Furniture design and CNC

Furniture design and modern manufacturing in European context

REPORT OF LEARNING, TEACHING, TRAINING ACTIVITIES 8 Colmar, France

Transnational meeting for Erasmus+ project
Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices


Project No. 2018-1-DE02-KA202-005058


Project title: Furniture design and modern manufacturing in European context - development of key competences for trainer, teacher and joiner trainees.


Learning, teaching, training activity No.8 for Erasmus+ project in Colmar


Date: Monday, 20.01.2020 - Friday, 24.01.2020

 

Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

 

Place:

Lycee Blaise Pascal de Colmar, Rue de Logelbach 74, 68025 Colmar France


Members:

Marie Cuogo, Pekka Pirttiniemi, Matti Jokinen, Jonas Carlqvist, Christer Sjödin, Hans Janßen, Ulli Fregin,  Jörn Kittlaß, Arkadiusz Kulon, Hernan Bahamondes, Pascal Michel.

Monday, 20.01.2020:

We arrived on Monday morning at Lycee Blaise Pascal de Colmar and were welcomed by Pascal, the joiner teacher from school. Pascal showed the schedule of the week and we had a look on the drawings from the last LTTA in November 2019. After this we took the solid wood which was delivered on that morning and put it in the workshop to get the right moisture. Then we started to program the CNC machine for the different boards that we have to drill and that we have to bring on the right measurements. The 3 project groups are: a cabinet desk for the CNC machine, a chair for the CNC machine and a big shelf for the administration of the school. We also had to work with high pressure laminate.

Programs:

In the workshop every group cut in rough measurement the chipboard and veneer plywood for their project. Also they used the planer to plan some solid wood for the maple shelf. All groups made some programming for the CNC parts at the CNC machine for the dowels, for rebates and grooves. The desk cabinet group cut the chipboard and glued 2 boards from 19 mm to one board of 38 mm. Afterwards the edge of the board was glued in 3 stripes of laminate. The shelf group glued the pieces of maple wood and put them together for the sides and the shelves. This group also did some veneer work with maple veneer for the backside of the shelf.

All groups get to know the new program of `Maxcut´  to cut the chipboards.

Tuesday, 21.01.2020:

Wednesday, 22.01.2020:

In the morning we had a one hour lasting discussion about planning the Stockholm week in march 2020. After that, CNC chair sides were made and, in more traditional methods, seat and back boards and side spacers were made with a molder and grinder. The sides of the chair were glued to five-layer boards, which proved to be quite a sturdy solution. The milled sides were finished with a hand mill and sanded as the first milling caused burn marks. The parts of the shelves were planed and cut to the correct dimensions to allow them to be machined to the correct shape and to drill connection holes. When the timber was too damp, the final result was known, the boards began to warp as they dried, but it could not be prevented.

In the morning we continued to work in the groups in the workshop. The shelf group has to produce lot of shelves with the CNC machine. The cabinet group colored the legs with some vinegar and steelwool and after 40 minutes the color of the oak legs turned to black.

Thursday, 23.01.2020:

They glued the sides between the legs and the legs. The stoolgroup made the forms of the side with the CNC machine. After lunch the whole project group visited the company called Earny nearby the school. It was a small company with one Meister and some joiner workers and one apprentice. They made lot of furniture in oak wood. After this we went back to the workshop and the shelf group screwed the shelf together with the side. It was not easy, because the solid wood turned a little bit in the form because it was not that dry as it should be. The CNC cabinet group put the four cabinets together with the legs and the sides and also the glued the four drawers for this furniture. Later on they made the form of the front and the back (a wave) with the CNC machine and the glued both the blue part and the orange part together. The stool group put the part together and made a trial of sitting on the stool and they were very satisfied.

The week was quite busy and the plans for Stockholm should be small in scale, with students participating and more project staff. In addition, students are less accustomed to doing and are strangers to each other. Initially, the introductory event is organized in different clips and then it is possible to plan, mix different nationalities and form groups of three.

Friday, 24.01.2020:

The groups finalized their work and at the same time resumed interviews on Thursday, which will be posted on the project's website. The second shelf was assembled and the surface treatment became soap treatment, which is popular in Denmark. The chair was nothing but oiled with linseed oil. We took a close look at the manufactured furniture and carried out a short reflection phase over the manufacturing week.

Before lunch, we had a meeting for the week and how the project would continue in Stockholm in March.

Reports of Learning, Teaching, Training activities Colmar from

 

11.11.2019 - 15.11.2019

and

20.01.2020 - 24.01.2020

The 4 mm thick MDF board was used to make the back sides of the shelves, and it was veneered with a maple veneer on the front, the edges of which were planed straight between two boards because the school did not have a veneer saw. The bonding was done by taping with paper tape, which was really slow. There was a problem machining or programming the shelves because it was finally decided to use screws to assemble the shelves. The table top for the CNC cabinet desk was glued with an edge laminate, which turned out to be difficult because it was made in several parts and used an contact adhesive that could not be moved once the edge pressed. The table was well laminated and next the group manufactured other laminate parts, such as doors and drawers fronts.

Acquired skills for trainers and teachers:

 

Competence in optimization of 2D and 3D manufacturing drawings. Programming the CNC machine HolzHer and optimization the CNC directly by the machine.  Competence for the installation of fittings and auxiliary materials e.g. hinges, concealed hinges, threaded rods. Checking the functions, dimensions and surface quality of the furniture or individual parts of the furniture. Competence for installation of different joiner machines to optimize the process of production in the workshop. Improvement in verbal communication about design, materials, connections, surfaces and quality of furniture.