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DESIGN DECISIONS: 2D AND 3D MODIFICATIONS
DESIGN DECISIONS: 2D AND 3D
MODIFICATIONS
If you’d like to fabricate a single or pair of side
chairs as they are, skip ahead to “Measure and
Scale” on page 230 and proceed through the
project steps. If you are already familiar with
your CAD software and interested in modifying
the 5-30 Minute Chair design decide what alter-
ations will best tailor your chair to suit. This
project introduces two ways of making altera-
tions to the chair project files in CAD.
2D DESIGN TRANSFORMATIONS
The simplest way to alter a design is to adjust
the 2D toolpathing profiles to change the shape
of individual parts. For instance, if you expect to
move a chair around frequently, cutting a
handle-sized slot into the chair back will make
it easier to carry. You can also draw a pattern or
monogram on one or several chair parts, or
even make more radical alterations by alto-
gether changing the shape of individual parts.
Greg Flanagan, founder of Tree on a Hill Work-
shop, modified the AtFAB 5-30 Minute Chair in
a Queen Anne style. The chair’s flourishes (see
Figure 10-2) came from modifying the part
profiles between the joinery connections. Fin-
ished in brighly colored analyne dye, Greg’s
Queen Anne chair was exhibited at the 2014
San Mateo Maker Faire, winning a coveted Edi-
tor’s Choice award.
Working entirely in 2D, Greg modified each of
the original vectors in the cut file, adding grace-
ful and intricate curvilinear details to every
part. Greg factored his end-mill diameter into
the vector shapes, so the resulting cuts would
match every flourish in his CAD drawing. While
he took great liberties with the shape of each
part, he preserved the chair’s original propor-
tions and joinery connections.
FIGURE 10-1
Chair layouts, with and
without test pieces
10/5-30 MINUTE CHAIR
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