If you want to freshen up your home and also want to try your hand at carpentry, these two desires can easily be combined. A great solution is to make wooden chairs with your own hands, the photos of which are presented below. These pieces of furniture are always valued for their practicality. They are useful in a city apartment, and in a private house, and in the country. The usual design is uncomplicated and quite within the power of a novice carpenter. And for those who have experience, you can pick up a more complex drawing of a chair with a back. In any case, homemade products will certainly be in demand.
To make a wooden chair with your own hands, you need to stock up not only with ideas, but also with some materials. First, consider whether you will buy them or prepare them yourself. You can make a seat from boards that are commercially available. If you have the necessary equipment, you can buy logs and process them yourself. In most cases, craftsmen prefer to combine solid wood, boards, logs and timber. Sometimes plywood is also used. Upholstery material may be needed if you want a chair with a soft back.
So, having acquired logs, carefully inspect them. They should not have cracks, rot. It is important that the logs are dry, with a minimum number of knots. For the manufacture of reliable wooden chairs, it is preferable to use oak, pine, linden or beech. They are easy to work with, durable and beautiful. Just in case, buy more material than you need to make a chair. It may happen that in the course of work you will break some part.
For work you may need:
- saw;
- plane;
- jigsaw;
- chisel;
- cutter;
- screwdriver;
- construction stapler;
- roulette;
- furniture glue;
- screws or dowels;
- sanding paper.
Types of chairs
Before starting work, you need to decide on the drawing. Did you know that there are several types of chairs? Here are some options:
- From an array. The most common and popular product. Its advantage is reliability, stability and durability. The disadvantage is the large weight and massiveness, as well as the fact that such a product is large. Although if there are small children in the house and you like eco-style, this is your option.
- With soft seat. A good choice for a cozy apartment. The design has thin legs, an elegant back, moderate dimensions, and is partially completed with plywood inserts.
- Armchair. Great for a veranda, summer terrace or office. Often has soft upholstery.
- Folding. Convenient for hiking, temporary use in the country. When folded, it takes up little space, turning into a flat design.
- Transformer. Can be converted into a ladder.
- Stool. Also belongs to the category of chairs. Stools are compact and easy to manufacture, they are great for a wooden sauna.
Solid wood chair Chair with upholstered seat
Wooden chair-transformer Folding wooden chair
Designer wooden chairs Designer wooden chair
Chair making process
Having decided on the model, it is necessary to calculate the dimensions and make drawings. If you have found a suitable scheme, you can optionally adjust some of the numbers, unless this negatively affects the strength and stability of the structure. Draw each of the elements separately to follow the detailed diagram without errors.
Terms
In order not to get confused in carpentry terminology, it is worth clarifying the name of each of the details. The side abutments are essentially the back legs on which the back rests. The tsargs are called the frame, or frame, which serves as the base of the seat. The front supports are attached to them. Prolegs are crossbars that are installed between the legs to give the product strength. Chairs-armchairs are equipped with armrests. To strengthen the tsarg, metal corners or plywood products are sometimes used. Instead of self-tapping screws, dowels can be used - wooden pegs that are driven into pre-prepared holes.
Wooden chair elements
Stages of work
Regular wooden chair
It is advisable to start with the simplest options. Make yourself a drawing of the product to visually see how it should be in the end. Here is an example workflow:
- Saw out the rear legs 110 cm high from square bars.
- Make the front legs 42 cm high.
- Sand these elements with a machine or sandpaper.
- Determine the attachment point of the drawer and use a cutter to make grooves for joining.
- Choose 2 horizontal and 5 vertical posts for the back of the chair and make grooves in the horizontal ones as well.
- Make spikes that will fit into the grooves.
- Assemble the structure to see how it holds up. If all is well, disassemble the backrest, coat the holes with wood glue and reassemble. To press the parts, use a clamp or rope.
- Fasten the legs together with a frame from the tsarg, also putting them on glue.
- In the course of work, constantly check the accuracy of the tenon-groove fastening. To make the chair more durable, after the glue has dried, fasten the joints of the parts with self-tapping screws, cover the caps with plugs.
- In the manufacture of homemade wooden chairs, the seats can be made soft by placing a piece of foam rubber and covering it with a dense fabric or leatherette.
1. We make a seat 
2. We make the back legs, turning into abutments 
3. We cut out the legs themselves and grind them 4. We make the front and back hags
5. We also make side hags 6. We make back details - curly crossbars
7. Next, mark the depth of the back. It should have a deep curvilinear shape - around a circle with a radius of 500 mm 8. We make the front legs of the chair from a bar measuring 425x50x25 mm
9. Next, we cut out the last two parts - stops designed to fix the seat on a box consisting of kargs and legs 10. The first step is to assemble the backrest on carpentry glue
11. In the same way, we glue the front hag into the front legs and tighten it in clamps.
13. We tighten the entire structure in clamps until the glue is completely dry 14. Instead of a solid panel for sitting. we use boards 50-70 mm wide, 10-15 mm thick
You can see the progress of the work in the video in more detail. Of course, this whole process will take time and skill. But in the end you will get original handmade wooden chairs.
If you are making furniture from solid wood, it is important to ensure that it is not only beautiful, but also safe. This is especially necessary if there are small children in the house. So, all surfaces and corners of boards and bars must be sanded. Then they should be painted or treated with stain and varnish. As for the latter, it is better to use the one that is odorless - water-based. So you can be sure of the safety of the coating.
It has already been said above what kind of wood chairs are usually made of. But even here there are nuances. Red breeds, for example, look simply chic and have a beautiful structure. Linden is lighter than oak, but with the help of stain it can be toned under it. Carved chairs look beautiful in elegant interiors. So if you are skilled in carving, do not miss the opportunity to practice on the back and even the legs of the product.
If you are making furniture for a baby, do not use metal corners, because he can get hurt on them. You can connect the parts with screws or dowels. And to make the design more stable, just choose thicker parts.
