Are these chair parts commercially available?…
bradleyheathhays
| Posted in General Discussion on
I have an idea for something new that I want to make and if I can find someone who sells these particular parts it would make going into production so much easier. I’ll picture them below but the two parts I’m interested in is the leg of an older style chair as well as the top back brace. The leg has a good bend to it and the top brace is ‘bent’ as well and tapers from the bottom to the top. Any idea where I should start looking to find these parts? Thanks.
PS. Sorry, I kept getting ‘file size too large’ when I was uploading so I had to cut out most of my pictures to get them to send.
PPS. In the case these parts aren’t commercially available how I would go about making them?
Replies
"Production" what do you mean? The Lane factory just closed after 100 + years. It's up for auction,you could buy it rehire their now unemployed personnel and they could build you anything.
To get real though,if this is an original design by you then there is not much chance that your going to find off the shelf what you want but there are companies that sell things like seats and legs and whole chair kits. I've seen them on line,usually classic designs, like windsor chairs. With the new fad interest in Danish modern furniture I would be surprised if you couldn't find parts or kits offered for some of those classic designs. Chairs are one of the more advanced woodworking skills. So if you asking where to begin....
I was involved once with helping design for someone a line of wicker furniture. He was not a woodworker or craftsman of any sort. He carried his plans and some of his , I think it was maybe drug money to the Philippines,found a place and they made the furniture. He didn't make the killing that he thought he would. He did get the stuff made and he did manage to import and sell some. I didn't think he would get that far.
Thanks for the information and advice pantalones. In the past I've heard that up to 1/3 of all new US businesses use drug money profit to start, and I don't doubt it.
I've never seen individual parts like that for sale. You could probably find a chairman's that would make and sell them to you. But probably not on a production basis.
How many are you trying to build?
At first I'll just build the first example, but I have a rather large well heeled audience that's going to see it so I want to have an idea on how to go into some kind of small scale production.
If you want commercial quality and quantity then look for a commercial factory.
If you want to make them yourself, you can make the parts by one of three methods:
1. Cut from solid stock. This is quick and easy, a low skill approach that anyone can do. It is wasteful of material and can induce some weaknesses where grain is short, but it gives very quick results.
2. Glue lamination. This gives very strong, stable parts which are easy to ensure match a precise design. This leads to ease of mass manufacture but on a small scale is quite expensive in time. Each layer needs to be glued and the whole part formed in a press of some kind.
3. Steam bending. This allows parts to have moderate bends whilst remaining strong. There is little wastage of material but parts can fail in the process and there is a need to accommodate 'springback'.
All three methods will require some finishing after they are formed.
Depending on the number of parts needed, there will be a progression from individual artisan to small factory to CNC to mass market machinery.
I used to buy them by the thousands, look for a wood steam bending company in your area, there are surely many of them in upstate North Carolina or parts of the North East.
Hey there gulfstar. As some know I post my question in many online wood forums and after reading through 9 other forums you are the first to confirm these can possibly be bought from a supplier. Thanks for the encouragement. I'll look for a steam bending company in my part of the world. I don't mind traveling and buying in bulk so if you have ANY suggestion for a wood steam bending company in my half of the US I'd appreciate. I'm in Lexington, Ky.
You could check with a chairmaker in your area. I know Elia Bizzarri will sell steam bent chair parts. You may send him an inquiry.
https://handtoolwoodworking.com/
nice thoughts