DIY rocking chair made of wood. A rocking chair is an island of relaxation and harmony in a summer cottage. Making a chair out of wood

In order for the long-awaited holiday in the garden to bring maximum pleasure, you need to take care of what furniture you will relax on. It is clear that on a small wooden stool you can rest for no more than 5 minutes, after which you just need to get up and warm up. This option garden furniture like a rocking chair will allow you to relax for hours with a cup of coffee and a book, so be sure to make this device with your own hands, and now we will help you with this a little!

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Rocking chair: buy or make it yourself?

Today, furniture stores provide a wide range of inexpensive garden and room furniture, among which you can find a rocking chair. This is not to say that buying a rocking chair is a bad option, because in addition to the fact that the manufacturer makes a high-quality and stable design of the chair, its design can be very diverse and more decorative than you can make it. Therefore, if you have sufficient financial resources and do not have a minimum knowledge base on working with wood, purchasing a rocking chair will be a more reasonable action for you.

But still, if creating a rocking chair with your own hands is your dream, then be sure to make it come true, because... There is nothing complicated in this work.

You can make a rocking chair with your own hands in one day, spending money only on a sheet of plywood (or planed boards), wood glue and wood screws, in general, the costs are minimal.

Provide detailed instructions will be very difficult, and you are unlikely to understand it, so it is best to explain how to make a rocking chair with your own hands using the example of drawings, several important advice and video lesson. Let's not waste any time and start looking at all these components!

What to make a rocking chair from?

In order for the rocking chair to be strong, reliable and durable, it is best to use more quality varieties wood - larch, oak, pine needles. Sheets of plywood are also often used to create rocking chairs with their own hands, which are not only easy to saw, but also have plasticity and are easy to process.

First of all, no matter what material you choose for the rocking chair, it must be processed protective equipment, because this furniture will be placed outdoors and under the unfavorable influence of natural conditions (rain, snow, frost) can quickly lose its attractiveness appearance or rot altogether.

It is not recommended to cover an outdoor rocking chair with fabric, foam rubber or other materials, because... if they get rain (and this will definitely happen), the fabric will begin to fray and then it will have to be altered. In this case, it is better to use softer types of wood, and when you get ready to relax on a rocking chair, just take a blanket with you to cover the chair, that’s all.

Many designers create a rocking chair frame from forged metal, and the seat is made from wood - this option is also not bad for a summer house, because the durability of the furniture will be even greater.

Furniture stores even provide plastic rocking chairs, the advantage of which is their high immunity to weather conditions, lightness of construction and inexpensive price.

Where to place a rocking chair at your summer cottage?

If you still want to relax under open air, then bring the rocking chair under the canopy for the evening.

The rocking chair will find a place anywhere: near, on the porch, near the pool, next to the area.

The main thing is that during your vacation you can observe the most beautiful places on summer cottage such as garden, fountain, etc.

Before we provide a video tutorial on how to make a rocking chair, I would like to give you some tips on making a rocking chair with your own hands, so:

The thickness of the material to create a chair must be at least 15 mm; for the frame it is better to use even a 20 mm board.
As mentioned earlier, it is better to use types of wood such as oak, larch and pine needles.
Be sure to treat the material with antiseptic agents and treat the metal with anti-corrosion agents.
To fasten structural elements, it is better to use a tenon connection, which must be provided for in advance in the drawing. If for some reason the tenon joint cannot be made, then use wood glue and self-tapping screws.
Choose self-tapping screws of a suitable length so that they do not come out from the opposite side of the board and at the same time reliably connect the structure.
To hide the screw heads, use special wooden-colored plugs that can be purchased on the market.
Before making a rocking chair with your own hands, prepare a drawing on graph paper, on which you will outline all the structural elements on a scale of 1:1. Next, cut out all the structural elements and lay them out compactly on a board or sheet of plywood, then trace them with a simple pencil and carefully cut out with a jigsaw.
After applying the antiseptic, the boards should dry thoroughly. Before as finished design will be assembled, open all the constituent elements with a primer and apply paint.

By using these drawings to create a rocking chair, you will not only reduce the overall construction time, but you will also not have to suffer for a long time, choosing the design and the correct dimensions of the parts!

A chair is primarily ergonomic and functional: it is a piece of furniture for relaxing or creating comfortable conditions for long-term sedentary work. But at the same time, a chair in a living room or bedroom is prestigious and can be a luxury item, therefore it is aesthetically very significant. If curtains complete the aesthetics of the interior, the chair provides the key to understanding it. And if the curtains are simple, then it is the chair that brings all the furniture into a single ensemble. Of course, in the case when the interior design is carefully and competently thought out. Finally, a garden or country chair must fit into the landscape and withstand bad weather, wintering in a cold storage room, and careless handling.

Making a chair with your own hands is quite possible for a home craftsman. Amateur carpenters make their own chairs, sometimes of a very high level, see fig. However, we will leave works of high furniture art for later, and we will consider this publication an initial one and limit it to samples that require at most space in the garage for production, regular tool woodworking and average skill in woodworking. For some, it will cost only sewing work. However, in the country of armchairs, the border between purely utilitarian and luxury pieces is very arbitrary, and some of the things described have a place in the living room. And the experience gained during the work will allow one to approach something exclusive over time.