Other options
By the way, if a wooden chair with your own hands is too expensive for you, you can also use pieces of plywood. They will come out quite decent back and seat. In combination with wooden bars, the product will turn out to be cheaper, but no less durable and beautiful. Or you can not even work on creating a seat and back from boards, but take ready-made wooden pallets (pallets) and make a wooden chair out of them.
Recently, bar counters have become more and more popular. And if there is such a table, you just need to make chairs of a suitable shape from wood with your own hands. In fact, such furniture is a high round stool. The base can be made from two pieces of thick plywood or solid wood. On the first one you will sit, and the second will serve as a link for attaching the seat to the support. For ease of use of the design, the upper part can be covered with foam rubber and leatherette. In Moscow, such chairs are very popular, only they are expensive. But for home production, you don’t have to spend so much.
To make a bar stool yourself, you need to attach the lower circle with screws to the supports, and the upper one to the bottom one. Bars can act as legs. At the bottom, it is also worth making an additional crossbar around the perimeter. It will simultaneously strengthen the structure and serve as a footrest.
Now you know how to make a chair with your own hands. You can experiment with sizes and shapes. You may come up with other ideas as you work. Having managed to assemble the structure, you will know how to fix it if necessary. And most importantly - your home will be decorated with practical furniture in which you have invested your soul.
Handmade furniture is always very practical and unusual. It can be adapted as efficiently as possible to your own needs, and at the same time surprise guests, friends and relatives with an original product, and simply place them comfortably and conveniently. So you can’t do without beautiful and comfortable chairs in almost any interior, whether it’s an apartment or a country cottage.
Moreover, making them yourself is not so difficult, but rather, even pleasant and interesting, since this process allows you to fully reveal your design abilities.
Material selection
The first thing to think about when designing homemade seating is the material. The right ideas can come spontaneously - for example, an old and no longer used wooden bed in the country house can serve as a good base for several new chairs at once. Indeed, wood is perhaps the most practical and convenient option for creating seats. You can use oak, pine, and many other species. Which one to choose is a matter of taste and skill. So, oak or beech are difficult to process, but the products from them are textured, solid and reliable.
A homemade chair made of solid wood will look great both in a country cottage and in many urban interiors, especially those stylized in antiquity. In addition, this is one of the easiest options. It is easier than from wood to make a chair except perhaps from plywood, chipboard or chipboard. You can make it from the lining.
In the production of a wooden chair, boards, logs, timber and other items can come in handy. Wicker chairs are usually made from wicker. Among other popular materials are lining, profile pipes, cardboard. Furniture can also be made from polypropylene or profile pipes. The use of pallets and even tires is allowed.
More complex options include glass and metal. To create a forged product, certain skills will be required, as well as the availability of welding equipment and, accordingly, a protective face mask. Forged seats are very strong and reliable, but when working on them, maximum concentration, clarity and a high level of professionalism are important, since the slightest inaccuracy in the calculations will make the chair “lame” or uncomfortable, and it will be difficult to correct such an oversight.
A glass chair is also an interesting option, but it is even more filigree work. Such products look favorably in modern and modern interiors.
You can combine materials. For example, the seat is made of metal, plywood or chipboard, the legs are made of bars, the back is made of boards. Within certain limits different textures of surfaces can be compensated at the stage of varnishing and decorating. The main thing is not to fall into excessive eclecticism.
However, it is better not to limit the imagination. In the manufacture of the seat, you can use almost any improvised means. Craftsmen make beautiful models from stumps, old logs, almost anything!
The main thing is to be comfortable and sit softly. Do not forget that to organize the latter property, special bedding and softening materials are often used, which can even “level” the surface.
Purpose
The self-organized seating area can be used in various interiors. Most often, these chairs are made for a summer residence, a country house, since they fit perfectly into the stylistic specifics of these premises.
In addition, any inaccuracies in work or flaws in materials here often turn into advantages, as they emphasize naturalness and naturalness. Therefore, old boards, and logs, unnecessary fixtures are suitable as a basis. Why not, for example, take apart an old and shaky stepladder or ladder and make several chairs for a country table out of it at once.
However, the seat can be made for any other room - the main thing is to find a reasonable and feasible idea and choose the appropriate materials for it:
- For kitchen. The kitchen chair is very unassuming. It can be made not very high. Often there are models without a back. Many materials are suitable for this: from plastic to wood. It is desirable that the design is light and durable. You can experiment with coating and coloring. Many people like bright colors. If the kitchen is large, it is reasonable to work on projects of bar models. This is more complicated - such models are higher and more mobile, you will need to mount special mechanisms and springs in them to organize rotation.
We add that wheels can be attached to any kitchen chair. In the dining area, especially if you live with children, it is very convenient.
- For a bath it is preferable to use wood. It is important to sand the wood well, as the pile will actively rise due to the increased and unstable humidity and temperature in the room.
- For workspace chairs are easier to buy, but in some cases, making them yourself is very advisable. For example, if we are talking about a chair for a schoolboy. The children's "school" chair can be adapted to the posture of the child. Children are also constantly growing, and the chair can be redesigned at any time to change their growth. This will save you a lot by not buying new furniture every year.
- For bedroom and living room. Usually they make either a small bedside, sofa chair, or a rocking chair. The latter option will require well-developed carpentry skills, since you will have to cut out rounded parts for the lower parts of the structure, which provide the “mobility” of such furniture.
DIY chairs can be used not only for sitting, but also for sleeping and relaxing. A rocking chair, a deck chair, a hammock - all these are quite realistic projects.
Constructions
There are several basic types of homemade chairs. For example, a chair with a back can be foldable, stationary, etc. Consider the main design features:
- With or without back. In the first case, the back has something to lean on, the second option is just a surface with a seat - a stool. It's the easiest to make. In fact, any stump is already a prototype of this idea. The main thing is to pay attention to the base.
