27798232 -Harry Guan_Ex Lab Final Journal

EX LAB FURNITURE FUTURES

HARRY GUAN 2021 Tutors: Adam Markowitz & Adam Cornish

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Mood Board P5 Tool Box

P6 Band Saw Experimentation P17 Bandsaw Stool

P25 Melbourne Exhibition Week P29 Crystal Experimentation

P31 Crystal Weight Test

P42 Crystal Design Ideas P48 Crystal Stool Experiment P54 Final Table Design Iteration 1 P64 Final Table Design

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Content

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INITIAL MOOD BOARD

Exploring crystals and its function. Most precents that exist using crystals uses crytals for its aesthetic purposes. I want to go a step further and see how it can be of use in the practical sense.

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Based on the toolbox design provided, I brain-stormed with my work partner Jack on how to connect the sides together.

PROCESS

Rather then connect them traditionally through glue, nails and screws, we decided to join the timber cut outs through rope and tension.

TOOL BOX

Partner: Jack Halls

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After our brain storm, the design is modeled by jack and made into drawings for accurate measurements.

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Drill Press The drill press machine is used for several reasons, first the holes in which the rope is going to weave through are created based on our measurements.

Chamfering In order to avoid the wood chipping from the tension of the rope, we decided to chamfer the holes on both side of the timber block.

This is done by replacing the drill bit with a chamfering bit on the drill press and ajusting how low the drill can lower to a certain distance so that it does not puncture through the timber.

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Edge Milling Machine If the toolbox were to be held together through rope, the timber parts would be easily moveable out of place.

Jack and i decided to connect the timber sides and bottem with rabbet joints using the milling machine so the timber would be held together without sliding out place.

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The rope used to join the toolbox faces allows for a bit of give hence if this toolbox is dropped, it will not brake that easily due to its flexibleness.

In total 2 seperate ropes are used (one for each side of the toolbox) however one improvement we can make is holding the entire toolbox together with one long rope.

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The rope ends is clamped together with sheet metal.

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THE ROPE TOOLBOX

The rope held toolbox allows for a bit of give and to continue this idea the rope is also weaved through the dell to hold it in place too.

The holes holding the dell is slightly larger then its diameter hence when the toolbox is being lift up it will give a satisfying click sound when the rope gives.

• This click sound only happens if there is an item in the toolbox that is heavier then a certain weight as only then there will be enough tension to allow the rope to give.

• Future implications of this could be it allowing the user to know if the toolbox is holding

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somthing above a certain weight.

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Bandsaw Experimentation One benefit of the bandsaw over most other saws is that it has a lot of its cutting edge exposed hence it can make contact with more material. this means that the timber cut can be extremely thick.

The band saw is also allows more flexible cutting then most other blades due to how thin the blade is hence I decided to test out the band saw by creating a wavy table leg.

First I cut a fence post in half though a wavy motion then the two pieces are held together and the fence post is rotated and cut again from the other side.

The end result is 4 unique curvy peices of timber.

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Bandsaw Process • I decided to stick four timber pieces back together again however this time from their flat surfaces so the curved and originally facing in surfaces are exposed outwards.

• The band saw cutting has left a bit of the 4 pieces not joining seamlessly so that needs to be sanded off.

• Wood glue is spread evenly and the timber pieces are clamped down and left overnight.

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wood splinters which would result in

The timber block which is used to create this curvy structure is hard wood. This resulted in burn marks due the friction from the bandsaw which are sanded off.

CAPTURE DREAM

MAKE IT REAL

Bandsaw Stool Process While i was experimenting with cutting curves with the bandsaw, jack was looking at cutting spirals and telescoping timber (which is the direction we went with as we deemed it to have higher potential).

We discussed about: • Stretching and holding the spiral bandsaw cut timber piece together though tension.

• Making the timber stool hold itself without using glue, nails or screws (following the theme of our previous toolbox project).

PRE-PRODUCTION Making use of the bandsaw's large cutting surface, Jack and I decided to start with a large laminated timber block as the starting base of our stool.

