Field Trip: Zahner

INDD 508 Materials & Processes 

Field Trip Notes
Who is/ what is Zahner?

• They are an internationally known fabrication company located in Kansas City who specialize in the use of various types of metals that are eventually applied to art and architecture.

Products & Services: What do they do/ what do they make?

• Designers around the world contract Zahner to supply to them highly crafted architectural metalworks. When touring their facility, I noticed that they liked to experiment with creating various metal surfaces using different tools.

Vocabulary Terms & Definitions (Materials):

• Zahner works mostly with steel, copper, zinc, and aluminum. However, they some experimental sample works constructed from more exotic metals such as titanium. On Zahner's website, they list a variety of different types of metals, as well as variations of each type of metal, some of which are patented. 
• Solanum Steel, Baroque Zinc, Roano Zinc, Angel Hair, GB-60, Hunter Zinc, Star Blue Copper, and Dirty penny are some of their listed products and surfaces they offer. 

Forming Technologies:

•  Zahner uses different size breakers to bend and shape metal, and punchers to manipulate surfaces of metal.

Cutting Technologies:

• Zahner relies on CNC machines to cut their metals with precision as well as create complicated patterns in the metal work. 

Joining Technologies:

• Metal sheets are joined in a conventional way such as with glues or hardware if allowed for a project. However, when trying to combine sheets of metal in a way that is unnoticeable, Zahner uses patterned edges to combine pieces together so that joining points are hidden.

Finishing Technologies:

• Zahner had many ways of finishing their metal works. They often coat the metals with weather-proof surfaces. They may also manipulate the surface of the metal itself in order to achieve a certain look. For example, making the surface of aluminum coarse to reduce reflectivity, or polishing them to increase it. They also would finish metal surfaces using chemical reactions such as allowing copper to patina to give it an aged appearance. 

Overall Impressions/ Epiphanes/ Aha Moments?

• I was impressed by how well design and engineering coexisted within Zahner's facility. Some of their metal surfaces were very impressive, and it was interesting to see how often they would experiment with metals. If you go on their website, they have what is called Tessellate which is an animated metal surfaces and it looks like something that you would see in a futuristic movie. Tessellate is an example of how Zahner combines their expertise in design with engineering. 

Pictures Taken at Zahner