Furniture with a back is no longer so easy to make. Firstly, it will require significantly more parts for the frame, and secondly, it is important to find a balance between the stability of the base and the possibilities in terms of pressure on the back so as not to roll over or fall to the side. The back can be reclining.
- Folding and folding. In folding models, a special metal rod or other element is usually used to ensure the flexibility of the product. As a rule, folding refers to the movement of seats to the surface of the backrest. This allows, for example, in the country, to arrange folding chairs against the wall close to each other in order to save space.
Please note that the base must also be foldable, respectively, it cannot be fixed rigidly.
There are also more interesting products, which, however, require higher professional skills for their manufacture. So, transforming seats can change their design during operation: height, back bend and other elements, and in some cases even adapt to the anatomical features of the figure. Such "growing", and sometimes completely collapsible models are well suited for children and adolescents.
- With and without swivel. Helical swivel chairs are widely used in office space, but they can be used anywhere. An additional element is wheels. Furniture on wheels is mobile and practical.
- Saddle or flat surface. In the first case, the legs diverge at an angle. It is difficult to make such a product on your own, since it is important not to “lose” its main advantage - ensuring the correct load on the spine. However, according to some medical studies, the benefits of the "saddle" is doubtful. The fact is that the rider's posture contributes to the disruption of natural blood circulation in the pelvic organs and leads to the development of prostatitis and other diseases.
- With and without armrests. For the manufacture of armrests, you will need an additional few slats, but this will add convenience to the product.
- With or without leg bar. Additional overlap can be installed at a distance of 10-20 cm from the floor surface.
- Suspended or static. For hanging interior items, you will need holders and ropes with which they will be attached to the ceiling or other surface. The easiest way to create such a model for giving in the form of a hammock. You can weave a chair or build a wooden model into a wicker mold. The main thing is that the design is soft.
There are many more variations. Design experiments here are practically unlimited except for the ultimate convenience and reliability of the product.
Instrument preparation
To make a wooden model, you will need a classic working arsenal with an emphasis on carpentry. Nails, screws, bolts, self-tapping screws, screwdrivers, hammers, wood glue, grinding tools, vise, as well as a milling cutter and a chisel, a workbench and an electric jigsaw.
When working with a manual router, it is better to use protective gloves and a mask. If the chair will be made of metal and glass, appropriate cutters are needed. You will also need measuring instruments: rulers, patterns, protractors and others.
It is important to prepare all the tools in advance. It is better not to save on them, because they will allow you to create a lot of chairs in the future, and will also be required if you need to fix something in the finished model. High-quality equipment will also ensure maximum safety during work. Also stock up on basic medicines - iodine or brilliant green in case of cuts, cotton wool and bandages.
Equally important is the preparation of materials. When working on a wooden product, it is important to choose boards, beams, chipboard or chipboard of the right size. For a functional chair with armrests, you need to assemble up to 20 components: legs, back parts, side rails, ceilings, the seat itself. It is better to always take the material with a margin - let the surplus remain, rather than something not enough.
Calculations and drawings
Before starting work, prepare a project. It is best to make an accurate drawing showing all dimensions. Their choice is purely individual, but there are still some standards.
The height of the chair from the lower surface of the leg to the seat can be varied from 40 to 60 cm. Another 20 cm should be taken to the distance to the armrests. The sum of these numbers will determine the length of the beam for the legs. The width and length of the base are also variable. The average dimensions are 40 * 40 or 50 * 50 cm. The height of the back is another 40-50 cm. Moreover, it is better to count it from the seat, and not from the armrests.
It is reasonable to place the overlap for the back a little higher, leaving “empty” up to 15 cm - the body usually does not rely on this area anyway.
The model of the specified sizes will be suitable both for rest, and for work. If the material does not allow, you can make furniture and smaller dimensions. In the case of a stool, the main thing is to decide on its height.
Another classic option is a chair with legs 45 cm high and a back 60 cm. Bar or tall items, on the contrary, can reach a height of 90-100 cm with relatively small seat sizes, say 30 * 30 cm.
When working on a rocking chair, you will need a template. Since the project will use curved and arcuate lines, you need to accurately calculate their radius and angles of inclination.
Calculations should be as accurate as possible, and not tailored to the available material. Strategies in the spirit of: “the bar, of course, is long, although its length is still a little short, so I’ll indicate this in the project, and then compensate” are doomed to failure. But if some options and subsequent improvements are still possible with wood, then corrections in relation to glass and metal are much more difficult.
Sometimes it will be impossible to change something. So it's better to make a reliable drawing right away.
Technology features
Making a chair is a process that is not too time-consuming, but requires concentration and precision. A simple small piece of wood will require the preparation of bars and furniture boards. The base and back do not have to be monolithic. So, the seat can be made from 3-5 boards: the distances between them should be small - then these voids can be compensated for with a soft bedding. A similar situation with the back. Each of the boards should be sanded.
Bent parts of products (for rocking chairs) should be selected more thoroughly than usual. When buying them, carefully read the instructions, which indicate the angles of inclination and other characteristics.
Among other technological features, we highlight the aspect of evenness and strength. If there are doubts about the practicality of the product, it is better to first develop a layout, and only then start working on the details.
Manufacturing process
So, all the materials are collected, the tools are at hand, it's time to get to work. For example, we will make a seat out of wood. There are several basic techniques, but we will give only some advice, especially since the creation of a particular product is a creative process, and it cannot be “driven” into the framework of strict standards.
At the first stage of work, it is better to cut the legs. Consider this on the example of a chair, where the legs also form the frame of the back. In this case, their length can be varied up to a meter, but it is better that the chair is higher. Take the bars with a margin, since it is unlikely that it will be possible to lengthen them or redo them later. In terms of thickness, 40 mm will be enough. We will make the front legs smaller - they will only go to the seat.