This is done by: • Cutting large timber planks into equal pieces • Milling the pieces so they have equal and smooth surfaces • Rotating the timber grains then glue/clamping the pieces to make a large timber laminated block

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MODERN STYLISH

BANDSAW The plate of the bandsaw can be ajusted to be on an angle. In order to create the telescoping effect, we cut the rings out of the laminated timber block at a 2 degree rotation in order to prevent the rings from sliding out from each other when tightened.

• The band saw plate is lowered to expose more of the blade • The plate is ajusted to be at an 2 degre angle • Rings are cut out of the timber block.

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To cut the rings out of the timber block, the band saw has to enter from an angle hence breaking the enclosed ring for each layer. We expanded this cut entry point to allow the rings to be more flexible.

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In order to creatre more friction, Jack stuck grip paper on the ends of the timber ring layers.

Once each ring is adjusted to be a centain height, the rings are tightened using polyester webbing and held in place.

Jack and I did not like the look of the polyester webbing on the stool hence we decided to hold the tension of the timber though a more concealed detail from the inside.

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The 'lid' of this stool is connected to the stool though a rabbot connection however not glued down.

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The stool is not only a stool as it can also be opened up (due to us not gluing the lid down) and used as a storage box.

Other ideas we had is the ablility for the stool to be compact either from seperation of the parts or compressed into itself.

This idea can be implimented if there was more then a 2 week limit to conduct this project.

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Features

Telescope Stool

MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK EXHIBUTION Other Works from 'Wonder Struck'

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BROACHED COMMISSIONS RECALL COLLECTIONS

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Broached recalls design periods that have fallen out of favour and corrects them within a current aesthetic. This involves harvesting antiques for their useful parts and repurposing them. The particular pattern that is charactistic to his work is made by laminating diffrient kinds of timber. .nto a range of furniture typologies.

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CRYSTAL PRECEDENT

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Straight up, i can tell from this piece that copper sulphate is not very structually strong as not only the shape of the crystals longitudional and flat but they also barely make contact with the surfaces the grow on.

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MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK EXHIBUTION Crystal covered objects by Elliot Bastianon One melbourne design week exhibition that caught my eye is a crystal covered object presented by Elliot Bastianon.

The piece resembles a bench and a stool which is made of blue crystals growing on concrete.

Upon further research, i discovered that the blue crystals is copper sulphate.

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Again the crystal in this display adds no functional value to the furniture other than being a visual addition however i want to design a furniture that uses crystals structurally and functionally.

CRYSTALS AND PRECEDENT RESEARCH SAFETY Borax and Alum crystals are non-toxic; however, it can still cause irritation, burns, and respiratory issues. If inhaled, it may cause headaches, nausea, and respiratory irritations. Hence it is best to wear goggles mask and gloves to avoid irritation.

Alumunium Sulphate Crystals however cannot be swollowed.

- Tokujin Yoshioka - Blow bubbles within the solution in order to agitate the molicules - Saturate the solution to allow a lot of crystal’s molecules to stick together

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PRECEDENT: Venus Crystal Chair Designer: Tokujin Yoshioka

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Crystals Making Requirements

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Alum Crystals (Aluminium Sulfate)

PROCESS Potassium Aluminium sulphate is super saturated into

The solution is kept hot by keeping it in a bowl full of boiling

water and poured into a cut bottle.

water. This is done to further melt the alum powder as well

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as prevent crystals forming.

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Two 3d printed objects are placed in the 2nd half of the bottle

The near boiling over saturated alum solution is poured

and some plastic is placed into the center to test if the crystals

into the container with the objects.

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hold the pieces together.

The solution is left over night to allow crystals to form.

This experiment is a failure as the crystals did not form at all despite the seller clearly labeling the powder as Alum powder.

This could be because of misunderstanding of the 'alum title' as aluminium sulphate rather then potassium aluminium sulphate.

PROCESS Copper sulphate is not strongly held together and upon a

printed objects), i made copper sulphate.

gentle push the crystal cluster shatters into many pieces.

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Using the same previous process (except without the 3d

Alum crystals are smaller then copper sulphate crystals

Alum Crystals is also not very strongly held together and upon

despite given the same amount of time to crystalize.

a gentle push the crystal cluster shatters into many pieces too.

