What if you could print a chair?

CREATING CONCEPTS

Our team worked through dozens of concepts and sketches to find the perfect balance between form, function, and fabrication method.

Knowing the chair would be 'grown' layer by layer on the Budmen Progress™ 3D printer, the idea of a tree emerged. The chair started as a trunk and grew outwards to create the base and back of the seat.

From the concept sketches, the final form was developed using a CAD software. The software allowed us to make design iterations and run weight simulations to make it both aesthetically pleasing and strong enough to hold the weight of a 250lbs+ person. Several iterations later, the form of the chair was visually captivating, strong enough to hold the weight of a human, and ready to print.

DIAGRAM: The wireframe visualization above shows the thousands of facets needed to create the smooth sweeping lines of the chair.

PRINTING PROCESS

The Resolute Chair was 3D printed with a large nozzle on the Budmen Progress™ that resulted in big chunky layers, reducing the overall printing time down to 93 hours. Because of these thick layers, the print lines were very visible when it finished printing.

We like this aesthetic, but to emphasize the smooth shapes and clean curves of the chair, our team meticulously hand sanded the chair for hours after it finished printing. The heat from the sanding removed the print lines and created a unified surface that was ready for the final coating.

To finish the Resolute Chair, we coated it with a specially formulated structural resin, giving the final product a distinct textured finish and protecting the structure from any damage.

FIGURE: After the Resolute Chair finished printing, the team spent time sanding and smoothing the surface to remove print lines and preparing it for the final polymer coating.

Note from the Creators

The Resolute Chair get its name from our 5 year pursuit to design and build a 3D printer that could reliably print a functional and full sized chair. When we set out to make this machine, we never imagined that it would take dozens of prototypes, years in the making, to get it just right. With each prototype the results improved, but it wasn't until we had built a machine that met our unwavering standards for reliable performance and superior print quality that when we finally printed this chair, we christened it "The Resolute Chair."

- The Budmen® Team

Resolute [res·o·lute] 1. adj. purposeful, determined, and unwavering. 2. n. a ship that is carries scientists and colonists to Alpha Centauri.