About padding and covers

Any soft chair, on a rigid base or frameless (see below), is filled with soft and fairly elastic material. Horse hair is now available to only a few, whalebone is not available to anyone at all, so amateur chairs are most often stuffed with foam rubber or polystyrene foam (foamed polystyrene) in granules. They have a common property: they are easily electrified and retain static electricity for a long time, which is not at all good for health. Therefore, the upholstery of pillows, mats, and other soft furniture components must be made of 2 layers: external decorative and internal antistatic. This, in addition, simplifies the maintenance of decorative cladding and its replacement if necessary.

The antistatic cover of upholstered furniture is sewn from cotton fabrics according to the same patterns as the decorative one. There are almost no alternatives to cotton as a surge arrester: the leakage resistance of a chair on wooden legs, standing on a laminate floor, with an outer covering made of very well-electrified silk, with an internal cotton cover, lies in the range of 1.8 - 5.6 MOhm , which ensures almost instantaneous charge drain from the electrophore machine. Synthetic winterizer is somewhat worse: it does not rot, but the outer covering should also be antistatic, made from natural furniture fabrics.

The antistatic filler of upholstered furniture, remarkable in its mechanical properties and in itself, is polyurethane foam (PPU). But not a construction self-foaming sealant/thermal insulator; mechanically it is not suitable for furniture, but the so-called. neoprene foamed in special conditions during manufacture. Neoprene is available in granules and sheets; The latter, by the way, are used to make wetsuits. The material is expensive, especially sheet material, but there is no need for invention. Car seat inserts are made of neoprene. So if you come across a junkyard jalopy, try to get your hands on the seats and backrests. They won’t be counted as metal anyway, but by shredding the inserts you’ll get excellent padding for a couple of chairs.

Where do we start?

From rocking chairs. A homemade rocking chair will provide the most significant savings in money compared to purchased ones - once. Its production is technologically simple; As for stationary equipment, it is enough to have a workbench (possibly also homemade) in some nook or two. And it will always come in handy at the dacha, even if the design with finishing from an inexperienced craftsman was screwed up - three. But you need to make a rocking chair with your own hands only and only according to proven samples, and you can design it yourself only if you have considerable experience as a furniture maker and/or solid knowledge in this matter.

The design of rocking chairs is similar to the design of sailing ships. There, the center of sail (CS), the location of which depends on the configuration of the surface part (most of all, the sailing rig), the direction and strength of the wind, should always be slightly behind the center of rotation (CV) of the vessel. The location of the central point is determined by the interaction of the underwater part of the vessel with the incoming water flow.

If the CP is ahead of the CV, the ship will be prone to yaw while moving and will have trouble staying on course, and with the tiller/wheel abandoned, it will fall to the wind and end up with the lag (side) to the wave, which is fraught with disaster. If the CP is far behind the CV, the ship without a rudder will be driven towards the wind and will take the wave on the bow, which is safer, but it will respond to rudder turns sluggishly and slowly, which also threatens to crash. Therefore, sailboats are designed so that during any evolutions of the vessel (maneuvers + changes in sail in any possible sailing conditions), the CPU behaves like a sly fox with a dog: it “teases” the CV, staying close to it from behind, but then immediately runs away a little, As soon as the CV comes close. In this case, the ship will be quite agile, but the uncontrollable one will still be driven into the wind.

In a rocking chair, the role of the CP is played by the common center of gravity (CG) of the chair and the person sitting in it, and the role of the CV is the line of contact (LC), passing through the points of contact of the support shoes (arcs) of the floor or ground. If the CG is far ahead of the LC, it will be difficult to swing, and when leaving the chair you can get, excuse me, a kick from him. If the CG is behind the LC, then an “overkill turn” is possible, which is not at all funny: doctors are well aware of cases where people broke their necks by tumbling over their heads from homemade rockers. That is, for a rocking chair to be safe, convenient and comfortable, its CG with a rider of any corpulence should always be slightly ahead of the LC.

Note: for reference, the CG of a normal-built human body is located on the border of the lumbar and sacrum with inside spinal column. During movements and in different poses, its position changes little - over millions of years of evolution, a kinematic system has been developed that allows us not to fall on our side with our arm outstretched.

Rocking chair designs

Due to the above, the first rocking chairs appeared relatively late, no earlier than the middle of the 18th century. By that time, science had given technology methods for calculating complex mechanical systems the first steam engines chugged and puffed. As for the rocking chairs, their classic design is arches elongated posteriorly with a radius of curvature smoothly decreasing from front to back, pos. 1 in Fig. In such a system, the further the seated person pumps back, the further the LC will move back from the CG and it will be more and more difficult to pump out until the stopper is reached - the rear ends of the arches turn into straight lines. This is the so-called. reverse-progressive support. It is often called simply progressive, because. a truly progressive one will throw the rider backwards from the slightest push and therefore is not used. For ergonomic reasons, progressive arches are not always comfortable (if someone steps on the heel of the arch, the rider will jerk), so at the same time they came up with the idea of moving the rocking chair forward, which shifts the overall CG there, pos. 2, but such chairs are only suitable for people whose body type they are designed for.