Borax Crystas form large crystals extremely quickly

It takes a relatively more significant amount of pressure for this crystal to shatter and when it does, it does not shatter int many pieces which is a sign that the pieces are held together more strongly.

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Polyether Sea Sponge With Large Pores

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Nylon Scrubbing Pads

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EXPERIMENTING WITH BORAX CRYSTALS

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TESTING BORAX ON DIFFRIENT KINDS OF SPONGES TO SEE WHICH HOLDS UP THE MOST STONGEST

Several sponges/scourers were selected to test which one has more strength when crystals are grown on and in them. These sponges/scourers have diffrient levels of porosity and thickness.

These sponges/scourers tend to float when placed in borax solution hence they need to be pressed down with chopsticks to get rid of air bubbles. A weight is also placed on them to hold them down.

One thing discovered in this experiment is that crystals would only grow below and not above the water level surface.

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Cellulose Sponges (wood pulp) with Smaller Pores

Rubber bands were placed on the sponges to see if it will maintain its shape when removed

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Cellulose Sponges

Polyether Sea Sponge

The celluose sponges were extremely rigid after being left in the borax solution over night (10 hours). After removeing the rubber band which was distorting the sponges it maintains it rigid shape.

The polyester sea sponge was the least successfull as once going through the crystalization process, it does not remain rigid. This is likely due to how thick this sponge was which prevents crystals from reaching deeply in the inside.

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Nylon Scrubbing Pads feels to be the most successfull as it is the most solid out of all the materials; likely due to it being the most porous and having consistant porosity throughout its structure.

Nylon Scrubbing Pads THe nylon scrubbing pads remained in its distorted form even when removing the rubber band. It also feels solid when being handled hence gaining some structural integrity.

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In all cases, the crystalized objects are solid enough to hold its own weight.

This experiment showed me that Borax Crystallization is a viable method to make easily malleable and porous materials into solid form. Despite this, the crystalline structures formed using this method can still be easily crushed when put under purposefull pressure.

Not only do i need to think about how to make the crystals stronger in my next experiment but also what purpose can it form in a furniture design.

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What I Discovered

BORAX CRYSTAL CONNECTION Company Name

PROCESS OF MAKING CONNECTION

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1. In order to make the facing surfaces larger, the timber block is cut in a 45 degree angle using a mitre saw. When rotated the connecting surfaces are larger. (So more surface for crystals to hold on to)

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2. 'Nylon Scrubbing Pads' was chosen as the growing medium for the crystal to hold on to due to their success in the last experment. They are hold in place on the wood surface with glue before being nailed for extra security.

3. Once the two nylon surfaces are put in place, nails are usd as steel reinforcement and to hold the sides together.

Nails are placed in the nylon pads without being nailed in to the timber.

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The two blocks are flexible enough to be adjusted pre-crystallization while being loosly held together by the nylon scrubbing pads and nails.

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CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS 1. In order to saver on material costs and reduce waste, the left over crystals from previous experiments can be remelted into the solution. Extra borax poweder would need to be added as some borax is lost during my experimentation.

2. The liquid solution can be reused too as it will be fully saturated at room tempreture. If borax is remelted in water from scratch, it will take more time and materials to saturate.

3. The timber joint is lowered below the over saturated borax solution as crystals will not grow beyond the water surface.

4. Over time, the borax crystals will form on the surfaces which are in contact with the solution (including within the porous nylon pads). This process only takes 8 hours as the crystals will grow overnight.

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5. MAKING THE CRYSTALS STRONGER: To have larger (and relatively stronger) crystals the timber connection is carefully removed and the solution is reboiled with more borax powder toped up into the solution. Once the solution has cooled down and crystals are starting to form again, the timber connection can be re-added in again.

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CONNECTION STRENGTH

PURE CRYSTAL CONNECTION STRENGTH

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The strength of the crystal connection is tested through using weights and a scale.

First the L shaped structure is placed in an cantelever position through clamps and a scale connected to a bag is hooked by a screw that screwed at the end of the cantelievering timber block. Once in position weights are slowly added into the bag untill the crystal connection gives.

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The weights are added into the bag at an interval of 1.5kg. A crack appeared on the crystal connection once the 8.5kg weight is added in the bag.