We grind the manufactured bars and try on each other. Grinding is especially important if the product is designed for children. Their skin is delicate, and even the slightest bumps and pile can cause very unpleasant sensations.
Then you should determine the attachment points and make spikes. After the measurement, it is necessary to form grooves, which will allow you to connect the product into a monolithic structure.
Now let's check the model for matching parts first without gluing. If everything is in order, you can fasten the bars that form the back. In our case, we will pick up five small boards and make the central one a little wider than the rest.
A beautiful solution would be to use a curly board. It is more convenient, however, to make the back from a single array of material, but it depends on what you have on hand.
The next stage is the manufacture of side inserts and arched lintels. Everything must be strictly sized. After joining and gluing, you can strengthen the structure with additional self-tapping screws. Pre-check it for evenness so that you do not have to redo anything. Also pay attention to the fact that there are no unpleasant overlays of some elements of the product on others: even minor flaws in the future can lead to rapid wear and breakage.
You can improve the design with the help of additional slats. For example, install a crossbar to accommodate the legs below. It is optimal to do this at a height of 10-20 cm from the floor. You can also add armrests to the seat, redesign them, raise or lower them, change the angles of inclination.
And a few more tips for making. Use a miter saw when cutting the bars, but a jigsaw is useful for working on the back. Particular attention should be paid to the connection of the rear leg to the seat. The third corner of this triangle is the back. It is the strength of the connection of these nodal points that determines the reliability, strength and quality of the product. In order for the workpieces to be held more firmly during processing, do not hesitate to use a vice when grinding and sawing out certain parts.
If there is a desire make a folding chair, you will need additional wooden slats and a metal bar, for which you will have to drill separate holes. It will be fixed in the recesses of the legs. It is reasonable to prepare several provisions. Remember that at least the back and front legs should move at such a chair.
When working on a rocking chair, you can use a ready-made chair. It will be necessary to add special moving skids and armrests to it.
If the actions described above cause self-doubt and anxiety, start you can accumulate locksmith experience from an elementary stool. It is easiest to make it, and in the future you can turn a stool into a full-fledged chair.
You will need 4 bars. The length of the bars is up to 450 mm. Cross section - 4 * 4 cm. It will be necessary to make 8 jumpers. The material must first be sanded. The seat itself can be made both from solid material and from individual boards, but they need to be well fastened. The first option for a simple stool is preferable.
We make grooves in the bars at a height of 25-30 cm from the floor. Their depth is up to 2 cm. Thus, the legs will be fastened to each other by a “rectangle” of ceilings, as it were, twice - approximately in the middle and at the seat. We check for evenness and fasten all the details. The simplest stool is ready.
How to make a wooden chair with your own hands, see the following step-by-step video.
Assembly and finishing
Let's clarify a few more aspects related to the assembly. As a rule, this is already the final stage, but here, too, without knowing the case, significant mistakes can be made.
The fundamental point is to maintain a right angle when connecting parts. If there is no visual confidence in this, ask another person to look or use measuring instruments. It is better to fasten the product with screws.
But a successful assembly does not mean that the furniture is ready. For the final commissioning, it still has to be finished. Don't be afraid to do it yourself. There are a lot of options here.
First of all, check the material for bumps and the absence of roughness. Only then can the surface be varnished and painted. Often, products made of rough wood have to be varnished twice, since notches appear after the first procedure. Instead of varnish, you can use other substances - water-based acrylic impregnations, which not only emphasize the texture of the material more clearly, but also often more effectively protect the surface from high humidity and other environmental influences that are negative for the product.
Next, the chair can be painted, put a soft pad on it - both on the back and on the seat. Relevant and at the height of fashion now is the carriage coupler - upholstery-decoration, which is, as it were, buttons recessed into the matter. It is soft, aesthetic and beautiful. Most often, the carriage screed can be seen on the backs of chairs. It gives them both rigor and visual richness. However, this finish is not suitable for all interiors. In loft, hi-tech, minimalism, it is better to limit yourself to less textured solutions.
decoration
To make a beautiful chair, it is best to complete it with decoration. Technologies and design techniques will allow you to "adjust" the product to any, even very sophisticated taste.
Before choosing the right technique, please note that many jobs are best done outside the home, so as not to spoil or stain the surrounding pieces of furniture, as well as to avoid harm to your own health. Lacquer can smell very strongly, and for many this is an extremely unpleasant factor, sometimes causing allergic reactions. Thus, it is better to decorate a chair in a barn or in a country house, in rooms with good ventilation, or use water-based varnishes. However, the smell of paint still can not be avoided.
For decoration, you can use the following techniques:
- wood carving- the oldest and most widespread arts and crafts in the world. Ideally, you need to plan the manufacture of a carved chair right away. But the advantage of this approach is that even the most ordinary chair can be turned into a carved one. The floors or surfaces of the legs are worn out and scratched - it's okay. On the contrary, this is an occasion to carve something beautiful and original out of them.
This can be done with a regular wood carving knife.
This style is suitable for classic interiors, antique formats. With a monumental approach, the carving will make the furniture more solid, and if, on the contrary, you need to “unload” the interior, a neat and thin carving will add lightness and airiness to the chair and the room as a whole.
- Decoupage. Most often, this word is used in relation to bottles of champagne, but you can decouple anything and however you like. In fact, this is just decoration by attaching a pattern or ornament to an object, as a rule, followed by varnishing. First you need to polish and putty the surface of the seat, then paint it with white acrylic paint, preferably in several layers. Now you can stick (use PVA glue) on the surface of the picture, for example, printed on a home printer. The contour of the drawings can be additionally circled, and then coated with acrylic varnish.
The ornament on the chair can be anything - floral and marine compositions look good. Colors range from bright green to black. It's a good idea to decouple only half of the seat. If you put two such interior items to a table (from different sides), decorated in the same color, you can achieve very favorable color combinations.
