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Thesis Production

Of course theorizing is the easy part. I didn't feel sure the theory was feasible, so I set out to build a working model. I had planned to cast the blocks out of a high-strength resin, however it turned out to be simpler to mill them out of a strong, 6000 series aluminum.

While I was searching for a CNC shop to make the blocks within my budget, I had a friend with an old milling machine and decided to start on them myself. Why did nobody tell me that a design school would be satisfied with drawings?


Planning - August to November


Production - November to January


Product - January and February


Development


Sawing

1" square stock cut to length with a metal band saw.


Milling

The milling set up - a machine from the 50s. Now I know why machinists get paid $60/hr..


Blocks

First run: off by about 6 thousandths of an inch, which looked awful once they were together.


On panels

Blocks attatched to a half-size wooden panel. It's impossible to find 1" plywood, so I had to laminate it myself from two 1/2" sheets.


Joined

To get around the problem of thread alignment, I used sex bolts to connect the blocks.


Panel

For the first set of panels I used expensive hardwood plywood. Pine looks almost as good if you stain it - and allows you to have money left to eat!


Desk

First test as furniture: it was unstable in the middle and I have learned to design them better since..