With this experiment it is show that the crystal connection can hold an 7kg to 8.5kg load with two timber blocks at 6cm x 6cm thickness.

6cm

6cm

A crack appeared at the 8.5kg load interval Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed eiusmod tempor

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incididunt.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed eiusmod tempor incididunt.

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JOINING DETAIL PROCESS

- The idea of this joint is to allow the two timber pieces to make contact with each other while still leaving space to insert the scrubbing pads. for crystals to grow on.

- This joint would rely on the timber's strength as well as the crystals. The contacted parts of the timber would act as a pin connection.

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The crystal joint experiment is repeated however this time with a connection detail to test if the joint will be stronger.

TIMBER DETAIL AND CRYSTAL CONNECTION STRENGTH

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The weight test is repeated with the new joint experiment. Although the timber is longer then the last experiment, the location of the nail is place at the same length away from the crystal.

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The weights are added into the bag at an interval of 1.5kg.

With this experiment it is show that the crystal connection can hold an 8.5kg to 10kg load with two timber blocks at 6cm x 2.5cm thickness.

Even when there is less timber surface for the crystals to grow on, the joint heald more weight.

2.5cm 6cm

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A crack appeared at the 10kg load interval

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed eiusmod tempor incididunt.

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CRYSTAL AND FURNITURE IDEAS A

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This iteration excersize is also a way to explore diffrient joining techniques using crystal.

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Red means the scrubbing pad

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Blue means a mould to hold the solution for the crystal to form

B

At this point, I am not sure what furniture piece I want to work on for my final project however I am leaning towards a table. Similar to my experiments, the crystal will be the structural joint for the table, holding the table together. Below are the table model and the details in which they are created.

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C

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D

TESTING CRYSTAL JOINING IDEA D PROCESS OF MAKING CONNECTION Using the drill press, a large hole is created to act as the bowl to hold the crystal solution. A small hole is created on a different piece of timber and the two pieces of timber are stuck together.

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The idea is for the crystal solution sitting in the bowl to form and hold the end of the table leg in place.

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Nylon scrubber is used as a wedge. Hopefully when hardened due to crystals, the wedge can hold the table leg to the table top. Silicon is used to seal any gaps so crystal solution dosnt leak out.

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OBSERVATION The crystal is pretty strong however a single one is not strong enough to allow the table leg to hold human weight. Sharing the weight between several legs however it may be a diffrient story.

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Thus to be safe, if this design is to be continued, it needs to be a table and not a stool.

TESTING CRYSTAL JOINING IDEA 2

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PROCESS

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Idea 2 looks at a triangular framework design for a crystal stool. The majorative of the structure is placed into the timber and the crystal holds everything in place. This piece is to test if crystal joints can allow the stool to hold human weight.

Using string, the nylon scrubbers is tightly binded onto the timber, temporarly holding the pieces together before the crystals set.

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Nylon scrubbers are placed in any areas where crystals are intended to form.

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Once one side has crystals formed, the stool is flipped and the same process is repeated.

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OBSERVATIONS

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When I removed the timber piece from the solution, the intention was to have 3 separate crystal blobs holding the ends of each table legs separately, however unintentionally one giant blob formed and remained intact. The texture was extremely fascinating and I really want to use this texture for my final design as a display feature.

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Structurally the stool was extremely strong, being able to hold at least 80 kilograms as discovered through a sitting test however the stool wont be very comfortable because of the uneven surfaces.

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OBSERVATIONS One element that I did not particularly like is how the crystal residue stains the timber. This results in the crystal stool looking very experimenty and messy.

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Another thing I noticed is that crystals are most prominent on surfaces facing upwards. This led me to conclude that crystals won't form on surfaces facing downwards.

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USING FRAME JOINING IDEA - SIDE TABLE DESIGN SIDE TABLE ITERATION 1 Although the crystal triangle framework joint showed its success as a stool, I want to explore creating a side table as the table top would be an excellent way to display the surface texture of the crystal (discovered un-intentionally in the last experiment).

50cm

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50cm

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The triangular V timber connection won't be as necessary because of the table not needing to carry as much weight as a stool.

The emphasis of the crystals in this side table would be how it connects the timber table legs to the perspex table top and form the joints connecting the structural framework.

