A Designer’s Dream: Convert Wood and Cut Foam to Moulded Foam

Designers should not be limited by skills of manufacturers. They should not have to worry about whether each piece that is created will be a true representation of their original design. However, as years progress and automation replace many aspects of the manufacturing process, our customers have been finding it more and more difficult to find craftspeople in many skilled trades. This is particularly true for wood working. If people with the required skills can be found, their capabilities are prohibitively expensive for structural parts that will ultimately be hidden by foam and upholstery. 

That’s where we come in! Converting wood frame components covered in cut foam to molded rigid components with (or without) over moulded or separate flexible foam allows our customers to reduce the requirement for skilled wood workers, often reducing both labour costs and costly rework while improving quality. By engineering the product shapes and designs into the tooling of the components, customers improve the look, feel, and comfort of each piece, with a consistency that they couldn’t reliably get using their old methods.

With this change, upholsterers receive parts that are all identical, meaning the skill required to upholster the piece is also reduced.

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Originally this part was made using many gluing and shaping operations. The handmade wood frame was made ready for upholstery by adding a layer of woven scrim to the wood frame to cover the slots between the supports, then gluing several layers of pre-cut, cut foam to the wood frame and pinching and shaping it to make the final back cushion form. The part was never truly symmetrical, if it was even close, and it was challenging to get good consistency between the parts. For something like this stool, where there could be several used together, any inconsistencies between the stools stood out.

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Now, our customer receives a completed part that is ready to be upholstered and attached to the base. Every part is the same in look and feel.