DIY folding chair

It is difficult to imagine our life without chairs - they are equally in demand at home, at the dacha, at a picnic. More than one exit is complete without a chair. For fishing and nature, sitting on the ground can have consequences, sitting on logs is hard and uncomfortable, and carrying a large chair with you is not practical.

REFERENCE! The optimal solution is a folding chair with a backrest, which is comfortable to sit on and, when assembled, is easy to transport.

You can go to a store or look at one on the Internet, but then you will deprive yourself of the opportunity to show your imagination, show everyone the gold of your hands, and feel like a master. And for yourself, of course, you will try to find high-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 like a construction set, and the drawings are not difficult. You only need to have the skills to use a hacksaw and know which side to use with a hammer and screwdriver.

Design and construction: what to choose?

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

• Chairs can be made from almost any known material: wood, metal, plastic and even stone.But to make such chairs you will need certain skills and tools, so let’s look at the simplest ones - wooden models. They are easier to manufacture, accessible and inexpensive - therefore the most acceptable.
• A chair without a back requires less material and is easier to calculate and make. But the back gives the model additional comfort; it is more practical in operation. It is made solid of wood or dense fabric, which is stretched over the frame.
• There are also several shapes of legs: crossed, solid, straight.
• Depending on the customer’s wishes, the seat is made straight, rounded or any other shape. But if you plan to spend a long time on it, then it can be made with soft upholstery.

What is a folding chair?

The design of the folding chair resembles a clapperboard easel with a reclining seat. All main parts of the structure are connected using hinge joints, which allow them to move freely.

When assembled, the chair has compact dimensions with parts tightly adjacent to each other. It will be in working condition by simply opening the frame and lowering the seat. The seat is fixed using self-tapping screws that are screwed into the frame.

When assembled, the chair is a flat, compact structure that takes up minimal space in your luggage. To store it at home, you can simply hide it behind a closet or slide it under the bed until next time. But when unfolded, it is able to create maximum comfort in nature, fishing or in a summer cottage.

Materials and tools

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

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

Now about what kind of wood to choose for the product. If the wood is light and soft, for example, pine, then it is easier to process, but the product will be less practical in use - it is more likely to become loose and will not repel water well. To increase service life and for greater practicality, it is advisable to choose hard types of wood as a material - birch, oak, ash. But they are more difficult to work with.

ADVICE! Choose straight slats with a clean and dry surface. The presence of knots and cracks are the places most susceptible to breakage.

Preparing wood for work: remove chips from the bars, remove roughness, burrs, chips from the surface - sand with coarse, then fine sandpaper. Every detail needs to be polished. There should be no sharp corners or irregularities left on it. The wood should become smooth and even.

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

Preparatory stage

Tool:

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

Materials:

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

Cut out the following parts of the chair:

• Legs made of timber, two pieces each: long legs (2) – 90 cm, short legs (1) – 50 cm.
• Support bars made of timber (3) two pcs. length 29 cm.
• Transverse ligaments from boards (4) 40x5x2 cm
• Seat (5) 6 slats 34x4x1.5 cm.
• Back (6) 40x7x1.5 cm.

Product assembly algorithm

1. Assembling the seat. When assembling a folding chair, this is done first. We lay out six boards at a distance of a centimeter from each other. We place supports on top. On the first and last boards the pitch is 28 cm and 34 cm, respectively. We mark the position of the boards with a pencil, then turn the structure over and secure the support and seat with screws.
2. In the support bar between the 5th and 6th boards we make a hole for the rod, under the second one - to secure the front legs.
3. Hind legs. In the upper part, stepping back from the edge 11-11.5 cm, we make a hole for the pins. Then we attach the diameter. We cut identical grooves into which we will install the backrest crossbar. In order for the chair to be even, their depth should not differ. To make the seat move, we insert a steel rod into the holes. For better friction, we clean the ends.

Turn the leg over. To fasten the crossbar, we drill holes for screws. This is done like this: we combine the transverse ligament and legs, drilling twice on each side. In order for the parts to hold tightly during operation, they must be lubricated with glue.

4. Now we assemble the rear leg frame. Using ties, we fix the steel rod that is attached to the seat. We screw the back.For reliable fastening, coat all rigid fasteners with glue.
5. We assemble the front (short) legs. The design of the folding chair that we assemble also includes short legs. Mark the middle with a pencil, drill a hole, and connect the parts with a screw. We make more holes, attach the front legs and the seat. Using a dowel, we attach two transverse ligaments - one from below the leg, the second closer to the hind legs.
6. We move on to the final stage of assembling the folding chair - connecting the main parts. We fasten the seat to the long and short legs using screws. The resulting connection is hinged, i.e. it allows parts of the structure to move freely.

So, the last self-tapping screw is screwed in, let's start putting the finishing touches on. Using sandpaper and a file, we remove all roughness, protrusions, and irregularities. We recess the bolts. We cover the surface with varnish or impregnation - we give the wood color, shine, and protect it from moisture and pests.

Decoration

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

How to decorate

• A design made using the decoupage technique will look beautiful on the chair. They take old wallpaper, pieces of tapestry, which zealous owners will always find in the pantry, and paste them onto the slats. Bright, luscious plant or floral designs also look good on such products.The simplest and most original way to decorate a chair is to make a bright tone, and then apply a design to its surface with paint that is resistant to moisture and fading.
• It will be a little more expensive to purchase paint in a can. It is more convenient and easier to work with than applying paint with a brush.
• For minor surface defects, use wood putty. After eliminating problem areas, the product is painted so that the grout areas are not visible. But this product is not intended for large cracks or cracks - during the drying process or after, a thick layer may fall off.

Product repair

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

The manufacturing algorithm is presented, now you are ready to make a folding chair with a backrest with your own hands. You can come up with a drawing yourself or find ready-made solutions on the Internet. Then work on the projects found or modify them to suit your needs. To make such a model, you do not need to have a carpenter’s diploma, no special equipment and devices are required; the tools that most men have will suffice.