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The texture of the crystals would also be revealed through the transparent perspex.

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SIDE TABLE ITERATION 1 PROCESS PLAN Step 1: Cut out the support and table legs out of timber and cut out pieces from the nylon scrubbers.

Step 2: Set the perspex table top in the mould/ tray and put table legs into position. Allow crystals to form until table legs are rigid.

Step 3: Turn the table right side up and set each leg into a mould and allow crystals to form, joining the leg and support pieces together.

Step 4: Turn the table upside down and set a mould under where the 3 support timber pieces connect and allow crystals to hold the 3 pieces together.

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TABLE DESIGN ITERATION PROCESS

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SIDE TABLE ITERATION 1 MAKING PROCESS 1. Using the thicknesser machine, the timber is evened out to be 20 mm thick.

2. Next the table saw is used to cut out 3 timber strips that are 40mm wide.

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3. Using the router table, the edge of the timber piece is filleted using a curved blade.

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4. The three table legs are stuck together using masking tape face to face. This is done so thatthe details of the table legs is carved out identically when using the bandsaw.

5. Teeth are also cut into the timber to serve as grip for the crystals to hold on to when forming.

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< Finished table legs and structure framework pieces. (the framework pieces are created using the same method as the legs)

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As mentioned before, the crystal solution residue seeping into the timber makes it look messy. To combat this problem, the timber used for the final side table would be ebonized.

Hopefully the black timber color would hide the mess that the crystals leave on the timber.

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1. Creating the ebonized solution: 10 parts white vinegar is mixed with 1 parts iron in the form of steel wool.

2. After 3 days, when the steel wool has fully dissolved into the vinegar, the ebonising solution is wiped onto a test piece of timber (same as the table leg).

3. When the timber has turned black and dried, the ebonized part of the timber is placed into a crystal solution so crystals can for on it.

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EBONIZING & CRYSTAL EXPERIMENT

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Ebonizing makes the transition from crystal to timber more fluent and less messy.

Furthuremore, the contrast between the dark and and bright colors allows the crystal to stand out mroe.

SIDE TABLE DESIGN REVISION I realised that the crystal joint connecting the table leg to the timber structure piece would be in direct contact with the ground. Constantly putting direct load onto the crystal would eventually wear down.

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Aesthetically, the end of each table leg would just be blobs of crystals. In my opinion this is not elegant to the overall table design.

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The new design would have the timber leg and structure support pieces be one connected part. The crystal connection would be focusing only on the timber and table top connection.

TABLE DESIGN ITERATION 2 IDEAS Design A is a table with a shelving level underneath. This design allows for two levels of crystals being showcased.

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A

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Design B is not structurally strong because the timber in the ring would be weak. This is because cutting the ring from a single unlaminated piece of wood would result in a cut through the timber grains.

B

METHOD

Design C is similar to the first table iteration except the only diffrience is the table leg and structure piece is connected and not held together by crystal.

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I went with design A as it is more functional (using the structure joint as secondary shelving level) and visually attractive. Although this design won't be used to connect timber to timber as experimented previously, I think the decision to lose the timber joint is necessary because it makes the design simpler by reducing the necessary steps hence resulting in a less chance of failure.

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The table leg is sanded with a 180 grit sand paper and washed 5 times in order to smooth out the timber and get rid of splinters.

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JOINING DETAIL PROCESS

Once cut out, similar to the previous iteration process, the outer edge is filleted.

Instead of cutting teeth at the connection points of the table leg, larger laps are cut instead using the table saw. Laps are more stronger then teeth because the teeth would disrupt the timber grains making the timber weaker.

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The shape of the table leg is printed on a piece of paper and stuck to the timber to be traced and cut out.

EBONIZING PROCESS

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In order to make the timber, the table legs are soaked in tea first to increase the tannin levels in the wood. Furthermore, the tea soaking and ebonizing process is repeated 2 more times in order to allow the timber to become super black.

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After ebonizing the timber 2 times, the timber became much darker. When the timber drys however, the black would become matt which is not as effective in hiding the crystal residue.

Somthing needs to be done to allow the timber to remain glossy.

