Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
A case for 3D printing - Furniture
The Swedish furniture company IKEA was founded in 1943. IKEA started trends and intro-
duced innovations that had an impact on the global furniture market. From the start IKEA
stood for functionalism, their business idea was to sell inexpensive furniture to as many
people as possible. Furniture is bulky and logistics add to the costs, IKEA's solution was
to introduce the flat pack. The IKEA furniture are mostly assembled by the customer him-
self. The flat pack needed simple furniture without unnecessary decorations and ornaments,
which in the long run led to a change in style of furniture.
3D printing could reverse the trend of functional and simple furniture. 3D printing excels at
creating intricately detailed forms and structures. It is possible to do chairs, tables, screens
etc. with complex forms or ornate decorations where the designer's fantasy is the only limit.
The localization of production which is predicted to be the result of large scale introduction
of 3D printers, reduces the need for a “flat pack solution”. Instead of driving one hour to the
IKEA store, you could go around the block to your local furniture producer who produces in-
house uniquely designed furniture. The development of 3D wood materials is very interest-
ing for the furniture industry. There are currently materials available for FDM printers, such
as Laywoo, Design for Craft's Wood Pulp, Popwood, Colorfabb Woodfill, Zen Toolworks
Wood etc. These all consists of a polymer with added saw dust, which is usually around 40
%. The usual staircase effect, which is very apparent when printing with home printers, turns
into a positive element since it makes the printed wood look more natural. Canadian 4AXYZ
has invented an additive manufacturing technology where the material consists of pieces of
wood and American Emerging Objects uses binder jetting printers which work with wood
powder as base material.