- Painting. Perhaps the most obvious option, but there are a number of interesting solutions here. So, paints can be combined and mixed with epoxy. This will add saturation and color to the surface, freshness of colors. You can achieve effects from "foaming coffee" to "melting ice cream" or stylize an object like marble or glass.
original ideas
And finally - some unusual ideas for creating chairs with your own hands.
If there are old stumps in the country, you can transform them into chairs. It will be enough to attach the seats and backs to them. When moving uprooted stumps, strengthen their base, the best option is to use logs or boards arranged crosswise.
An equally practical idea is to make a step-ladder chair. It will somewhat resemble a high bar stool, but at the same time have additional and rich functionality. It is enough to make two steps, and instead of the third, fix the seat. Its width should be about twice that of the steps. Such a bookcase according to the manufacturing technology is close to an ordinary stool, only high.
In the presence of polypropylene pipes, you can assemble a high chair from them. For the seat you will need about 10 tubes, for the back 3-4 is enough. The legs should be made of thicker tubes to ensure the product is stable.
Another idea is a chair based on an old log. You will have to level its surface and attach the back, making it closer to the folding one in format. Of the minuses of such a model is the difficulty in controlling the height. Such a chair is hardly suitable for prolonged sitting, but small children can really like it - it will become an indispensable toy for them.
Another look at the design - maximum minimalism. The chair can be made in the form of an unfinished rectangle - the lower border where it touches the floor will remain open. To make it, you need only three rectangular boards: two of them will become the legs, one will be the seat. This design is very reliable in operation.
And the last example is a country seat with an uneven model back. Boards for its manufacture will have different lengths and differ somewhat in texture and color. It is important to find the right color combination- alternate and combine light (white, beige) and dark (gray, brown, black) shades. The seat will become, as it were, part or the beginning of the back. Armrests with this design can be made quite high. If the chair turns out to be wide, you will need to “insure” it with the third central row of legs.
As the experience of craftsmen and professional designers shows, when making a transforming chair, you should first of all build on your imagination and not be afraid to be creative. Seats can be made from almost any improvised means. The main thing is to make them as convenient, comfortable and reliable as possible.
Everyone who has ever worked with natural wood retains a respectful attitude towards it. Not a single, even the highest quality, glued board can be compared with natural wood. Which is better: some kind of pseudo-chair made of pressed sawdust or hand-made wooden chairs made from oak? The answer is obvious. Of course, the price of good furniture in stores bites, so let's try to make it ourselves.
We offer instructions on how to make such solid wooden chairs
Timber preparation
Chairs of this kind are made from radially sawn solid oak. You can take an array of mahogany (if you have it), the chairs will turn out no worse. Radial sawing is good because the wood fibers are densely and evenly spaced across the entire width of the board. Furniture made from such blanks is durable, retains its initial configuration indefinitely. In addition to the board, you will need screws, wood glue, stain, polyurethane varnish.
Any natural wood is a living material that reacts to changes in temperature, humidity and air composition. Therefore, the oak board, from which we will make wooden chairs with our own hands, must be aged in a new room for at least a week. After acclimatization of the tree, you can start cutting blanks.
A set of tools for making wooden chairs
- Milling machine.
- Belt sander.
- Electric jigsaw.
- Clamps.
Marking and sawing out the details of a wooden chair
Before you is a table of detailed product details.
Chair detail
A complete picture of the assembly of the chair gives a visual drawing with numbered parts. Referring to it, we begin to cut out the given elements in order.
Diagram of a wooden chair
The rear legs of the chair are always cut out first (in the figure they are indicated by the number 1). Using a planed blank 75 mm wide, 38 mm thick, we cut out two parts of the indicated shape, 1075 mm high. We measure and find the places of the grooves for the horizontal jumpers of the back.
We cut out two front legs (2) from the blanks. We cut them with a grinder. We mark and select the grooves with a milling machine for connecting the legs with jumpers and drawer parts. We cut off the upper ends of all the legs so that a low pyramid is formed.
We cut out jumpers for the back: two horizontal (3 and 4) and five vertical (5 and 6). They are all the same length, 475 mm. We mark and make grooves in horizontal slats. We form spikes on the ends of parts 3,4,5,6, adjusting their size to the size and shape of the nests. The upper edge of the horizontal part 3 should have a bevel from the middle to the edges.
Solving the question of how to make a chair out of wood without the slightest flaws, we collect the back first dry. We adjust the tongue-and-groove connections. After making sure of the perfect pairing, we disassemble the back, put all the parts on glue and tighten with clamps. The assembled structure (so-called sub-assembly) must be rectangular and flat.
We tighten the parts of the subassembly with clamps until the glue dries
Sawing and assembling the side panels
The most difficult part of the work awaits us - the formation of two side inserts of the chair. One insert includes an upper arched lintel 7, a lower rectangular crossbar 8, five rails 9 and 10. We cut out blanks for them and for arched lintels 11.
Since all four arched beams are identical, a template is indispensable. Making wooden chairs with curved edges is simply unthinkable without a template. We cut it out of MDF 20 mm thick. We attach a support rail and technological inserts to the base of the stencil, which will hold the milled strips in the desired position. We grind all sawn parts.
Special template-device for milling the upper ends of the slats of the side inserts
We mark and select the grooves on the arched crossbars of the side inserts. In these holes we will fasten strips 9 and 10 to the spikes. Next, we draw an arched rounding on all 4 jumpers according to the template. We cut out four identical parts and carefully grind.
We lay out the strips 9 and 10 in the right order, we plan spikes at the ends. We mark the upper ends using a template. We cut them along a smooth curve, fitting them flush with a cutter. To cut the spikes on the rounded upper ends, we first use a cylindrical cutter to select the rebate. On all arched elements, as well as on the crossbars 12 and 13, we cut off the spikes on the mustache. We assemble the side inserts, if necessary, adjust, disassemble and glue the finish. We compress the subassemblies with clamps and leave to dry.
