Designing for strength and aesthetic; effect of dowel dimension on the strength of rattan furniture.

Abstract

Although research on rattan care furniture joints has received significant attentions i.e. nailed, nailed and bound with rattan rops, screwed and screwed and bound, little research has been performed with respect to dowel connection, particularly in the area of rattan cane chair. Nine chairs from rattan with dowel joints were manufactured. Using questionnaire, the chairs were evaluated for aesthetic, functionality, environmentally friendliness, purchased intention durability and strength. The questionnaire was administered to 100 sandwich students from University of Education Winneba – Kumasi. Personal observations were also used in the data collection, photographs of the products were taken for more understanding of the manufacturing processes. The result showed that product aesthetic, functionality, environmentally friendliness and purchased intention supported the innovation of the rattan cane chair, whereas mixed result emerge from durability and strength of the chair. The most important drive of preference for the rattan cane chair was aesthetic followed by functionality, environmentally friendliness, purchase intention, durability and strength as the lowest. Recommendations were made to draw attention of rattan furniture industries in Ghana to improve on the use of rattan cane to help arrest the current situation of depending solely on our local wood resources in producing wooden artifacts. The study concluded that further research should be geared towards improving the design in the near future, the focus should be on durability and strength that could meet international standards to enhance trade.