hide can be put to use. The first stage on from the leather stores is the inspection area, where bright lights and bespectacled inspectors caress the hide for faults. The hide is then marked up and scanned on a very large table by a 'Gerber' machine that inspects then cuts the material. The scan checks that the optimum layout has been achieved from the markings on it and the material is cut. Further operations downstream include the perforation of the leather if required for ventilation. In contrast with piping air-conditioning into channels in the seat which terminate at the perforation and give that cold sensation, Bentley with its usual subtlety, prefer the method of removing heat from the occupant by drawing air through these perforations. This is a different system and not just an extension of the air conditioning. The sensation is described as being less noticeable and not the same as having cold air applied to the skin. The system is occupant controlled with 3 discrete settings and as stated is not directly related to any specific temperatures like a main vehicle air con system. Conversely, heat in the seat is provided by heater pads, thin foam layers with in-moulded heating elements that have a number of discrete heat settings. These are glued to the 'A' surface of the seat foam, just underneath the leather cover. Vibration and noise are also a concern at Bentley and the seat foam can act as a passive damper to negate road harshness.
After these shaping operations, the leather may then be adhered to the interior surfaces of the car or hand sewn for the covers. This surface layer of leather clearly defines the standard of quality but it also has a function in the noise cancellation of the vehicle as do the subsequent layers down into the seat until the frame. This way the overall noise in the car both acoustically and vibrationally can be tuned. I know from previous experience of SAE-UK lecturers by Directors of Bentley that engine noise is controlled also in this manner. More audible on ignition for the satisfaction of the driver but tempered in-journey for comfort. Gate valves also equilibriate pressure differentials in their twin exhaust systems as well as controlling note and volume.
One glance over at the extensive seamstressing benches conveys a sense that this is not upholstering, this is tailoring. I watched a man bent double over a sewing machine, actually operating it. With our less slender fingers, men seem innately less predisposed to this kind of craftsmanship except in the area of tailoring. Even the Bentley badges are woven in to the leather, or on request embossed.
Body and Trim, hardly does the term do justice to the interior furnishing of a Bentley Motor Car. Its like cabinet making or fitting the interior of a boat, not just any boat or any cabinet, really good ones. We are taken into the Wood Shop which is recognised within the wider group to which Bentley now belongs as a Centre of Excellence and leader in class. I don't immediately recognise the materials. The large mass, David Irving explains, is the root ball of a Burr Walnut grown in California. This appears to feature heavily in the Bentley interior. The root ball is transported to Spain where it is sliced by which I mean it is rendered into slivers by what I imagine can only be very large and very sharp blades, according to David they are circular in their rotation. This sectioning is done after the root ball is soaked in an aqueous solution of compounds to soften the wood and the surface bark is removed. A large wall panel opposite explains how in the car's interior the apparent symmetry of grains is achieved. This large presentation shows a cross-section of the root ball once treated, the entirety of the tree rings, extensive knots and other features native to this tree are visible. Cutting this material, really no thicker than cardboard, provides what they call the bookmatch about which the pattern is symmetrical. Lining up these sectioned sheets creates order and symmetry in the final veneer throughout the vehicle even on the centre consoles where one might not otherwise gaze upon for over long periods of time. I pick up a 'picnic table' (imagine a skilfully crafted flat piece of wood) and on one side the walnut pattern is deep hues of autumnal browns and other
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spring pine. David catches me pondering these two materials and explains that they were identical originally but that the deeper hues were a consequence of the action of sunlight on the material, so that the wood changes colour subtly with age.
It is explained that the approximate shapes of the interior surfaces for which I prefer the term 'furniture' in this case are near net shape machined on a five-axis CNC, the final contours however are all hand carved. The wood can be from the trunk of the same species tree as the root ball conserving resources and encouraging sustainability. Multiple surface layers are laid over and industrial single axis presses bear down on these heated forms to create the final article which is then surface coated, polished and buffed to perfection.
The surface layers are a whole separate chapter. We are led into a climate controlled room without windows and shown the stock of root ball derived wooden sheets which are the basis of the veneer in a Bentley, our eyes roll at the monetary value of this stock. I explain that in Havana resides an exact facsimile of the American Capitol building and opposite
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that is the state sanctioned cigar factory that produces the legendary cigars. The atmosphere inside this room and the cigar factory are intoxicating, literally, in the same way as fine cigars deeply drawn. Deep oaks light up the olfactory senses as anyone will recognise who breathes that bit moredeeply when passing by freshly laid tarmac or lingers |
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around the volatility of a petrol pump. The decay of dense wooded materials in the root ball is just the beginning of the process of decaying cellulose rich carbohydrates to darker tannins and onwards to peat which my ancestors dug and subsisted with, down the geology and shorter carbon chains to stunted alkanes like kerosenes for modern aviation, then diesel and finally petrol. The octane rich decayed fuel of auto-motion and finally the decay that generates the gases that heat all of our homes for at least a while yet - if not our entire planet culminating in the single carbon molecule of methane (CH4).
Seating and Restraints Manager Steve MacManus and I discuss the holistic transformations at Bentley, reconciling their increased build quantities with their traditional craftsmanship. I'm impressed with the way Bentley absorbs new methodologies and yet retains its high level of skills based craftsmanship. Bentley are reorganising their site with new body shops in line with advances in the chemistry of that subject and in line with the investments made by other car companies like BMW. The seating design, engineering and production is being located in one building at Bentley. This point is critical to me as the methods of production are not as clear cut as we all like to think. Machines are not built by machines and if they are then those machines doing the building are governed by us, people, or as I like to think, early hominids. Communication that sets us apart from the other species is critical, collaboration and relationship building are important and the physical separation of industry sometimes across continents all has a bearing therefore on the finished article. I first encountered this philosophy at Lotus, a tight knit community of engineers all working together, all getting in each other's way and learning all the time in so doing. Bentley also are adopting this style |
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