High-Design, Low-Price Chair

Michael Fortune's made-for-production chair.

By Anissa Kapsales #205–May/June 2009 Issue

Michael Fortune’s chairs run the price gamut, but as the sticker price comes down the time and effort invested have to do the same. In this $34 made-for- production chair, he also had to accommodate the limitations of manufacturing in a developing country.

Traveling from his studio in Canada to a community in Belize, Fortune provided on-site training, researched the materials available locally (keeping prices down and further boosting the local economy), and worked with the available machinery, which was often low-tech. The design of the chair as well as the production methods got pared down to the basics, and organization was the key to success. Fortune said he appreciated the challenges as a designer and craftsman, and most of the lessons he learned can be carried back into the one-man custom shop.

Michael Fortune Chair — Diagram of the chair

Packs flat—assembles easily

The chair had to be designed so it could be delivered as an RTA (ready-to-assemble) product. Dowels and bolts with cylinder nuts allow the product to knock down for flat packing and shipping, so the chair can be easily assembled at its final destination.

easy to assemble low-price chair — Easy assembly

New life for an old machine

At the site, Fortune found a defunct overhead router being used as a storage table. Luckily, he was able to procure missing parts and rehab the machine so it could be used, with shopmade jigs, to cut the curved backrest and seat after they were laminated on a form.

restore the machine to create chair — Restoring the machine

Jigs make joinery foolproof

The ready-to-assemble joinery was done with hand drills. A shop-made jig was clamped to a bench, and the workpieces set in place and drilled. To keep things fail-safe, all the jigs for this chair were color coded and precisely labeled. Then, multiple drills were set up with the bits at set depths.