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CRYSTAL CONNECTION DETAIL

Horse shoe shaped wedge.

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A horse shoe shaped wedge offesets from the insertion hole which the timber is placed in. This acts like a wedge for the crystal to hold on when forming, holding the timber to the perspex table top.

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A guide line is etched on the horse shoe shaped wedge during laser cutting to make allignment easy when gluing.

When gluing , make sure to get rid of air bubbles.

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The nylon scrubber allows the timber to be inserted tightly into the perspex table top.

The nylon scrubber would prevent the table leg from moving out of place as well as act as a surface for the crystals to grow on.

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The nylon scrubber allows the table to move a bit so that the table level can be adjusted until the bubble is centered.

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< In order to make sure the table top is flat, a bubble leveler is used. (first the floor that the table stands on is tested to see if it is flat first)

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After setting a bowl under the bottom level table, the crystals and crystal solution used in previous experiments is remelted and used again. Another 500kg of borax is added to make up for any crystals lost.

Due to the experiments previously, I can be confident that the crystals won't form on the bottom of the perspex (which when flipped around, would be the table top).

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OBSERVATIONS The crystallization process is repeated two times to ensure the crystals grow thick and large.

As the crystals formed, some of the ebonizing from the timber seeped into the crystals however it unintentionally created a unique gradual transitioning effect which I quite like.

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Step 1. At first, the process for the smaller table is repeated for the bigger table however, when lifting the table out of the tray, the crystals join the perspex table top to the tray. This resulted in a breakage at the connection areas when lifting. To combat this problem, a layer of plastic wrap is placed between the perspex and the tray for easier lifting.

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LARGE TABLE TOP PROCESS

Step 2. Borax solution is added to the tray.

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LARGE TABLE TOP PROCESS

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Step 3. Crystals is left overnight to form.

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Step 4. The leftover solution is poured out and stored for re-usage.

Step 2 to 3 is repeated and more borax is re-added.

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REVEAL

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FINAL BORAX CRYSTAL SIDE TABLE

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TIMBER TOP COATING

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As mentioned previously, the matt look on the timber does not hide the crystal residue very well as the crystal residue is glossy. 4 Levels of varnish top coating is sprayed on to allow the timber table legs to become glossy as well as add protection.

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Between spraying vanish, the timber legs is sanded with a 320 grit sand paper and wiped with a towl.

This is not done for the final coat.

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CRYSTAL TOP COATING

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Throughout this semester, through my experimentation with borax crystals, I noticed that pieces are easily chipped off with enough pressure. In order to prevent that, a layer of pebble binding agent is added on to strengthen the crystals and prevent small loose pieces from falling off.

I made sure to fill every gap, especially the area where the perspex meets the crystals at the edge of the table top. >

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^ The pebble binding agent is spread out evenly using a towl.

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< Table feet is added at the end of the table legs.

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CONNECTION VIEW

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CONNECTION VIEW

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BOTTEM VIEW

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BOTTEM VIEW

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Thank you Adam Markowitz & Adam Cornish

REFLECTION ON SEMESTER OUTCOME

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From this semester, I discovered that borax crystals have lots of properties that are useable in furniture making. Not only can it be recycled, depending on how it is used, it can also be a structural part of the furniture design. In the topic of furniture making, all existing precedents that I have found use crystals for its aesthetic value. Often, it is seen to be used as a top coating and the texture it forms makes the novelty of the process. The reason crystals are not used structurally is likely because it is hard to predict how the crystals would grow. Therefore I spent most of my semester exploring different methods to control and read the patterns/ surfaces in which borax crystals would grow.

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The one major challenge when working with crystals is that crystals are extremely fragile, and would shatter if put under a lot of pressure. For example, although the crystals were seen to be strong holding timber together as my crystal stool could hold up a human's weight, by itself the crystals would shatter under similar heavy weight.

Despite this, I would say that this semester's exploration is largely successful as I have discovered several ways to control the growth of crystals. These include how to make the crystals grow stronger, discovering what directional surface crystals like growing on, what type of crystal is most suitable to use and what materials the crystals are most suited to grow on. Using this knowledge, I used borax crystals to form the joint and a controlled display feature for my final furniture design.

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