The best way to create a rocking chair that is comfortable for anyone is to put arches on springs, pos. 3. At first, springs were made of wood, teak or dogwood (there is no replacement). Now rocker springs are made of carbon fiber (carbon, Kevlar) or special steel. Rockers on springs, in addition, swing for a long time and smoothly from a small push, lulling the rider in the most gentle way.

The simplest in design and the most safe are rocking stairs, pos. 4. In them, the stringers also serve as arcs, and the large length of their forming parts guarantees against tipping over. But single rocking stairs are chairs for individual use. If someone else sits in this one, with a CG that is even slightly shifted from the calculated one, it will either be difficult for him to swing, or he will find himself lying with his knees towards the sky. Therefore, according to the staircase design, as a rule, a pair of garden chairs or rocking benches are made. In this case, the general CG of the riders is less likely to leave the calculation area, and the large supporting area of the arcs ensures rocking when the rocking chair is installed directly on the ground. The structure and dimensions of a paired garden rocking chair are shown in Fig. Seat upholstery – slats 30x50; valleys - board 100x30.

Product samples

On the trail. rice. – drawings of a classic rocking chair, relatively simple and not particularly material-intensive, but suitable for both the country house and the living room. In the latter case, the seat and back cushions are made 5-7 cm thick using the technology described below.

The next option is a garden rocking chair made of boards, see fig. Widened arches are designed for installation on the ground. When creating the design, we took into account the fact that on a lawn or gravel you won’t be able to sway for a long time from one push anyway. This made it possible to move the CG more forward from the LC by moving the seat, and use simple radius arcs. In addition, the resulting margin of stability made it possible to make the backrest adjustable in angle.

Rocking chair in fig. above, it is structurally already close to a rocking chair-chaise lounge, in which the fixation of the rider’s CG relative to the PC is ensured by his very pose; simply - a rather deep failure of the dearest parts and, accordingly, a low-lying general CG. Drawings of a pair of rocking chairs are shown on the following. rice. On the left - it looks more elegant, but it is material-intensive: for each of the shaped sidewalls you will need a whole sheet of plywood 20 mm thick. On the right - simpler and more economical. Arcs 60 mm wide, 4-layer: 2 middle ones are cut out together with the corresponding parts of the side panels from 15 mm plywood, and overlays, cut separately, are added to them. All this together makes the structure very strong, and the additional downward displacement of its own CG due to the heavy arches makes it quite resistant to overturning.

More to the dacha and more

The rocking lounge chair is not everyone's cup of tea; Most vacationers prefer to sunbathe in regular sun loungers, if only because when folded they can be carried on the roof rack. In such a case - in Fig. drawings of a sun lounger for a summer house, picnic or beach. The difference from standard samples is the system for adjusting the backrest tilt, which does not require shaped metal, which, however, requires the implementation of part 1, as well as round crossbars made of sufficient solid wood.

On the trail. rice. – the design is interesting. This wooden chair in its original form will go to the country house, but it is easy to modify it into a quite prestigious one for the apartment:

Note: seat and back cushions about 10 cm thick are sewn as for the frameless chair described below.

What if there is no carpentry?

Although shavings and sawdust are not dirt at all, wood processing is quite a garbage business. In the same time modern materials and cutting methods make it possible to create printed garments that hold their shape under load without a frame. This is probably main reason because it's frameless cushioned furniture is gaining more and more popularity among amateur craftsmen and craftswomen. The most common are embroidered chairs, because... the whole point home chair In general, it doesn’t need a frame in soft elasticity and functionality.

The structure of a sewn chair is shown in Fig. The purpose of the double cover, the choice of fabric and filling are described above; Here we only note that there is absolutely no need to put a zipper on the inner cover. Both covers are sewn inside out and the last seam of the inner one after filling in the filler is sewn up with the scar facing outwards. It’s easier, cheaper and more reliable, and the scar is still not visible. Before sewing the last seam or installing the fastener, the cover is turned inside out.

The last (detachable) seam of the outer cover should be 0.8-1 m long, because through it you will have to put the outer cover on the inner one that has taken shape. If the filling is solid (foam rubber, neoprene block), 2 half-length zippers are placed on the detachable seam, fastened towards each other, otherwise the inner bag will get stuck in the asymmetrical cut.

If the zipper is replaced with lacing, the allowances along the edges of the split seam are folded and ironed before turning the cover inside out, a thick, strong braid is inserted into the lapel, and the wings of the lapel are quilted. Then, using a hole punch, holes for the cord are punched in increments of 4-6 cm and framed with eyelets. IN as a last resort cut the holes with petals, apply a ring of wire or durable plastic, the petals are folded through it and glued with PVA; then the grommet is tightly covered with a harsh thread (see figure on the left) and glued again. Several types of chairs fit into this general design and sewing scheme.

Note: processing allowances are everywhere within 15-30 mm.

