imm cologne 09 preview: 'zipshape' by schindlersalmerón

this is the coolest thing ive seen done using simple woodworking techniques.

tarynpaper   01.14.09

Yes, but you could also say it is the inefficient way of doing what laminated pieces have accomplished more successfully for decades. Seriously, you loose 50% of the wood to have a weaker piece. This holds together because of the insane amounts of glue, as it is trying to glue endgrain to endgrain, which everybody knows is just not wise.

Joe Dillier   01.14.09

I came in here to say what Joe said -- I love the end-on effect, but the way it's done is just crazy. There's ways to achieve the same thing using existing woodworking techniques and products that don't involve turning large pieces of solid walnut into powder and scraps.

Karl Katzke   01.15.09

some notes on earlier comments:
— this method is developed to save the mould in individual production and small series
— the image titled "interlocking and bending the panels" indicates that there is no solid walnut inside the panels
— details on http://www.schindlersalmeron.com/images/stories/publications/2008_Schindler_ZipShape.pdf

schindlersalmerón   01.15.09

Dear Joe, Dear Karl,
have you ever thought about a different manufacturing method? If you create a chair like this out of plywood, there might be a lot more waste than 50%. If you want to build a chair like this out of sawn veneer, you have a 3mm sawblade to cut a 3mm layer. The layer has to be sanded down to a 2mm layer to get it flexible for bending. How about the waste??? And I promise, you would never reach such a narrow radius.
At least you can manufacture this chair out of precious veneer. You just need round about 43 layers (0,7mm) including 42 coats of glue to get a construction in 30mm. Have fun to produce a layer-bent-construction.
And I din´t talk about the statics.
Sorry, but don´t depreciate this system with a cheap argument like the 50% loss of wood!
Open your mind.

A cabinetmaker   01.15.09

Most veneer in engineered lumber isn't sawn, but cut, producing ZERO waste. Justifying this waste because another technique is wasteful doesn't make sense. There are less wasteful techniques: such as using cut veneer as opposed to sawn veneer.

Joe and Karl make a good point about function (waste and efficiency are important considerations);

Cabinetmaker makes a good point about form (new methods must be considered - this is a great example!!!).

JacobSkousen   01.16.09

'shopped.

i've seen some shop's in my day ans these pixels are to die for!

man man man   01.17.09