DIY folding chair

It is difficult to imagine our everyday life without chairs - they are equally in demand at home, in a summer cottage, on a picnic. Not a single exit is complete without a highchair. For fishing, nature, sitting on the ground threatens with consequences, it is tough and uncomfortable on logs, it is not practical to drag a large chair with you.

REFERENCE! The best way out is a folding chair with a backrest, on which it is comfortable to sit, it is convenient to transport it when assembled.

You can go to the store or watch this on the Internet, but then you will deprive yourself of the opportunity to show your imagination, show everyone the gold of your hands, feel like a master. Yes, and for yourself you, of course, will try to find quality materials, so that such a chair will serve faithfully for a long time.

Moreover, to implement this idea, no special carpentry skills are required - the chair is assembled as a designer, and the drawings will not be difficult. You only need to have hacksaw skills, know which side to use with a hammer and a screwdriver.

Design and design: what to choose?

There are a huge number of varieties of folding chairs - according to the material of manufacture, type of back, legs, but the most common division will be models with / without back.

• Chairs can be made from almost any known material: wood, metal, plastic and even stone. But for the manufacture of such chairs, certain skills and tools will be required, so we will consider the simplest ones - wooden models. They are easier to manufacture, affordable and inexpensive - therefore the most acceptable.
• A chair without a backrest requires less material, it is easier to calculate and make. But the back gives the model additional comfort, in operation it is more practical. It is made of solid wood or a dense fabric that stretches over the frame.
• The forms of the legs are also several: crossed, solid, straight.
• Depending on the wishes of the customer, the seat is made straight, rounded or any other shape. But if you plan to spend on it for a rather long time, then it can be done with soft upholstery.

What is a folding chair

By design, the folding chair resembles an easel clapperboard with a reclining seat. All the main parts of the structure are connected using articulated joints that allow them to move freely.

In the assembled state, the chair has compact dimensions with parts tightly adjacent to each other. In working condition, it will be transferred only to expand the frame and lower the seat. The seat is fixed due to the self-tapping heads that are screwed into the frame.

When assembled, the chair is a flat, compact design that takes up minimal space in your luggage. To store the house, it is enough to simply hide it in a closet or slide it under the bed until next time. But in the unfolded state it is able to create maximum comfort in nature, fishing or a summer cottage.

Materials and tools

So, we decided that the material for our chair, we choose wood, as the most convenient and easy to process material.

The basis of the design are wooden blocks, which will serve as legs and their continuation - the bearing part of the back. Their sizes are selected depending on the desired sizes and requirements for a particular chair. The optimum width is 21 cm. The seat and the supporting part of the backrest can be made with wooden slats, covered with a dense material, for example, tarpaulin.

Now about which wood to choose for the product. If the tree is light and soft, for example, pine, then it is easier to process, but in use the product will be less practical - it’s more likely to loose, it will repel water poorly. To increase the service life and for greater practicality, it is advisable to choose solid varieties of wood - birch, oak, ash - as the material. But it’s more difficult to work with them.

TIP!Choose straight rails with a clean and dry surface. The presence of knots, cracks - these are the places most prone to breakage.

Preparing wood for work: remove chips from the bars, removing roughness, burrs, chips from the surface - processing with large, then fine sandpaper. Every detail must be sanded. On it there should not remain sharp corners, roughnesses. The wood should become smooth and even.

There are many options for folding chairs. Choose the one you like the most. Before you take up the saw, find an interesting option on the Internet or make a drawing yourself. A sketch can be made by hand, be sure to specify the exact dimensions of each part. The more detailed you do it, the more clearly the desired result is visible and it will be easier to follow it.

