CHANGING DIRECTIONS

The Fold Up Kerf And Resin Pouring

Making many kerf cuts allows the wood to bend smoothly. However, black walnut is a very hard wood. Bending the wood caused many cracks and eventually it broke. I learned that I could fill one side of the kerfed wood with silicone rubber. This gave it some support while not allowing it to bend too far.

The next step was to learn how to pour resin and get a quality color scheme to represent a river. I pour many different colors, some with metallics, some with solid colors and some with both. Doing this allowed me to get the pour I wanted.

I poured two more times to test metallic and non-metallic pigments. I also decided to add a glow in the dark powder into the resin. The image on the far right was the final pour into a solid piece of live-edge black walnut.

After the resin pour, I planed the wood, glued it together with biscuit joints and then added the kerf cuts in the middle section so the seat could fold up.

Once the kerf cuts were made, I attempted to fold the part into seated position; however, the black walnut was too brittle and the kerfs shattered. This led me down a different path.

I utilized the existing kerfs to act as a lumbar support and then used Soss hinges to hide the bend.

The final design is a beautiful product that can act as a chair when there is overflow from the cafe in the museum or as a barrier to guide and direct people during events or activities.

The nature of the resin river allows the children to make their own river by lining multiple chairs side by side.