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Frozen Solid
They're very attractive pieces but does anyone know how they prevent galvanic corrosion joining two dissimilar metals? The article doesn't seem to mention it.
As Mark Thomas says, keep 'em dry. Like, really really dry. Even moderate humidity will enable galvanic corrosion, and after a few years, ugh. (I personally wouldn't even serve steamed vegetables near those joints.) Better, anodize the aluminum after all machining, and take good care not to damage the insulating aluminum oxide layer while joining the pieces.
I didn't realize it first but even a drop of water at the joint would form a closed circuit and corrosion.
Keep them dry. Galvanic corrosion requires an electrolyte.
The round aluminium table part is not forming a closed circuit, no corrosion. The other furniture does however form a closed circuit if they stand in saltwater for example.
Thanks fellas!
Some of you commenters are missing the point. Sure, this method has been used in other industries, but likely not furniture. The backbone to design is innovating artistic and interesting ways to problem solve, which this designer has done. Sometimes that means cross pollinating techniques from different industries. Think of it as an artistic expression, not a mass produced engine block. This is the core differentiator between Design and Engineering.
Truth
You could also have simply machined in a very small lip on the copper leg/s of most these designs and done the whole thing with a simple press-fit. Unless someone actually measured the upper and lower portions, you'd never know.
A slight taper, not noticeable by eye, would eliminate the need of tight tolerances and shrink/press fitting. It would be cheaper and faster to manufacture, easier to assembly due to self alignment and just as aesthetically pleasant. A slight tap with a hammer would be enough to lock it but not to release it, just as your bench drill press Morse taper.
Reminds me of fitting bearings to shafts of Induction Motors when you don't have a press. The non-press technique (if offshore for example) involves putting the motor 'shaft' in a freezer overnight (to contract it) , and heating up the bearing in a pan of oil (to expand it).
I wonder if heating the table part of the design in oil, would have any advantages in this design, as it does when fitting motor bearings?
PS: Try the bearing fitting method described above, at you own risk (hot oil!)
I watched the video, which is where the two thousands of a millimeter reference is apparently from. In the video he says "when you freeze metal, it shrinks by two thousandths of a millimeter". Of course he has to dumb it down for an art gallery, but what he means (if he actually understands it) is that metal will expand or contract about .0002mm per cm per degree of temperature change. So with say a 200 degree temp delta on the about one foot diameter cylinder, you have about half a millimeter clearance between the parts.
As many others have already pointed out, the 'artist' is either ignorant or overselling his 'innovative' methods. Yes, the items are basically beautiful because of the contrast of materials and the basic beauty of minimalist forms. The process, however, is long established. Cylinder liners are press fit into engine blocks the same way. Anyone who has worked on an automotive suspension has used the method to install bearings. Leave it to an 'artist' to be all pretentious about doing something the hard way that others have long figured out how to do with much greater efficiency and economy. Sorry Carly, but this entire article is a non story.
It's nice to see this method applied to furniture joinery, which I'd not seen before. And the tables are handsome, even though I wouldn't want to be the person assigned to keeping all that copper shiny.
Dope , maybe i'm lazy but... no video of this awesome performance!
You're right Toby B, no bonding occurs it is a simple interference fit.
It is all simple contraction and expansion. I remember my Dad teaching me this when I was a kid. We were changing the bearings on a piece of farm machinery before we started the bearings went in the freezer, making them smaller. Once the old bearings were pushed out, the machinery went out into the hot sun, making it larger.
We came back later in the day with the cold bearings, they slid right in.
Then the bearings warm up to the same temperature as the metal around them expanding to become a snug fit.
Loctite make an awesome product called freeze and release which is essentially liquid nitrogen mixed with penetrating oil. You could use that to replicate Cocksedge's more dramatic assembly process
It would be interesting to know if any bonding occurs where the materials are in contact. My instinct is no, that these are just held together by friction (like some jewelry settings), on a large scale. They are visually appealing, though I suspect you laser-weld or even silver-solder most of them without ruining their simplicity. But then you wouldn't have such a good story to tell...