The MDF was a bit too thick (.75in.) for my chair design (.73in) the fits were snug, and that part was okay. What wasn’t so good is that when the pieces were bring jammed together one broke on top and in the front, right where the scarf conveniently fell. I will use thinner plywood instead of MDF to fix this problem. The front hole needs to be placed up on the z plane, so the weight of the spine doesn’t fall relying only on the sides and instead the bottom for support.
My chair is also missing an arm, this is because in RhinoCam I accidentally made one of the arms an inside cut instead of an outside cut. The final shell chair will also be sanded down.
This is only one of my two chair designs. My other chair’s main component is still being tested out. I’m finding a way to bend the MDF or plywood using kerfing. So far it has been unsuccessful, but I hope to succeed in time for the final date.
The legs and the seat could fit better with the seat’s joint space widened a bit (approximately by 0.125″?).
Visually, this chair came out the way I envisioned it, but it was not physically secure. The triangular support pieces I made did not fit correctly and I had to leave them out. I plan on making pieces to secure the legs against the table top on both sides in the next version. I will also make it so the legs do not connect all the way to the surface. This time to hide the ugly bruises of the legs sticking up, I cut another circle to place on top. I found the size of the seat and the height of the chair to work for the idea I was trying to capture. On the next version, I want to make the placement of the legs look more purposeful. I did very carefully choose where to put the legs, but it seems from the sideways view, very random. Another addition I would make is a cushion. A flat surface as a chair is not meant to be something to lounge on, but at the moment, it would be difficult to even relax with how hard the chair is.
I went to a Quaker High School for three years, but it wasn’t about religion or god. It was about inner peace and meditation. I imagine this chair being used in that mindset for an intimate conversation or a group reflection similar to a Quaker meeting. Quakers sit quietly until they feel the need to speak. This is the environment I want to create. I want the sitters to be surround and close to nature which is the reason for the low seat. I want to sitters to find inner peace and connect to the people around them. This chair can be anywhere where you can reach your hand down and stroke a blade of grass or a leaf. I chose to place the chair on a little clear grass next to the Morewood parking lot on the way to my dorm. People can stop, think, and converse here. College students and the community can find a moment of peace in the middle of their hectic lives.