We mill the upper ends of the slats according to the template
To cut the spikes on the rounded upper ends, we first use a cylindrical cutter to select the rebate.
Adhesive joints usually try to reinforce with screws, which we will do. We mark and drill non-through sockets 14 for small hardware. Each hole is closed with a wooden plug 15.
The plywood seat will rest on the slats 16, screwed with screws 18 to the crossbars. Holes for screws should be drilled in advance.
Assembling a wooden chair
How to make wooden without wasting time? We lay out the elements and finished subassemblies of the product, check all the groove-thorn interfaces for a match. We collect the entire structure in a certain order:
- We glue parts 11, 12, 19 to the back leg. We turn the structure over and glue the spikes of the free ends into the grooves of the second rear leg. We compress the subassembly with clamps. We screw the screws into the tongue-and-groove joints.
- We glue the side parts of the tsarga and both side inserts to the assembled back. Immediately glue the spikes of the arched lintel and the front of the tsargi into the grooves of the front legs. We put the resulting design on the spikes of the sidewalls. We install clamps on it and, without tightening it, check the rectangularity of the product by placing the chair on a flat surface. We tighten the clamps and screw the screws into the spiked joints.
- When the glue sets, we plug the holes with screws with wooden plugs. We carry out the final grinding of the chair, process it with a dark stain, cover it with polyurethane varnish for 2-3 times.
- It remains to cover the seat. To do this, you need soft leather and dense furniture foam rubber. Having made the upholstery, as shown in the figures, we screw the seat with screws to elements 16. Glue felt pads 20 to the bottom of the legs so as not to damage the floor covering.
Chair seat upholstery. We take a piece of leather 600x600 mm, cut out strips 25 mm wide in the corners. We bevel the edges of the 50 mm foam rubber at an angle of 30 ° (the underside is equal in size to the plywood seat). We nail the stretched upholstery with a furniture stapler.
When looking at the finished product, one gets the impression of solidity, solidity and comfort, especially since with small additions the chair easily turns into a comfortable chair with armrests.
Purchased furniture does not suit everyone. In addition, making a chair with your own hands is much cheaper; on average, 2 or even 3 times. An additional plus is that it can be made according to your own drawings, of any shape, size, and decorated in relation to the place of permanent “deployment”, that is, organically fit into the interior.
If you understand the nuances of wood processing, the main stages of assembling a chair, then making this indispensable attribute of many rooms is not a problem.
Before proceeding with the selection of materials and direct work, you should decide on the following points:
- the place of the future location of the chair;
- its purpose is targeted (only for sitting) or universal use (for example, a transforming chair that easily turns into a mini-ladder or a bookcase; a “clamshell” that is convenient to transport in the trunk of a personal car, store, and so on);
- chair dimensions and options for its back and seat (hard, soft, regular or curly);
- wood is a somewhat generalized concept in the furniture business. You can make a good chair from materials (or use them partially, for individual structural elements) based on wood. First of all, from multilayer plywood;
- own possibilities. This applies not only to practical skills, but also to the list of carpentry tools that are in the house. If you plan to make not only a simple chair, but put this business on stream, that is, decorate your home with exclusive pieces of furniture, it makes sense to either purchase the appropriate accessories or rent them. What the home master will need can be found in the article on;
- model. The variety of chairs is such that before choosing an option, you should familiarize yourself with their most common diagrams and drawings. It is enough to "walk" on the Internet and view the photos available in it. Copying on a one-to-one basis is hardly worth it. But if you take the most liked model as a basis, draw up your own drawing, you get a really original and comfortable chair in all respects.
Starting to engage in furniture business, you should start with the simplest option. In addition, the materials used are the cheapest. It's okay if the chair turns out "not very". It can be put somewhere in the back room, garage and so on. But such a “training” will enrich you with invaluable experience; this is without a doubt.
A brief overview of the varieties of chairs
"Array"
These models are the most common, in addition, they are one of the easiest to manufacture. There are no curly lines, changes in geometry, which is why these chairs are recommended for assembly by novice furniture makers. They are stable, reliable, durable and fit well into the interior of wooden houses or dwellings, which are decorated in a rustic style.
The only drawback of this type of chairs is massiveness. But it is partially leveled if a tree with a low density is used. And decorating it under a “heavy” breed, such as oak, is not so difficult. You can get acquainted with some technologies,.
For living quarters and dining rooms, you should focus on any of the modifications of the massive chair, which differs from the standard options with a soft seat. When assembling such a piece of furniture, it is advisable to combine materials. It is desirable to make the frame from solid wood, and the parameters of all elements should be somewhat reduced - carved legs, a more elegant back (not solid, but from rails-beams). For the seat, it is worth taking plywood, which is sheathed.
Another variety is a chair-chair. It is somewhat more difficult to make, but for living quarters, rest rooms, terraces, these are the most acceptable models. Such comfortable chairs can be additionally sheathed, put cushioning material under the cover; here much depends on your own imagination.
If the chair is made for a child, then it is the “array” that is the best solution due to its stability. The fact that the naughty baby will not roll over with the highchair is guaranteed.
"Cot"
Such chairs are more suitable for use on the territory or in a country house. In addition to being easy to transport, they are convenient in rooms with a small area. When folded, such a chair can stand somewhere against the wall, on the side of the closet and does not occupy usable space. If necessary, it is easy to transfer it to the "working position". It is these models that are most often used in garden plots, loggias, terraces and other places where the small weight of the product, size and mobility play a special role.
If the “folding bed” chair is assembled from multilayer plywood, then additional ease of use will appear; it (given its low weight) can be hung somewhere on the wall or under the ceiling.
You can make a lighter design. In such a "clamshell" the seat (and sometimes the back) is made of canvas. For example, from a tarpaulin. For a summer cottage, going on a picnic, fishing is a good option.
