Stage 6: Final Submission

The final prototype weighed in at 1.012 Kg, a comfy half of the weight limit. It measures 400mm tall, 320mm wide, with a seat diameter of 260mm. The structure is made from 20m of 7mm cotton rope and 750g of epoxy resin, finished with spray paint. 

Stage 6: Painting

Because of the failed epoxy pigments. I chose to finish the stool with a matte finish spray paint. This was to emphasise the texture of the rope and to make it seem like its just floating in place, rather than being soaked in resin.

Two coats of primer.

Two coats of matte white.

Stage 6: Pigmented Epoxy Stool

This is full scale implementation of a pigmented epoxy resin to achieve a white/black finish. When added (at recommended concentration of 2%) the resin turned a milky white, but not quite the solid colour I'd hoped for. The stool was otherwise built with same process  and left on the mould for 24 hours.

Once cured, the colour is a little disappointing. The grey of the rope comes through and looks like a muddy white.

 The biggest problem however, is that the pigment dramatically reduces the rigidity of the composite. The legs flex outward under load and the stool slowly collapses. This unfortunately means instead of pigmenting the epoxy, it will have to be painted instead.