DIY Folding Chair: How To Make A Folding Chair With A Pipe Back, A Homemade Model Made Of Metal And Plywood

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 13:15

Many stores offer a wide variety of folding furniture. As a rule, it is necessary for outdoor recreation, hunting or fishing. It is compact and fits easily into the trunk of any car. If you need a folding chair of a certain size or from a specific material, but there is no needed one on the shelves, you can make it yourself. To do this, you do not need to be a carpenter and have a workshop, just a little skill in handling a screwdriver and a hacksaw and a correct drawing.

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There are two types of folding chairs that you can make yourself. The first is a backless chair. It is the easiest to manufacture and does not require large material costs. The second is with a back. Here, the creation process will take a little longer, but the chair will also be more comfortable and convenient to use.

Such a chair is suitable even for an apartment or a summer residence. Moreover, if you use your imagination, then you can add armrests or various coasters for mugs or a phone to it. But not only the back can be made different, there are also several options for the chair legs.

The most common are cross, but in addition to them, they make straight and solid legs.

Everyone chooses materials for the foundation based on their preferences.

Wood convenient for marking and manufacturing, does not require additional tools for work, makes it possible to decorate and give individuality to the product.

Made of metal make the legs easier, but you will need special tools, for example, a hacksaw and a drill, designed for this material.

To facilitate the construction, you can make a chair made of polypropylene pipes … This option will be lightweight and durable, but unlikely to support a lot of weight.

Chairs can be with different seats. Having chosen a tree for manufacturing, it is better to purchase small slats or bars for a seat; they can be positioned at different distances from each other. Compacted plywood or chipboard will also work. For metal legs, a good choice is fabric, both seats and backs are made from it.

Preference should be given to dense, waterproof fabrics; cotton and linen are more suitable if the chair will be used indoors.

Main characteristics

Any folding chair, homemade or purchased, must meet standards so as not to spoil your vacation or hobby.

Main qualities:

• convenience;
• safety;
• strength;
• small dimensions;
• light weight;
• stability;
• uncomplicated technology of creation and assembly.

The choice of a "clamshell" for many depends, first of all, on its weight and dimensions, because no one wants to carry extra weight on themselves or look for a special place for storage in the apartment. Lightweight options will be options with a fabric seat made of pipes - plastic or hollow aluminum.

How to make?

Whatever business you want to start, proper preparation is important for a positive result. In the business of making furniture, it is better not to improvise, but to prepare everything in advance. Decide on a place of work, allocate a separate space for each stage. Tools and materials should be at hand.

Materials (edit)

Wood is the most readily available and inexpensive material for making a chair. Types of wood that are ideal - oak, birch, beech, larch. They are dense, resistant to prolonged exposure to water and the sun. Pine planks are not suitable due to their softness and low water repellency. The tree should not have knots, cracks, dark spots.

Metal will also work. Duralumin or steel pipes are what you can make a chair from at home. Check them for chips, dents, or other deformations.

It will be acceptable to purchase plumbing pipes made of polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride. They are easy to cut, bend well, have various fittings in the form of corners and plugs.

In addition to the main ones, they prepare additional materials needed for the work, for example:

• Fastening and connecting means: bolts, self-tapping screws, screws, screws with washers and nuts;
• Glue;
• Wooden dowels;
• Steel bar;
• Seat and back fabric;
• Other.

You can prepare any material for work yourself. The wood is treated with sandpaper and covered with special products for additional protection. The edges of the pipes are also cleaned.

Required tools

Each material and complexity of making a model assumes the use of a specific tool.

But in all cases you will need:

1. Saws or jigsaw;
2. A clamp designed to make a straight cut or at an angle;
3. Roulette, building angle, ruler;
4. Pencil or marker;
5. Screwdrivers or screwdriver;
6. Drill;
7. Sandpaper or sander.

Using metal, holes are made with special drills; you may also need a device for deforming pipes. To work with fabric, you will need scissors, thread and a needle or sewing machine.

Drawing and markup

Draw a drawing to speed up the process. Given the simple shapes of the folding chair, this is not difficult. You do not need to draw three-dimensional models, the main thing that is required is the width and length of each part and their location.

Based on the drawing, take the prepared materials and mark them with a tape measure, pencil or marker. It is necessary to measure not only the desired length, but also the places of the holes.

Build process

Backless

Chair elements: 8 legs and seat bars, four slats and two projections.

Lay out all the necessary items in front of you. Take the leg blocks, install the axle bolts. Lower this axle 2 cm from the wide seat bars so that the chair does not fall. Connect the crossbars of the seat with bolts, first to the legs on the inside, then on the outside, the sequence must not be violated. These parts are hinged, fasten them together. The seat strips are connected and fixed at the free ends. Screw the leggings with screws from the bottom of the legs, the height is about 10 cm from the floor for a chair 35-40 cm high.

Make sure that the middle blocks are not touching so that the folding mechanism works. Fasten the first beam to the crossbar on the outside, the second on the inside.

With back

The process of side chair with backrest involves working in several stages:

1. Seat assembly. You need to make a base from the bars. The required number of rails must be screwed to the resulting rectangle. It is advisable to drown the self-tapping screws a little.
2. Chair back. From two bars and two slats, make a backrest frame, place the remaining slats at an equal distance in an empty space. The crossbar is screwed down a little lower, and the seat will be screwed onto it later.
3. The movable element in the form of crossbars is screwed to the rear legs from below and from above.
4. The lower crossbar is bolted to the main frame, in the same way the upper crossbar is attached to the back.
5. Bolt the seat to the crossbar in the middle of the back.

If the seat of the chair is made not of slats, but of fabric, then at the first stage a pre-sewn cover is pulled onto the frame instead of slats.

Metal or plastic

The simplest option is a 4-leg stool. The manufacturing scheme from plastic pipes is simple. The pipe is cut into 8 parts: 4 long and 4 short. Long ones are connected with the letter "X" with bolts.

Once fabricated, these bolts can be used to adjust the chair so that it folds easily. Short sections above and below are attached to the legs with plastic corners. This is the frame of the chair. All that remains is to take a suitable fabric, such as a tarpaulin, and sew a seat out of it.

To prevent the chair from moving apart, make a strip from the same fabric, fold it in half and sew it to the lower rungs of the chair.

On the basis of this chair, you can make a version with a back by attaching a frame made of metal or plastic tubes to the upper crossbar. The backrest itself, like the seat, is made of fabric.

A chair on three legs can be made of metal. This requires 3 tubes of equal length and a triangular piece of cloth or leather. The chair that is optimal in height can be made from pipes 60 cm long.

Start by drilling holes at a height of 25 cm on each pipe. Then make holes for attaching the seat material. Now take two legs and connect them with a bolt, between the tubes there should be a second bolt with a loop. With its help, we attach the third leg.

You don't need to tighten too much for the chair to fold freely. To secure the seat along the edges, holes should be made that fit the diameter of the legs.

You can fix them with special plugs, the same ones should be placed on the other side of the pipe so that dirt and moisture do not get inside.

Making a folding chair with your own hands is not difficult, it is enough to have a good drawing and high-quality materials. The options presented above are the easiest to manufacture. Based on these standard models, you can develop your own, suitable for the interior of a summer house or kitchen. Add luscious fabrics, paint the materials in a bright color, and even a regular fishing chair becomes a bright accent in the room.