Pillows

Who, as a child, did not lie on a pillow placed upside down? The simplest sewn chair is a large pillow. But it’s only good for fun, but it’s not good for relaxation: either there’s no back, or there’s something sticking out between the legs. It also easily wrinkles and falls to the side. Therefore, the cushion chair is made only to look like a pillow under the head, but in fact it is quite ergonomic and stable.

The easiest way is to pattern a cushion chair according to pos. and on the left in Fig. There are only 2 parts with a bend, and even then a simple radius one. Filler – foam rubber. But this “pillow” looks angular and doesn’t really look like the real thing. To get a more elegant chair that looks more like a real rumpled pillow, pos. b, you need to reduce the bottom, narrow the back, and trim the remaining parts obliquely by 5 cm, as shown in Fig. In this case, the filler is foam or neoprene.

Ottoman

Structurally and in terms of material consumption, a chair-cushion is similar to a chair-pouf, like a footprint. rice. It is more difficult to tailor, but pouffe chairs have an important advantage: they are suitable as a play and recreational children’s chair “from zero to school.” But not a working chair, a high chair, or other functional children's furniture! Having got used to falling apart on something soft, the child runs a great risk of ruining his posture!

Pouf chairs are most often sewn according to a pattern of 3 parts: shell (ring sidewall), seat, bottom. But in operation it turns out that the only vertical seam (or zipper) soon separates or breaks. Therefore, it is best to sew a pouffe chair from 5 parts with an insert at the front, as shown in Fig. The liner works similar to the stitching on the toes of work or military boots. It doesn’t look good on weekend shoes, but the chair liner can be made decorative, and there won’t be any extra seams on the shell.

Sack and pear

From a pouffe chair it’s not far to a bean bag chair with more high back. The simplest bean bag chair can be sewn from 3 parts, as on the left in Fig. The front vertical seam, due to the support of the rider on the back, is less loaded and quite reliable.

A simple bean bag chair has its drawbacks: the filling, especially foam, tends to spread out, and the back does not provide full support. You won't fall apart in such a chair with all your heart; your back will be damaged. The pear-shaped chair on the right in Fig. is free from these ailments. Option of cutting the bottom (bottom) No. 2 allows you to save approximately 0.5 m of fabric with a width of 1.44 m, because When marking the cut, parts according to option No. 2 can be squeezed between the wedges. In any case, the zipper is located along the diameter of the bottom.

Ball

An excellent option for a sporty child or adult is a ball chair, see fig. Cutting fabric for it is not so difficult if you use not the dimensions from the network, which are most often incorrect and not tied to anything, but the radius of the generatrix and the central angle of the polygon. In Fig. they are given for a ball chair with a diameter of 80 cm; for a diameter of 60 cm it will be 165 and 128 mm, respectively, at the same angles.

Sewing a ball chair has some features:

Because The detachable seam is short, the cover will have to be sewn single from antistatic fabric.
To prevent errors from accumulating during sewing, which will negate all the work, the polygon templates are carefully checked, applying sides to each other. All sides of both templates must be the same length to within 0.5 mm; for an 80 cm ball – 100 mm. Unusual for cutting work, right? But when sewing, the error accumulates. For 20 6-gons + 12 5-gons, the discrepancy can reach 0.5x32 = 16 mm and then the corners cannot be reduced by any tightening.
The filler is poured into the cover through a rolled-up cardboard pipe with a diameter of 60 mm. You can use a piece of plastic.
If the ball is laced, the split seam is made with a valve, like in old leather soccer balls, so that the filling does not spill out.

Note: the volume of filler for the described chair-pillows and 80 cm ball is about 250 l, and for the bag and pear about 350 l. The internal volume is filled completely, then washed.

Like the real thing

Here in Fig. – frameless chair with foam filling, simulating body. Armrests, if needed, are sewn like a backrest. The entire product can serve as a module from which a sofa, chair-bed, etc. can be assembled. The base is foam rubber slabs of grade (density) 40-45, 10 cm thick, glued together with PVA in pairs to a thickness of 20 cm, pos. 1. Seat and foot zippers are located at the back, and backrest/armrest zippers are located at the bottom. They must be paired, pos. 2, because it is very difficult to push the foam rubber in any case into a deep cavity through an asymmetrical split seam.

Note: In the same way, but from foam rubber of a smaller thickness, the seat and back cushions of some of the chairs described above and below are made.

The tongues for sewing together chair elements about 10 cm wide (pos. 3) do not provide a complete guarantee against sideways displacement with distortion, so pairs of buttons, pos. 4. The backrest/armrests are sewn filled before filling the seat, and the seat and backing are sewn together after.

To the bottom (folded) decorative paneling did not get dirty or rub against the floor, it is advisable to place the chair on plywood or plank pallet with low (approx. 5 cm) legs. It unfolds through the bottom, pos. 5. In this case, you get a good temporary, say, at the dacha, crib for a child. And if you save a little on foam rubber and lengthen the legs due to the chosen height, you will get a good chaise lounge on the veranda, pos. 6. So that, again, the lower (when unfolded) edge of the footrest does not wear out, it is sheathed, including a corner, with technical fabric. When folded, the upholstery will be at the back between the pillows and will be almost invisible.

