Pallet Pinching

Build

Free pallets available found though a Craigslist ad.

Rented a Home Depot truck to moved the selected pallets. Pallets were chosen for size, condition, constituent pieces, and species of wood, oak being highly prized.

Offloaded seven pallets, five of which I broke down before facilities threw them away.

The pallets had to be cut down in order to be broken apart due to the hardness of the oak and the strength of the nails. I discovered that pallet nails are rifled and extremely difficult to remove.

Board yield.

Nail removal, note the spiral rifling on the removed nails.

A clean board, all the nails on the table came from this one board..

Before and after planing comparison. I planed and sanded only the faces that would be touched during normal use.

Laying out the pieces to discover how they interact, a proof of concept.

Assembled. 

   Reflection 

I have never enjoyed a design project as much and I enjoyed the design/making of this assembly. Not once was I unhappy or reluctant to be working on this project. I came in earlier and stayed later than I would have otherwise. Every step of the way I was confident and in control while still allowing uncertainty and intuition to help guide the design. It made me wonder why I stuck to the conventions of an architectural education. Certainly they offer a great place to start when you haven't any other ideas and they're convenient. However, for me, why is cardboard and tacky glue the best way to represent a project. I never questioned this and so I never grew beyond it. I think with my final semester at risd I'd like to discover a way of working, or a direction/purpose for my work... I just want to have conviction about something and I feel like I'm the closest I've ever been to that. I think that thinking through/while fabricating is something that is deeply important to me and I haven't allowed myself to embrace and accept that until now. I think this even stems from the fantasy I hold whenever I imagine myself producing works of architecture, which is me building my own home. This never fit with my idea of a professional career, working in or running an office, and so I figured it would be something that I engage outside of the professional realm. However, I don't know that is the best course of action. I think this process of making might have to be how I will professionally produce works of architecture. I imagine this by working in an office to hone my design skills, knowledge of construction, develop contacts, experience the office world, submit projects to design competitions, work on getting licensed, and much more that I'm sure I can't imagine. However, all the while I'll be putting away money to put down on a house. I buy it and completely redesign it, take it apart and reconfigure it just like the pallets when I'm not in the office. Once I'm ready to move on I'd sell/rent it to generate income for the next project and move on and on and on. I think this would afford me circumstances and opportunities that would be simply blissful. 

So, now lets take it back to my desk. What is this thing that has now fixed itself to the edge of my desk, suggesting to me that I can put other things on it? Well, first, it's not a fixed assembly. The bolted connections allow for the whole thing to move and adjust. It most strongly resists downward loading by virtue of the pinching of the crosspiece/backing, relying on the hardness of oak. Lateral loads, parallel to plane of the assembly, are resisted by the weight of the assembly and held objects. In order for the assembly to move in that direction, the weight of the pieces and the downward load must be overcome, raising the assembly and load up and over the pivot point at the bolted connection. Loading perpendicular to the plane of the assembly is by far most weakly resisted by the assembly. It is resisted only by the bolted connection and increased downward loading has an adverse effect on resisting the lateral loading. 

Due to the movable nature of the assembly and reliance on the pinching of material pieces, the assembly can have two positions. The first, collapsed position is what it was designed for but the presence of a second, expanded position offers up an interesting avenue to explore. Extrapolations to follow...