Trip to NC State Furniture Manufacturing Center

Last week, on February 11, the IAR 560 class took a trip to NC State Furniture Manufacturing Center. On our trip, we were toured through various rooms of the center. The first room we saw was a furniture-testing center. Various pieces of furniture, with various materials can be tested for strength and durability. Many tests are videotaped and monitored closely through computers.




The next room we visited was a 3D printing room or rapid prototype room. This room contained a variety of 3D printers. One of the least expensive ones creates 3D objects by dispersing plastic through very tiny glue guns. Plastic is used to form the solid parts, and another material is used for what will become void area. This material will then be dissolved in water. Other machines in the room use lasers to solidify powder.



Another room we went to was a furniture making room. This room contained large saws and routers. Some of the machines were manual, while others use the aid of a computer. There was also a laser cutter in that room. The laser cutter uses computer drawings to accurately cut materials with a laser.

The final room was a metal working room. This room had a large quantity of metal working machines. There were machines that cut and bend metal, and also machines that mold metals from the liquid form.