, and the piece of furniture

is not even started.

If the simplest stick chair is made, waste is another 25-30%, and if a

piece of furniture has any curves or uses a low yield species of wood,like cherry or walnut, the waste factor is another 100% to 200%......or

more.


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In comparison with solid wood construction of furniture, usingplywood is much more efficient as a use of wood.

Furniture grade plywood is manufactured specifically to be usedas an exposed, visual, attractive, finished surface.

One type of furniture grade plywood is called Baltic Birchplywood.

Baltic Birch plywood is made of 7, or 15, layers of birch, eachlayer turned 90 degrees from the previous layer. Baltic Birch

plywood is made in sheets that are 5 x 5. This yields a piece of plywood that is very stable, visually

refined, and without voids in the layers.


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Edge of Baltic Birch Plywood13 ply = 3/4 thick sheet


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Birchnatural, unstained color


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A good web page showing photos of different types

of wood surfaces.

http://www.boulterplywood.com/ProductGallery_41.ht

m


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A connection using baltic birch plywood

Edges of typical sheets of baltic birch plywood


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A table using baltic birch plywood and steel tubes.


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A glass top with molded baltic birch plywood base

elements.


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Metal Furniture

Metals are used to make parts, such as legs, frames, and table

bases, and as a primary material for office furniture, kitchen

cabinetry, utility shelving, and storage units.

Steel in the form of rods, tubing, and sheets is the most usedmetal for furniture.

Aluminum in the form of tubes, and formed sections, such as

angles, channels, and Ts is used for cast legs, frames, and

small parts.


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Metal office furniture and utility files, cabinets, and shelves are

made of sheet steel.

The sheets are cut, and then bent to form box shapes, or with

bent flanges (edges) used to make shelves or tops. The gauge (thickness) of the sheet metal is an important factor

in determining the quality of a piece. Sheet metal that is too thin

will not hold up well. Thicker sheet metal is stronger, will last

longer, and will resist denting and deforming.


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Plastics used in furniture

Plastic Laminates: are composed of layers of heavy paper

impregnated with melamine resin.

Acrylics: such as Plexiglas and Lucite, resemble glass in their

transparency, but can be made translucent and colored, andopaque. Acrylics can be bent and molded into curved shapes.

Molded Plastics: such as styrene, polyethylene, nylon, and vinyl,

are often made into small parts, such as glides, rollers, edge

trim, and drawer pulls.

Fiberglass: a hybrid material in which glass fibers areembedded in a molded polyester resin. Used to make custom

auto body parts and small boat hulls.


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A molded fiberglass part for an airplane


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Making fiberglass objects


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Two half molds that will be used to form a fiberglass

drum.


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Fiberglass chairs using a design from the 1950s

that show the fiberglass fibers.


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The Eames' fiberglass reinforced chairs solved the problem of

how to make a seat out of a single shell. This chair went into production

in 1950.


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This chair has a molded fiberglass frame that is made of fire-

retardant polyurethane foam.


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Fiberglass seatsdesigned by Swedish designer

Peter Fargring and produced by London based LosPalurdos.


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Molded fiberglass


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Molded fiberglass chairs


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Molded fiberglass chairs


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Fabric upholstery over foam on steel frame


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Molded foam with fabric upholstery


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Fabric upholstery on molded foam with steel rod legs


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Molded plastic stadium seats


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Steel sheet metal cut out chair


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Components of ChairsOffice chairs are sophisticated pieces of

design and construction


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Chairs need feet to ease the friction between the

floor and the chair, and to provide a visual and

functionally appropriate termination of the legs.

Casters:


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Special Needs Chairs

often a medical environment necessity


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Herman Miller Caper chair

with casters


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Herman Miller Aeron chairOne of the most sophisticated, and now famous,

contemporary office chairs, in comparison with a wood

office chair dating from the 1940s


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Aeron chairdesigned by Don Chadwick, and Bill Stumpf

High-performance, long-term seating in three sizes with a fullcomplement of adjustments and innovative suspension

The two designers began this development process with a

clean slate, with no assumptions about form or material, butwith some strong convictions about what a chair ought to dofor a person.

"The human form has no straight lines, it is biomorphic. Wedesigned the chair to be above all biomorphic, or curvilinear,

as a metaphor of human form in the visual as well as thetactile sense. There is not one straight line to be found on anAeron chair.


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Substantial research and testing went into the design

of the Aeron chair.

The Aeron design was refined and validated through researchand experts' opinions:

It was tested for comfort with scores of users, pitting itagainst the best work chairs available.

Leading ergonomists, orthopedic specialists, and physicaltherapists evaluated the chair's fit and motion, the benefit andease of its adjustments.

The design team conducted anthropometric studies across thecountry, using a specially developed instrument to calculateeverything from popliteal height to forearm length.

The research team did pressure mapping and thermal testingto determine the weight distribution and heat- and moisture-dissipating qualities of the Pellicle material on the chair's seatand back.


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The pellicle is a thin layer supporting the cell membrane in

various protozoa, protecting them and allowing them to retain

their shape. They vary from flexible and elastic to rigid.

thin film or membrane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa


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"The Pellicle was equally a deliberate design strategy in thatits transparency symbolizes the free flow of air to the skin inthe same way lace, window screens, and other permeablemembranes permit the flow of air or light or moisture.

The transparency of the chair as a visual element was inkeeping with the idea of transparent architecture andtechnology, which Aeron pioneered in advance of Apple'stransparent iMac computers.

Transparency is a major design movement.

Its purpose is to make technology less opaque, tocommunicate the inner workings of things, and to makeobjects less intrusive in the environment. Aeron is a non-intrusive chair."


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The Aeron chair comes in three sizes and a choice of Pellicleweaves and finishes.


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Bowling Ball chair

made of 15 half bowling balls


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A web page for wheels and casters

http://www.muvtons.com/products.html

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