"Transformer"
This is the name of chairs that can be easily turned into a multi-tiered rack, stepladder or something else (depending on the features of the scheme). These models are great for apartments. Whether it concerns cleaning, repair, fixing something on the wall (ceiling), you won’t have to look for a sliding ladder - it is always at hand in the form of a “transforming” chair. And for those who like to plant flowers in the house, summer residents, who at the beginning of each year have problems with placing containers with seedlings in their rooms, this thing is simply irreplaceable.
Material selection
One of the most difficult questions about which most beginner masters “stumble”. The nuance is that, unlike many other pieces of furniture, there is such a feature in the manufacture of a chair - not every wood is suitable for this. And the point is not in its strength, texture, degree of humidity, but in the specifics of operation. The chair experiences dynamic loads in different directions. This is what it differs from the same cabinet, table, bedside table.
Experienced craftsmen do not recommend collecting coniferous wood for chairs, even of the highest quality. The reason is that it has a straight-layer structure. Constant loads in the horizontal plane (who does not like to “wiggle” on the seat, especially kids) will lead to the formation of numerous chips. As a result, the life of the chair is drastically reduced; it just needs to be repaired quite often. The only structural element where the use of such wood is allowed is plywood seats (from sheets glued together with coniferous veneer).
- Children's - birch.
- "Clamshells" - it is the same or plywood from this veneer.
- For all other models - deciduous species, but only thin-layered and durable. These include mountain ash, walnut, oak, elm, hornbeam, beech.
- When choosing plywood, one should take into account not only the cost of the sheets, but also their toxicity. If you focus on relatively cheap products, then the choice is small - FC or FSF. What is the difference? The main difference is in the composition of the adhesive used in the production. Without delving into the details of the technology and issues of "chemistry", it is enough to note that plywood of the FSF category is not recommended for use for interior work. The reason is the release of harmful fumes when the material is heated.
- The wood for the chair should not have visible defects. For example, for a countertop, some of them (pilosity, oblique) can be turned into an advantage if you know how to process it. But for a chair that experiences a variety of loads that change in direction and magnitude, all this is unacceptable. The same knots that transform the appearance of the table, making its texture original, will fall out of the chair rather quickly.
Tree preparation specifics
- If it is possible to dissolve the array yourself, then making furniture will be much cheaper.
- The moisture content of the blanks is not more than 12%.
- Mandatory impregnation with biocides. Options - water-polymer emulsion, furniture oils (or wax-based compositions), acrylic compounds.
Features of structural parts
General - they are made only from solid wood. At home, it is unlikely that it will be possible to make complex, curly elements. And it's not just the cutting of the material. You will have to change the angles (and before that everything is correctly calculated), under which the connecting spikes should be located. In addition, the exact selection of wood (under the grooves) requires not only special tools and fixtures, but also a lot of experience. Deviations from the dimensions will lead to the fact that the chair will constantly “play”, and from a practical point of view, the benefit of such furniture is zero.
To this end, all elements of the same type should be prepared in this order. First, for example, one front leg. After processing it, it is used as a template for the second. The same applies to the tsarg, the crossbars in the type-setting back, and so on. The meaning is clear - to achieve complete identity of the parts, so that later you do not have to deal with their adjustment.
Legs. Making the rear composite is not the best solution. The reliability of such a chair is drastically reduced. Seat . The thickness (in mm) of the board or plywood is in the range from 10 to 30, depending on the size of the chair. If a foam lining is supposed to be under the sheathing material (to soften the seat), then it must be covered from above with something that absorbs sweat well. Optimally - a thin layer of felt. Unlike all structural parts, the upholstery is not fixed with an adhesive, but is “fastened” with staples using a stapler. This will allow, if necessary, to easily replace both the skin and the “softener”.It makes no sense to consider more complex options (curly, openwork, combined). The reason is noted above. In addition, if you master the profession of a furniture maker (as well as any other), then you need to start according to the principle “from simple to complex”. Having made your own, albeit not quite a “decorative” chair, in the future you can master more elegant models. The main thing is to understand the design principle and all the features of working with wood.
Chair Assembly Procedure
You will have to do this at least twice. The first one is made “dry”, and its task is to check the fit of all structural parts (whether the dimensions of the jibs, crossbeams, tsargs match at the installation site). At this stage, it is still possible to eliminate the miscalculations made, correct something, and so on.
The second assembly is the final one. Here, all the elements of the chair are already fastened tightly, and further alteration, as a rule, is impossible.
Chair assembly algorithm: "apron" - drawers - "apron".
This is in short. Although the whole work is divided into more stages.
Assembling the rear legs and back
- All elements are adjusted in place and tongue and groove joints are made. The fastening of parts is done with wood glue. It is easy to make at home,.
- The places of gluing are pulled together with a clamp, and in this position the chair blank is left until the composition is completely dry. It is not necessary to accelerate this process artificially (with a building hair dryer, a reflector, etc.). The result will be negative, since the adhesive mass will begin to dry out unevenly in depth, and the strength of the joint will decrease.
Assembling the front legs
The drawers are inserted into the grooves, the parts are joined, and then everything is the same.
Connecting front and rear legs
At this stage, the side tsargs are installed.
"Screed" chair
What to use, you will have to decide for yourself. If there are no large clamps on hand, a cord will do. The task is to achieve complete drying of the glue at all points where it was applied.
If necessary, to further strengthen the gluing points, you can fasten the parts with self-tapping screws. To do this, “channels” are drilled and a chamfer is removed so that the head of the fastener is completely drowned in the tree. You can disguise it with putty (furniture) composition or decorative plugs (available for sale, and in a variety of shades).
Seat mount
There are several options. For example, attach prepared wooden stops to the side rails, and pull the seat to them (from the bottom side, through a through hole). One of the best options that provide good maintainability of the chair.