More children...

Children love to feel like adults. If this feeling is given to them for a period of sufficiently long painstaking activities (handicrafts, preparing homework), then perseverance will develop. To do this, in Fig. – a child seat, economical, durable and quite comfortable. For the reasons stated above (the child’s skeleton has not yet completely ossified), only soft armrests are allowed; in this case, they are made from covered foam rubber up to 30 mm thick. You don’t need to make it thicker, just as you don’t need to widen the seat and back or make them curved, scoliosis can develop. If your body becomes numb, let him lie on a pouf, pear or ball for half an hour. Pledge correct posture– mobility and periodic change of positions.

The history of children's rocking horses is interesting. Judging by the excavations, they appeared as soon as some primitive innovator first saddled a horse. Initially, their function was purely utilitarian: the initial training of the future equestrian warrior. However, it is still useful for a child to feel like a rider these days; the vestibular apparatus and balance motor skills are developing well. What do the chairs have to do with it? But look how easy it is to make a children's rocking horse chair without any significant costs, see the video:

Video: do-it-yourself baby rocking chair-horse

In addition to developing the vestibular system and sense of balance, the little equestrian will enjoy swaying in a position that prevents deformation of the musculoskeletal system.

... and to the dacha

A rocking chair, a chaise longue and, in general, a country chair are good on a veranda or paved area. You can’t really swing in a rocking chair on the ground, and your legs slowly sink into a well-groomed lawn, at the same time spoiling it. So if there is suitable tree, a garden lounge chair makes complete sense to hang. This will deprive him of mobility, but will give him complete peace, comfort and unity with nature. Technically, there are 3 solution options: a swing chair, a cradle chair and a hammock chair.

Swing

How a wooden hanging swing chair works is shown in Fig. The indicated width (130 cm) is the maximum; for a pair chair, it can be reduced for a single chair. For reliability and simplification of the suspension, it is better to cut the initial (root) ends of the suspension cable with thimble loops, throw them on the bosses of the armrests (item 1), and pass the running ends through the rear suspension rings (item 2), throw them over the supporting beam of the suspension (bough wood, for example), insert into the front rings and then secure with locking knots, as shown in Fig. Can be applied to the seat and backrest soft pillows, stitched as described above.

Cradle

A swing chair requires a horizontal or almost horizontal supporting beam, because... suspended at 2 points. If you don’t have one, you can hang a cradle chair on almost any tree, see fig. Its basis is a hoop with a diameter of 1.1-1.5 m made of steel or propylene water pipe. The latter bends to this diameter without heating; then the joint must be secured with a round insert made of hard wood, fixed with self-tapping screws. As shown in the figure, as is the location of the suspension cables. The upper suspension unit is the same as the hammock chairs, see below. It is better to make the seat not textile, but wicker, but this is already a topic about weaving hammocks.

Hammock chair

The hammock chair is a hybrid of parts of a hammock, the upper suspension of the cradle, an additional beam and a pair of semi-rigid pillows, sewn together with a book in the manner described above, see fig. on right. The elements starting from the hammock are woven/knitted in similar ways. The features inherent in this particular chair are in the seat with a backrest:

From scraps

The country chair shown in the figure is notable not only for its rather original appearance. It is made from loose bars square section scraps of solid furniture 28 mm thick. Well, it’s a pity to use expensive high-quality material for firewood or some kind of plugs and patches. The boards of the seat and back are made of plywood; soft pillows (see above) 7-10 cm thick are placed on them.

Adirondacks

The Adirondacks are a sparsely populated, rather picturesque, mountainous and wooded area on the border of the United States and Canada. Its inhabitants have a reputation for being wayward and stubborn and have long invented their own chair for admiring their native land. The general public's interest in the Adirondacks and its chairs was awakened after Rockwell Kent painted the painting “Adirondack Autumn” in 1951, see figure; the artist worked a lot in those parts. After the death of R. Kent in 1971, one of the heirs either sold or donated “Adirondack Autumn” to the USSR Art Fund. It was not placed in the central repositories: they did not forget that R. Kent once fought in the Vietnam War; it was transferred to the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, where the author of these lines had a chance to see it in the early 80s.

Rockwell Kent, “Adirondack Autumn”

Unfortunately, in reproductions, Kent’s paintings fade irreparably: no print is able to convey the subtle riot of colors that the artist was able to create on canvas. Nowadays, Rockwell Kent is known to the masses more for his b/w illustrations for “Moby Dick”; “Adirondack Autumn” can only be found online in the form of crappy scans with moire. But Adirondack chairs were luckier; they are popular to the point that their name has become a household name, even to the point of Adirondack chairs or simply Adirondacks.

Structurally, Adirondack chairs, I must say, are very successful: simple, cheap, technologically advanced. The crossbar supporting the back gives them excellent strength and rigidity, and the large supporting surface of the rear legs, which bear the bulk of the workload, ensures low pressure on the ground. Aesthetically, Adirondack chairs fit right into the wilderness, and their wide armrests can serve as tables. Residents of the Adirondacks, by the way, also enjoy the fame of unsurpassed masters of moonshine. Clifford Simak admitted that he based his Alle-Opa in “Goblin Sanctuary” on an Adirondack. For these reasons, Adirondack-type chairs are made in a variety of modifications, see fig.

