THE 77-STEPS, SIMPLIFIED

The 1006’s two-week production cycle remains unchanged since 1944.

Emeco technicians begin by cutting the chair’s 12 pieces from aluminium sheet and square stock (A) with an eightton power squaring shear and radial-arm saws. Presses stamp out the seat pan (B) and bend the curves into spindles and rails, says Josh Fisher, an 11-year Emeco veteran who’s worked on every step of the process. ‘And we use forming dies to make the front legs from sheet.’

With the 1006 components ready, workers cut holes into the chair’s body where pieces join together (C). ‘The pieces actually fit into one another instead of just being butt-welded on the surface,’ Fisher says (D). ‘It is one of the most difficult steps in the process because you have to be very precise with the routered holes. Exacting joints make for a strong, nearly flawless chair.’

Assembly mates the prepped parts with hundreds of inches of aluminium welding, all done by hand. Once built, craftsmen grind most of the welds flat (E) and polish the seams. As the weld beads disappear, the chair begins to appear as if it was cut from a block of metal. ‘The undersides on the chairs still have the raw welds left to be seen,’ Fisher says. It’s the calling card of an original Emeco product.

The soft aluminium is then strengthened with the application of heating and cooling cycles to produce uniformity of the particles