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ROUTE · ST-01 → ST-07

From sheet to sofa

The route a sofa takes through the FURX floor, told only with what the photographs show. The pieces in them are different sofas on the same route.

The route

Seven stages on camera

ST-01 · Cutting

Sheet stock, cut to profile

Sheet stock is laid on a flatbed CNC router and cut to the profiles a frame needs. Cut profiles stand stacked against the workshop wall behind the machine. Sheet material and thickness are to project specification.

A sheet cut on the CNC router: nested FURX letterforms on the bed, with the router gantry behind and a worker clearing the cut pieces.
The CNC router, a nested sheet still on the bed.
ST-02 · Frame

A curved frame, built rib by rib

A curved sofa is not bent from one piece of timber. In the frame workshop, plywood ribs are shaped at the bench and set along a spine, and the ribs give the back its profile. Finished curved frames are stacked behind the benches.

Frame builders shape plywood ribs for curved sofas at FURX benches, with stacked curved frames behind.
Frame workshop: plywood ribs are shaped and set into the spine of a curved sofa frame.
Plywood ribs for a curved frame on a FURX bench.
Detail: plywood ribs on the bench.
ST-03 · Suspension

Springs, then webbing

Before any foam, the frame gets its suspension. On the upholstery line, sinuous steel springs, the zigzag kind, are fitted across one curved frame while orange elastic webbing is stretched and fixed across another. This layer carries the seat; what goes on top gives it shape.

Two masked upholsterers at branded FURX stations fit springs and trim orange elastic webbing on curved sofa frames.
Technicians on the FURX upholstery line: one fits sinuous springs to a curved frame while the other works on the elastic webbing of another curved frame, on the day of the visit.
Gloved hands fit sinuous springs across a frame.
Detail: sinuous springs going in.
ST-04 · Padding & foam

Wadding and foam

In the padding hall, polyester wadding is stapled over rounded sofa forms with pneumatic staplers and shaped by hand over round plywood frames. Foam is built up on wooden bases for the seats. Foam grades and densities are to project specification.

An upholsterer in a mask staples polyester wadding over a rounded sofa form with a pneumatic stapler.
Padding hall, the morning of the visit: polyester wadding is stapled over a rounded sofa form.
An upholsterer shapes wadding by hand over a round plywood frame on a work table.
Wadding is shaped by hand over a round plywood frame for a curved seat.
ST-05 · Sewing

Covers are sewn first

Covers are sewn in their own section, before they reach the frame. Operators feed the cover fabric through industrial machines along the sewing row. Fabric and its performance ratings are to project specification.

Three masked operators stitch upholstery covers on industrial sewing machines under the FURX wall mark.
The sewing section: three operators stitch upholstery covers on industrial machines.
A row of sewing operators stitching textured upholstery fabric on industrial machines.
Covers are sewn before they reach the frame: a row of operators on industrial machines.
ST-06 · Cover & lining

Cover on, lining under

Sofa bodies are laid along a protected runner, where the sewn covers and the dust-cover cloth go on. The body is then turned over and black dust-cover cloth is stapled across its underside, closing the base over the frame, the springs and the staple lines.

Upholsterers fit covers and dust-cover cloth on sofa bodies laid along a protected work runner.
Sofa bodies on a protected runner, where covers and the dust-cover cloth go on.
An upholsterer staples black dust-cover cloth to the underside of a sofa body with a pneumatic stapler.
The last layer: black dust-cover cloth stapled to the underside of a sofa body.
ST-07 · Finished

Finished, in the finishing hall

Finished bouclé sofas stand on the floor of the finishing hall, beside the stations along the wall. This is where the photographs on this route end.

The upholstery finishing hall: finished bouclé sofas staged beside equipped finishing stations.
The finishing hall that morning: finished sofas on the floor, stations along the wall.
Sofa anatomy

Nine layers under the cover

What the cover hides on a curved sofa, in build order from the frame up. The diagram separates as you scroll; the list beside it is the record.

  1. Plywood ribs for a curved frame on a FURX bench.

    Layer 01Frame

    Material
    Plywood ribs on a spine; timber to project specification
    Method
    Ribs shaped at the bench, set along the spine
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  2. Gloved hands fit sinuous springs across a frame.

    Layer 02Sinuous springs

    Material
    Sinuous steel springs; gauge to project specification
    Method
    Fitted across the frame
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  3. Hands stretch elastic webbing across a frame.

    Layer 03Elastic webbing

    Material
    Elastic webbing; grade to project specification
    Method
    Stretched and fixed across the frame
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  4. The padding hall: wadded sofa forms on a row of work stands, with foam seat shells in the foreground.

    Layer 04Foam on a wooden base

    Material
    Foam; density to project specification
    Method
    Built up on a wooden base
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  5. Hands shape wadding over a plywood ring.

    Layer 05Wadding

    Material
    Polyester wadding
    Method
    Stapled over the form, shaped by hand
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  6. A hand guides cover fabric through an industrial sewing machine.

    Layer 06Sewn cover

    Material
    Cover fabric; rub count to project specification
    Method
    Sewn in the sewing section, before fitting
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  7. Upholsterers fit covers and dust-cover cloth on sofa bodies laid along a protected work runner.

    Layer 07Cover fitted

    Material
    The sewn cover
    Method
    Fitted on the body, on a protected runner
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  8. Hands staple dust-cover cloth to the underside of a sofa body.

    Layer 08Dust-cover lining

    Material
    Black dust-cover cloth
    Method
    Stapled to the underside with a pneumatic stapler
    Check
    Checked at handoff to the next stage
  9. The upholstery finishing hall: finished bouclé sofas staged beside equipped finishing stations.

    Layer 09Finished piece

    Material
    Every layer above
    Method
    Staged in the finishing hall
    Check
    Later stages: see Capabilities
From the Journal

The same floor, in the Journal

JRN-002Before the delegation: the line that morningRead
FN-001Curved frames start as plywood ribsRead
FN-002Springs and webbing: the seat under the seatRead
FN-003The lining no buyer seesRead
TraceabilityThe companion page on how production is followed on the floor.Open

Have a piece to build.