Adirondack garden chairs

Drawings of an Adirondack chair made of plywood

There are enough drawings of Adirondack chairs floating around the world wide web. Here we present a relatively little-known option made from 20 mm thick plywood. Its distinctive feature is only 2 curved parts (armrests) with simple radius bends. Can be placed on the seat and back as desired foam pillows 5-10 cm thick.

What is undesirable

Simple homemade chairs are enough; as you can see, there are many. But there are structures that it is better not to tackle, no matter how much desire or skill you have. This is, firstly, an office chair. The requirements for its ergonomics are radically different from those for a home for relaxation: it should create comfort that is not relaxing, but maintains performance for a long time. Technologically, this is achieved by using complex-shaped parts made from high-quality materials. And their production, in turn, requires industrial conditions with equipment for pressing and stamping, for plastic casting, TIG/MIG welding, etc. In addition, a gas lift, when purchased individually at retail, can be more expensive than a finished chair; Gas lifts are already made by machine-building enterprises with equipment for precision metalworking.

Note: computer chair differs from the office one essentially only in name, and everything said above applies to it in full.

Secondly, the chairs are made of cardboard. Packaging cardboard with internal corrugation is a wonderful material in many respects and finds the widest application. But not for armchairs. In principle, building a chair from cardboard is not so difficult, see figure, and its overall strength will be very high. But - alas! – even cardboard reinforced in any way easily crumples at the end and the seat of the chair will sag very soon. And a push with anything hard, even a vacuum cleaner, will leave an irremovable dent.

Finally about the unusual

However, cardboard is very useful in creating chairs. For example, for modeling unique chairs, pos. 1 in Fig. Sheets of cardboard are glued together to the thickness of the chosen plywood or board, cut into blanks and assembled from them into a model, which, of course, cannot be sat on. After fitting, the model is disassembled and a set of templates for cutting the base material is obtained. True, although it is not difficult to fill the gaps of the skeleton with polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam, in order to cover such a chair with soft material and trim it with decorative fabric, you need to be a cutter and an ace seamstress.

Armchairs made of felt or overcoat cloth, pos. 2, covered with foam cubes (the seat is supported by a hidden plywood insert), pos. 3, or water pipes, pos. 4, already require more invention than high skill. Felt and tubular, of course, will cost a pretty penny. But a chair made from cubes can be made even by less than adult craftsmen and craftswomen. And a hand-made chair for my mother’s birthday – it really couldn’t be cooler.

In general, the chairs, even without reaching complex representative ones, give scope for creative self-expression like few other pieces of furniture and homemade products in general. So, since the chairs are on the way, create, invent, try!

A rocking chair can be made of metal, wood, plastic or plywood. However, if you are going to build a rocking chair yourself, then in this case preference should be given to plywood. This is explained by the fact that it will be easiest to draw up a drawing for a rocking chair made of plywood.

Advantages of plywood

moisture resistance;
durability (a plywood product will not lose its attractiveness even after 10-15 years);
environmental friendliness of the material;
V special care does not need;
easy to saw;
low cost;
the material bends well.

Blueprints

If you are going to build a rocking chair yourself, then preference should be given to a simple model, which consists of two sidewalls and transverse components.

First, stencils are made from the cordon, which will later be used to cut out parts from plywood (bars, support strips and sidewalls). To do this, you will need a sheet of glued veneer, about 17 mm thick.

Important! Special attention You should pay attention to measuring the sidewalls, since they form the basis of the entire structure (the sidewalls have a curved shape and not a constant width, so calculations may be difficult).

The cardboard template is drawn “by eye”. The standard dimensions of the transverse components are 0.7 m in width and 0.6 m in length. However, the size can be changed if desired. Standard support length is 0.07 m.

After the stencil is made, it must be tested, that is, it must be installed on flat surface and shake it. This is necessary in order to understand what the original will look like.

What will you need for work?

To work you will need:

plywood sheets about twenty millimeters thick;
iron rims, nails and screws;
“sandpaper”, masking tape;
electric drill and electric jigsaw;
glue, foam rubber, leatherette;
paint, stain.

Making the base

Process:

Trace a stencil on plywood. Then the part is cut out according to the mark. Thus, the first sidewall is obtained. The second one is made identically to the first one.

Simple model of a chair (cell scale 1:10)

Important! Both sides must be the same size.

The cut out element is sanded with sandpaper.
The supports are attached to the sides using glue. Then the parts are fixed with self-tapping screws.

Important! The bars must be parallel to each other. In the future, the backrest will be attached to them.

Using self-tapping screws, attach the first plank to the upper bars. The remaining strips are installed in the same way.

