Cork

Documentation by

Shrishti Bhandari BD/15/N1586 FC III

Visual Mechandising

Physical and chemical properties of cork Honeycomb cell structure (14 sided polyhedron-filled with air)

High density material-floats on water

Non-malleable- cannot be beaten to change shape Bio degradable- made of oak tree’s bark

Flexible- composed of individual cork shreds compressed together, if bent does not break easily

Self-healing surface

Durable Bad conductor of electricity

Bad conductor of heat

Recyclable

Where to buy cork sheet in Mumbai?

Parle Laminates & Ply wood- Vile Parle East, Mumbai SRRL Exports- Mira road,Mumbai Sonai Enterprises- Laxmi Building, Mumbai Dharmesh Enterprises- DD Sathe Marg, Girgao, Mumbai Anchor Cork Pvt. Ltd.- Vasanji Road Andheri East, Mumbai Superb Enterprises- L. Lokhande Mark, Chembur, Mumbai Unity Enterprises- Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabha Devi, Mumbai

Cork sheet prices and varieties available online Ebay.in-1/16 x 24” x 36” 1.5mm x 610mm x 914mm roll Rs.3778.00 Amazon.in- 24” x 36” x 3/8” }x3 Rs.11,612.00 Amazon.in- 12” x 36” x ¼” }x5 Rs.8,775.00

Tools •Pencil •Scale •Cutter •Fevicol heatex (glue) •Hacksaw •Saw •Chisel •Mallet •Sand paper •Fevicol

Cutting cork sheet

Process

Sticking cork sheet to make a block

Carving block using hacksaw

Understanding dimensions & scaling down

Smoothening rough sides using filer

Carving handles & base using blade

Carving depth using saw

Sticking backboard & filling gaps with fillers

Carving final layers using chisel & mallet

Cutting backboard of the sofa

Smoothening rough insides using filer

Refining all surfaces using big grain sand paper

Problems I faced while working with Cork sheet •Only available in sheets at ply shops around Bombay •Restricted to flat designs due to availability of material only as sheets •Layers had to be stuck together to make a block •Laminate glue damages the top layer of cork sheet while pasting, becomes difficult while carving •The glue stains the cork to a darker brown •While carving each layer of the sheet stuck together had to be carved separately because of uneven glue application •Tools like hack saw and saw get stuck in cork if too much pressure is applied

Time taken to finish the product •Day 1 cutting and sticking - 21min •Day 2 carving the base - 48min + 38min •Day 3 filing the base, cutting the back and finishing the sofa - 120mins

Price and costing Raw material cost (per sheet) - 6mm Rs.800 / 12mm Rs.1400 cost of raw material + labour cost + transportation cost + damages + overhead labour expenses + tools cost = Rs.3,500 But if the material is used to make a sofa of an actual size the material has to be industrially treated against termite and insects which will increase the cost of production leading to the price going as high as Rs.25,000