Preparatory stage

Tool:

• Screwdriver / screwdriver set
• Coarse and fine sandpaper
• Ruler, building angle
• Chisel
• Saw
• Clamps

Materials:

• Wooden blocks of square section 3-4 cm.
• 2 cm thick board.
• Wooden pins
• Screws, nuts, washers 0.5x7 cm.
• Steel rod with a diameter of 1 cm., Length 36 cm.
• Screws for moving joints, self-tapping screws for rigid mounting
• Glue

We cut out the following details of the chair:

• Two-piece legs from a bar: long legs (2) -90 cm, short (1) - 50 cm each.
• Basic bars made of timber (3) two pcs. length 29 cm.
• Cross ligaments from the board (4) 40x5x2 cm
• Seat (5) 6 racks 34x4x4.5 cm.
• Back (6) 40x7x1.5 cm.

Algorithm product assembly

1. Putting the seat together. When a folding chair is assembled, this is done first. At a distance of a centimeter from each other, we lay out six boards. We place supports on top. On the first and last board, the pitch is 28 cm and 34 cm, respectively. We mark the position of the boards with a pencil, then we turn the structure over, fix the support and the seat with screws.
2. In the support bar between 5 and 6, we make a hole for the rod, under the second - to fix the front legs.
3. Hind legs. In the upper part, departing from the edge of 11-11.5 cm., Make a hole for the pins. Then we fix the diameter. We saw the same grooves in which we install the crossbar of the back. In order for the chair to be level, their depth should not differ. To move the seat, we draw a steel rod into the holes. For better friction we clean the ends.

Turn the leg over. To fix the diameter, we drill holes for the screws. This is done as follows: combine the transverse ligament and legs, drilled on each side twice. In order for the parts to hold tight during operation, they must be lubricated with glue.

4. Now we assemble the frame of the hind legs. Using ligaments, we fix the steel bar, which is attached to the seat. We fasten the back. For reliable fastening, coat all rigid fasteners with glue.
5. Putting the front (short) legs. The design of the folding chair that we assemble includes short legs. With a pencil, mark the middle, drill a hole, connect the parts with a screw. We make more holes, fasten the front legs and seat. With the help of a screw, we fasten two transverse ligaments - one from the bottom of the legs, the second closer to the hind legs.
6. We pass to the final stage of assembling the folding chair - we connect the main parts. Fasten the seat with screws to long and short legs. The resulting joint is articulated, i.e. it allows parts of the structure to move freely.

So, the last self-tapping screw is screwed in, proceed to the guidance of the marathon. With the help of sandpaper and a file we remove all roughnesses, protrusions, irregularities. We are fixing the bolts. We cover the surface with varnish or impregnation - we give the wood color, gloss, protect it from moisture and pests.

Dressing

If the soul asks for a holiday, then we give the product an individual look, decorate it: apply a drawing, burn out patterns, round corners, select bright fabric on the back. This can be done with upholstery. The seat and backrest will be soft with a piece of low foam rubber, which is covered with a dense fabric, for example, a tapestry. Gently bend the edges of the fabric and secure with a stapler.

• The decoupage pattern will look beautiful on the chair. Old wallpapers are taken, pieces of tapestry, which the prudent owners always find in the pantry, are glued to the slats. Bright, juicy plant or flower patterns also look good on such products. The easiest and most original way to decorate a chair is to make a bright tone, and then apply a paint resistant to moisture and fading to its surface.
• It will be a little more expensive to buy paint in a spray can. Working with it is more convenient and easier than applying paint with a brush.
• For minor surface defects, use wood putty. After eliminating the problem areas, the product is painted so that the grout areas are not visible. But such a tool is not intended for large cracks or cracks - during the drying process or after, a thick layer may fall off.

Repairs products

Folding chairs, like most products that are constantly assembled / disassembled, often break. Restoring them is not such a serious job - many videos have been posted on YouTube that show the repair process. Typically, the chair is taken apart, the worn part or assembly is removed, and then assembled. From time to time, the knots of the chair become loose and need to be tightened.

The manufacturing algorithm is presented, now you are ready to make your own folding chair with a back. You can create your own drawing or find ready-made solutions on the Internet. Then work on the found projects or modify to fit your needs. To make such a model does not require a carpenter diploma, does not require special equipment and devices, there will be enough tools that most men have.