Gary Rohrbacher - Design for CNC: Furniture Projects and Fabrication Technique

by Anne Filson , Gary Rohrbacher , and Anna Kaziunas France

Copyright 2018 Anne Filson, Gary Rohrbacher, and Anna Kaziunas France. All rights reserved.

Printed in Canada.

Published by Maker Media, Inc. , 1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111.

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• Editor: Patrick Di Justo
• Production Editor: Nicholas Adams
• Copyeditor: Jasmine Kwityn
• Proofreader: Marta Justak
• Indexer: Wendy Catalano
• Interior Designer: Anna Kaziunas France
• Cover Designer: Julie Cohen
• Illustrator: Anne Filson

• October 2017: First Edition

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The renderings (including cover artwork) and illustrations are copyright Anne Filson and Gary Rohrbacher. Photographs are by Anne Filson, Gary Rohbacher, and Anna Kaziunas France, except where noted.

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978-1-457-18742-1

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Who would guess that a book titled Design for CNCis actually a how-to about thriving in the new economy and, at a broader level, changing society to be more democratic and sustainable?

Computer numerical control (CNC) turns a design on a computer into instructions that are sent to an automated tool. If you have ever clicked the Print button on your computer and sent a document to a laser printer, you know what its like to see a picture on your screen turn into a physical object in the world. A CNC router is like a laser printer, but it can make the parts for a chair, or a table, or a bookshelf, out of a plain sheet of plywood. And if you have ever assembled IKEA furniture, you understand how a flat box filled with pieces of particleboard can be magically turned into three-dimensional furniture. (Admittedly, those bookshelves are probably missing a couple of screws, and may not withstand the move to your next apartment.) With smart design, a few 4 x 8 sheets of plywood can be turned into a house full of stylish and sturdy furniture.

Design for CNCdescribes a new world of possibilities enabled by low-cost CNC tools coupled with designs shared, refined, and customized globally over the internet. The book makes its case using something we all use every day: furniture. Furniture design and production was traditionally based near the sources of raw materials, which is why Grand Rapids, Michigan, is home to Herman Miller, Steelcase, and other designers. Today, furniture is a global industry. IKEAs design may be Scandinavian, but its supply chain stretches around the world.

When you think about it, IKEA does not sell furnitureit sells standardized, precut materials, and a set of instructions, screws, and Allen wrenches to assemble them. The designs are ingenious, but suffer the flaws of mass production.