andy coles manufacturing studies manufacturing studies easy chair easy chair informative illumination informative illumination bottle stopper bottle stopper please follow the links

easy chair 1) This was my first design for the project, an easy chair for the seaside, complete with stuck-on seashells and distressed wood. Eventually, I decided to design and make an easy chair for the Autumn. 2) A model of a proposed design was made. I wanted the actual chair to fold upwards when not in use, in order to save on storage space. For the decoration, I wanted to make use of rich colours. 3) I made up a wood stain by mixing PVA glue with water and adding red paint. This was applied to the pine frame in thin layers until the correct shade was attained and then the whole chair was painted with a clear varnish. Some parts of the chair had dark plywood inlaid into routed grooves to add extra interest. I used brass screws and cups in the construction to compliment the colour of the wood stain. 4) I chose a gold and red patterned material and made up a cover that could be used as a backrest and to hold the stored chair in position when slipped over the folded sections. 5) This was my finished easy chair, pictured against a backdrop of Autumn leaves. next project

bottle stopper 2) My final idea was to make use of a lever and cam mechanism that, when operated, would tighten and expand a rubber bung, sealing the neck of a wine bottle. The handle design was based on a wine glass shape. 3) For the design context of my bottle stopper, I chose the brand name Corkit and aimed the advertising campaign at promoting a sophisticated desirable product and wine drinking in moderation. 4) This shows the ‘open and closed’ positions of the manufactured bottle stopper and how the seal is made in the neck of the wine bottle. The round metal sections were turned on a lathe using aluminium bar and the handle cut from aluminium sheet. 1) I designed many types of bottle stopper, both on paper and in CorelDRAW 11 before I moved on to ProDesktop 8.0 and began producing a suitable mechanism. 5) Images of the bottle stopper in use and of the packaging. next project previous project

informative illumination 1) For this project, I decided to make an arrow-shaped sign that would be lit by using LEDs and give directional instructions. My final design which I chose was to give directions to a proposed trendy bar named Orange, aimed at the year old age group. My idea was to make use of futuristic graphics, bright orange and shiny metal. Design brief : Vacuum formed top, press formed base. 2) The head of the illumination was made by vacuum forming two styrene arrows over a wooden pattern and then setting the pieces into a laser cut surround that had the information etched onto it. 3) For the base, I digitally manipulated an image of tangerines and used a dye sublimation printing technique to transfer this image onto a sheet of foamex. This was then press formed over a wood turned bowl shape and trimmed down. The battery pack power supply for the LEDs was hidden inside. Work in progress.. the final product the final product summary page previous project

manufacturing studies summary “This has been a collection of my three Manufacturing Studies projects: easy chair, bottle stopper and informative illumination. Putting together this e-portfolio has been an excellent opportunity for me to reflect on the work that I carried out and to review possible improvements to the final products. During this module, I have gained invaluable experience in a number of areas of design and technology. In particular, I have developed my workshop skills working on a centre lathe, my knowledge of basic electronics, learned how to prepare wood for finishing and also improved my ICT skills, so Manufacturing Studies has proved highly educational and enjoyable. I hope this body of work has given you, the viewer, an insight into the design processes that I employed during the course of this module and I hope that you found the final products as visually exciting and as appealing as I hoped they would turn out to be during their conception.” previous project - Andy Coles, February Andy Coles, February 2005