Bench 01 process —
The development of the bench was very physical from the start. Most of the shaping came through in 1:10 and 1:3 models from perforated aluminium and steel sheet. I paid attention to keep the perforation density and material thickness in proportion to the scale of the model. The most critical aspect was to determine and record the outline of the sheet that would result in a straight bottom line after the shaping of the bench. Real testing in material models was the ideal way to develop the overall shape and the complex outline of the final laser-cut sheet. — M Ch
1 — The process began on 1:10 scale models. As the idea and forms were arriving to a realistic solution the scale of the models was increasing up to some 1:1 tests.
2 — The modeled forms were directly recorded into digital production data. There has never been a technical drawing of the bench apart from the basic outer dimensions scheme.
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4 — We tested several thicknesses of steel upto 3mm in combination with various perforation densities. The important factor was to end up with the least amount of material while achieving sufficient strength and an ideal tactile and visual experience of the perforated structure.
5 — Blacksmith and metallurgy techniques such as forging in oil were used to change the properties of the sheet steel so we could achieve rigidity in structural areas and flexibility in sitting areas.
6 — The raw sheet of 2mm before lasering. We performed an expert weld to join two sheets of 1000x2000mm simply because we could not find a single sheet of 2mm steel big enough to fit the outline of the bench. Welding such a thin and large surface would normally create a lot of waves and deformations in the surface due to high temperature differences. We developed a method to weld the thin sheet while keeping it flat to fit within the vertical tolerance of the laser's cutting head.
7 — The perforation of the sheet summed up as a 500m laser cut. We had to add more memory to the laser's computer and reprogram the software of the laser to cut in different cycles so that the sheet could cool off. The duration of the process would normally cause the sheet to deform due to accumulated heat. There are several thousand tri-star holes in the sheet and the laser made only one mistake, which you can see here. We welded up the wrong cut and retouched the area.
8 — The ratio of holes and surfaces was tuned to give an angular aspect to a generally smooth curvature of the surface. We also paid attention to have the linearity of the pattern twist in a slight diagonal across the bench. If the lines ran parallel to its length the visual effect would not be so rewarding.
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11 — Master blacksmith at work.
12 — The complete bench without the brass layer and the clear powder coating. If left like this the sheet would rust like any ordinary steel which I would love to see but it would make the bench very difficult to live with.