Finishing

The process of finishing a rocking chair made of plywood:

The outer side of the product can be painted with stain in one or two layers.
The inner parts of the sides and ends can be painted with black paint.
After the paint has dried, the ends are reinforced with iron rims.
To give the chair softness, it is necessary to use leatherette. The leather is first used to trim the back of the back.
Nails are used to attach the leatherette to the frame.
To make the soft part, foam rubber (8 mm thick) is used, which is cut to fit the backrest. Then it is placed in a leatherette case. Using glue, the mattress is attached to the backrest.

If the drawings were drawn up correctly, the result will be an attractive and comfortable rocking chair. It is worth noting that this is not the only option, there are other more complex models.

A successful invention for those who value the opportunity to relax and unwind without leaving home is a rocking chair. And if you put it in the garden, you can enjoy it twice as much.

The traditional material for such chairs is willow and its analogue, rattan. Products made from this material weigh little, are distinguished by elegant lines and a respectable price.

Modern materials can also be used in the manufacture of wicker chairs - there are options made from synthetic wicker. They are no worse than natural ones, are not at all afraid of moisture and have a very long service life.

Metal chairs, despite the reliability and plasticity of the material, are too heavy. A wrought iron chair will look great in the garden, but you will have to make a platform for it. In addition, working with metal requires certain skills; it is difficult for a beginner to make a metal chair.

Rocking chair made from pipe scraps

Rocking chair made of metal profile

Plastic chairs are affordable and attractive in appearance. To these advantages we can add resistance to wet weather, durability, and bright, non-fading color. In addition, they do not have to be repainted or processed.

For self-production, wood is best suited - an inexpensive, easy-to-work material. Upon completion of work wooden chair You can give it any color or keep its texture. For those who are thinking about making their own furniture for the first time, wood is best suited.

There are many models for home craftsmen, the simplest ones are presented below.

When designing a homemade rocking chair, the main thing is that it does not tip over when the sitter leans back. It is also important that the rocking process itself, for which the chair was made, does not force the person to strain too much.

Types of rocking chairs

The simplest type is chairs built according to the radius principle. These are the most affordable products for self-production; they are distinguished by the simplicity of manufacturing technology and design. The model presented below has a somewhat heavy and awkward appearance; this chair is suitable for the garden.

Chairs of this type are designed with a fairly low seating position, which ensures smooth rocking and safety for the seated person. If the seat is installed at a normal height, then the chair runners are equipped with bumpers - limiters of the swing amplitude. To get up from such a chair, you need to make a physical effort. And the swing itself requires some tension.

Much more stable than chairs on runners of variable curvature; they do not tip over.

Nirvana chairs are very comfortable; if you lean forward a little, it will gently “land” a person on his feet. Rockers on elliptical runners, despite their comfort, can tip over, so they are equipped with bump stops; the front one usually serves as a footrest.

There is no possibility of tipping over when rocking on reclining chairs with awnings or on elliptical runners.

Where to begin

Below is a rocking chair for the garden, which even a beginner can make with some effort. On
You can try your hand at such a model before moving on to a complex home version.

In any case, the drawing should be as simple as possible so that it can be reproduced even without much experience.

This compact chair will look great in the garden and can be placed at home without taking up much space. This simple model will be used to describe the process.

You should start with a drawing

The drawing is made on a scale grid, on which each cell corresponds to 10 cm. All markings on the sawn parts must be made in accordance with the drawing, taking into account the scale.

What can a chair be made from?

Euro plywood 3 cm thick is suitable for work.

You need to cut out the sidewalls exactly according to the pattern, three parts for each side;
The remaining parts are made of timber 50 mm wide and 25 mm thick. For the seat and backrest you need 35 elements made of timber, each length 120 mm;
In order to correctly calculate how much timber you will need, you must first visit the store and see what beams are available and what their length is. Knowing the initial size of the material, it will be possible to minimize waste by varying the width of the chair;
For example, if bars of the required thickness, 2.3 meters long, are available for sale, then you can make the chair a little narrower - cut the bars for the back and seat to 115 mm each. If the beams are slightly wider, then the chair can be made a little wider so that there are not a lot of scraps left;
You will also need three crossbars made of timber; when making them, you should proceed from the width of the chair - that is, the length of the bars for the back and seat.

Small variations in width will not affect the stability of the chair, so you can do this without worrying about the result.

When the parts are ready

After the parts are cut, they will need to be processed. There should be no roughness on them.

In addition, carefully processed surfaces will give the product a finished look and facilitate finishing.

Surfaces are treated using grinding machine, each part must be sanded on both sides with sandpaper of different grains. If you have the skill, you can use a router attachment to soften and round the sides of each part. If this is not possible, you can simply process the cuts with a grinder or sand them manually.

Treatment with hot drying oil should be carried out in at least two layers. This is one of the most unmodern methods, but after this the product can be painted with oil paint and used even outdoors, without losing its quality and appearance.

Small parts can be dipped entirely into boiling drying oil, but you should not hold them with your hands. It's better to make improvised tongs from wooden slats. Larger parts should be generously coated with a brush, laying them out on cardboard, each side in turn, and dry the remaining parts in the same way. Working with hot drying oil requires great care; this should be kept in mind during the impregnation process. You must not bend over a container with a boiling substance; you must wear thick work gloves.

