Furniture Portfolio Fall 2013

Daniel Zweig ARCH 497 08 Furniture Design/Build Fall 2013 Professor Frank Flury Illinois Institute of Technology

Ten Degree Chair Sketches and Mock Ups

Working iteratively towards the final Ten Degree Chair the design experimented with different proportions of wood and different methods of joints. Considering proportions of the human body and different ways a person would interact with the chair, it evolved to conform to its use while striving to remove need for a lower connection of the legs below the seat. Many metal chairs are able to achieve this, but it is difficult and risky to do with an all wood chair. Each iteration strived to perfect the joint and technique to ensure that the legs would be strong enough to withstand the forces imposed by the human body while still maintaining thin profiles in the seat and legs.

Ten Degree Chair

Process photos and 3D Model

Carefully throughout the process the chair was cut and glued to maximize efficiency of the materials. The joint was worked through as a dado joint that angled both directions so that the base of the chair could be flat but each leg, including the back support, could angle ten degrees to better support the forces and balance of the user. Each structural piece was also cut at the ten degrees at the end in two directions, once to angle ten degrees outwards and once to forwards or backwards, with the ends cut at ten degrees to provide a parallel surface for the connection to the seat and to the ground.

Ten Degree Chair Daniel Zweig - Fall 2013 Illinois Institute of Technology College or Architecture Designer Daniel Zweig Professor Frank Flury Materials Red Oak and Birch Plywood Description With all joints and connections at some form of ten degrees, this chair strives to connect so that it maximizes efficiency, structure, and comfort for the user. The chair can be made with less than one board foot of red oak, with its longest member being 18”, and less than 40”x16” of 1/4” plywood. The joints of oak members are adapted lap joints and the joints between all of the plywood and oak members attempt to connect with maximum surface area for gluing; all joints are glued. Each plywood member is mitered to connect to the next as it wraps 3” below the seat and 3” above the back. The weakest joint seen in the iterations was the miter between the seat and back of plywood outside of the support members, which was solved by a thin splice on the underside of the corner. The final chair is sanded and finished with wipe-on polyurethane to retain the color of the wood.

Ulmer Stool

Process and Final Product

The Ulmer Stool is a great practice for furniture techniques that I used throughout the rest of the semester and will continue to use throughout my life. From selecting wood to joining, planing, and finishing techniques as well as finger joining, lathing, dowel jointing, domino biscuit joining, table sawing fingers, and routing. Careful consideration was taken throughout the construction of the stool to ensure the proper amount of finish or sanding had been completed before each subsequent step of construction. The most beneficial lesson during the stool project was the dry fitting and glue-up that required a specialized jig and a time sensitive approach to the perfect glue-up.

Lock Box

Process and Final Product

Asked at the beginning of the semester to build a box for something we need, I designed and built this lock-box to replace the lockers that the new crown layout had removed. As a place for my laptop and camera throughout the semester it needed to be safe, secure, sturdy, and discreet. Using a combination of carriage bolts and reused metal and wood from the shop I created a lock box that could keep a few things safe, practicing techniques that make it solid and secure from the outside, while efficient and open once unlocked. It was designed with the dimensions of my belongings and performed its job flawlessly throughout the semester.

Daniel Zweig ARCH 497 08 Furniture Design/Build Fall 2013 Professor Frank Flury Illinois Institute of Technology