The beauty of independent work is the ability to realize your own ideas. Therefore, all photos, drawings, recommendations should be considered only as a basis in order to create something of your own, unique. And if the meaning of the main technological operations is clear, it is not difficult to do this at all, as well as to develop your own drawing.
If you have a carpentry workshop equipped by modern standards, it is very easy to make a garden chair out of wood with your own hands. Even a novice carpenter will cope with this task. But what if the only tools in the arsenal are a hand saw and a drill?
The article describes and shows in detail how to use these two "assistants" to make a durable, reliable and, moreover, aesthetically attractive garden chair. A three-dimensional model and a drawing with dimensions will help you quickly navigate the project and correctly manufacture the details of the future object. The material also contains some recommendations for the assembly and processing of a wooden chair.
materials
To make a garden chair, you will need a cut pine board 25-30 mm thick and 140 mm wide. Also, for the manufacture of jumpers, a wooden beam of 5050 mm is needed. These parts can also be made from a board, but the strength of the structure will lose significantly from this. The garden chair will be used in harsh conditions, so the safety margin will not hurt.All structural elements are connected to self-tapping screws and carpentry glue. At the same time, as you can see in the presented photographs, the fasteners themselves are not visible. To "mask" them, you will need standard 8 mm furniture dowels. The length of the screws is 30 mm.
Now for the amount of materials:
- Board - 5 m.
- Beam - 2.5 m.
- Self-tapping screws - 60 pcs.
- Dowels - 20 pcs.
Tools
The main idea of the material is to use a minimum of tools that any home craftsman has to make a garden chair. Whatever one may say, but you should prepare the following:- wood saw;
- drill;
- wood drill with a diameter of 2.5 mm;
- drill for wood with a diameter of 8 mm;
- bit for self-tapping screws (you can also use a screwdriver);
- sandpaper with a grit of 100 units;
- joiner's square;
- roulette;
- simple pencil.
- jigsaw;
- a circular saw;
- electric planer;
- grinder (preferably orbital);
- carpentry clamps.
Wooden garden chair details
It is best to start with the manufacture of the rear legs. These are the most difficult details of the chair, since there is an oblique cut of the board. It is necessary so that the back has a certain slope, which improves the comfort and attractiveness of the chair.Further, longitudinal and transverse jumpers are cut out of the timber. As mentioned above, it is quite possible to make these parts from the same 30 mm board. But it is better, nevertheless, to use exactly the bar.
The last step is to make the front legs and slats for finishing the seat with the back. In the above example, for this, a 14-centimeter edged board was unraveled along. In principle, it is quite difficult to perform such an operation manually. Therefore, if there is no electric jigsaw or circular saw available, you can use a whole board 14 cm wide. Although narrow lamellas look more attractive on the finished product. In addition, if your edged board is not very straight, rip sawing will make it easier to fit the pieces to the required size.
After cutting all the elements of the garden chair, it is recommended to immediately process them with a planer and sandpaper. To improve the appearance, it is desirable to round off all the edges that will be outside. Even if there is no planer and a special grinder, we take a drill, a disk nozzle and abrasive wheels with a grit of 100 units. The chair shown in the example is completely processed only with the help of this set (even a planer was not used).
To prolong the life of sandpaper, it must be periodically cleaned of chips. To do this, it is easiest and cheapest to use a heater in the form of foamed polyethylene (the one that is covered with foil on one side). If you "walk" with sandpaper on such polyethylene, it will be completely cleaned. This method does not work only against tar deposits. When the paper becomes clogged with resin, it remains only to throw it away.
Stages and nuances of assembling a wooden chair
The technology for connecting all parts of the chair is the same. It's called the "invisible screw".The execution sequence is as follows:
- Details are gradually applied to each other as shown in the drawings and photographs. For convenience and greater accuracy, they are fixed with clamps.
- Holes with a diameter of 2.5 mm and a depth of 30 mm are drilled under the screws.
- In the same places, the holes are expanded with an 8 mm drill to a depth of about 10 mm.
- Self-tapping screws are screwed into the holes. To make them go easier, it is recommended to lubricate the point with ordinary engine oil.
- Carpentry glue is applied to the remaining holes and dowels are clogged.
- After the glue dries, the protruding parts of the dowels are cut off with a hacksaw.
The process begins with the fact that the longitudinal jumpers and the front leg are attached to the rear leg. There will be two such assemblies. In the process, special attention should be paid to ensure that the perpendicularity of the parts is observed. The right angle is controlled and checked with a carpenter's square.
Next, you need to connect the resulting sidewalls at key points. For a chair, this is the rear lower jumper, as well as slats - the top one on the back, and the front one on the seat. It is better to connect immediately with only one self-tapping screw at each point. If the perpendicularity is violated, the situation can be easily corrected. Only after that, a second self-tapping screw is added to the key connections.
It remains only to evenly distribute the remaining lamellae and fix them in the manner described above. At each point it is better to use two self-tapping screws. So the design will be as rigid as possible and, accordingly, reliable.
After assembly, the final polishing of the product is carried out. At this stage, you can remove many of the errors made earlier. The remnants of dowels are also polished. The decorative and protective finish of the chair is not shown in the photographs, since the required material (tung oil) was not available at the time of assembly. For these purposes, you can also use wood stains, glossy or matte varnishes.
Results and cost of a garden chair
If you work only with a hacksaw and a drill, then it will take about 8 hours to manufacture parts and assemble them. In a well-equipped carpentry workshop, 3-4 hours will be enough.At cost. A board and a bar to make one such chair cost about $ 5. Self-tapping screws and dowels - $ 1.5. Sandpaper and used glue - $1 more. Decorative oil treatment - about $ 2. In total, the cost of a DIY garden chair is less than $10. Naturally, buying solid wood furniture in a store for that kind of money is unrealistic.
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