Alternatively, the parts can be treated with antiseptics, stains, and other impregnations, of which there are a great variety in stores. They should be selected based on intended purpose item: where it will be used.

At the end of the work, you can go through it with fine sandpaper again by hand, bringing it to complete smoothness.

Assembly

It is imperative to mark the places where the cross bars are attached - these places are marked on the drawing; their location on the finished parts should be calculated based on the scale grid pitch.
Having assembled the sides, you can begin to attach the seat and back parts. The back will be attached to the stand, the seat to the drawers.

We need to pay attention to this again. that the drawers must be fixed strictly symmetrically, and the assembled side parts, if placed on top of each other, must completely coincide, without the slightest deviation.

Now the side parts are fastened together by crossbars; they should be attached at the legs, in the middle and at the top of the chair. For attachment, it is better to use confirmats (a type of connecting fastener);
To attach the back and seat parts, four holes should be drilled in each block, two on each side. To ensure that the screw heads are not visible, each hole must be slightly widened from above with a drill of a larger diameter (it must be selected according to the diameter of the heads). When screwed on, the caps will end up in recesses, which can then be masked with furniture putty.

Such careful completion of the first part of the work will ensure the fulfillment of the following indispensable condition - all parts of the seat and back, all 35 bars must be positioned strictly horizontally.

Final processing

After assembly, the product must be processed again to give it a finished look. In addition, this will significantly extend its service life and maintain its aesthetic appearance.

If the parts were treated with drying oil, then after assembly the chair should be coated with oil paint, in thin layers of two or three layers.

If you want the product to have the natural texture of wood, it should be treated with stain of the desired shade and varnished.

The varnish should be waterproof, just like the stain. There are varnishes that create special durable coating resistant to abrasion and cracking. If the chair will be placed outside, it is better to take yacht varnish or something else with increased durability. In any case, it is better to keep the product under a canopy, this will extend its functionality, or at least bring it into the house during precipitation.

For the chair you need to use strong types of wood. These are oak, larch, conifers;
Europlywood, a 3 cm thick laminated wood material, also has sufficient strength to make the chair reliable;
Sheets of plywood must be carefully inspected before purchasing to ensure there are no surface damage or cracks. This will eliminate difficulties when cutting the product and its subsequent processing;
The more time is spent on processing the product and impregnating it with drying oil or compounds, the longer its service life will be;
The chair does not need to be upholstered with foam rubber and thick fabrics; this will contribute to the accumulation of moisture under the upholstery, which will quickly render it unusable. It is better to get removable pillows for the seat and backrest;
If the finished product leans too far back or, conversely, is oriented forward, it will have to be balanced upon completion of the work. To do this, an additional cross member is installed at the rear ends of the sidewalls. Previously, recesses are cut into it, where weights are attached according to the inclination. Also, if necessary, the front part of the chair is loaded. By adding and subtracting them, trying to sit and rock in a chair, you can achieve the ideal balance of the product.

Making a rocking chair is a rather complicated process, but quite doable. If you carry out all the steps correctly and carefully, following the drawing and tips outlined in the article, the result will be a beautiful and functional product that will last a long time.

For inspiration, you can watch the video at the link below. The video contains incredibly simple models that you can make yourself, using affordable materials.

What could be better than a soft chair for pleasant relaxation after a hard day?

People have managed to add a very useful addition to this classic piece of comfortable furniture by inventing a rocking chair. A comfortable body position combined with a leisurely rhythmic rocking perfectly calms and encourages pleasant thoughts.

The popularity of the rocking chair over the centuries of its existence has led to the emergence of an incredible number of options and modifications. Therefore today everyone House master can freely choose suitable design and the material for its manufacture.

For detailed information about the best examples engineering and design solutions embodied in specific models would not be enough to fill a whole book. Therefore, we will consider the most interesting and original versions of rocking chairs, choosing from them the most affordable ones for making at home.

Review of popular rocking chair options

The classic rocking chair was made from durable and light willow wicker.

The hand-woven openwork pattern fits perfectly with the interior country house and looks great among the greenery shady garden. The only drawback of a wicker rocking chair is its low resistance to a humid environment. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor it to protect it from a sudden downpour.

Wicker chairs today are also made from rattan- a flexible vine native to Southeast Asia. Despite all its beauty, a rattan rocking chair is inferior in strength to willow, since this material does not allow the use of connections with screws and nails, but only adhesive contact and knitting.

A home craftsman without mastering the weaving technique will not be able to make a high-quality chair from willow vine, not to mention natural rattan. This material is not sold as raw material, but is supplied only in the form of finished products. Therefore, for many dacha owners, a wicker rocking chair is the best option for purchase in a store, and not a way to apply your creative abilities.

Created for home comfort, the rocking chair smoothly migrated to office rooms, where it was duly appreciated as an excellent accessory for relaxing from the hustle and bustle of business. It is quite natural that the office version of this furniture is particularly solid and respectable.

Speaking about factory models of rocking chairs, we need to mention some very unusual design options in high-tech style.

The ability to actively swing is what distinguishes this furniture from the usual ones stationary structures. Therefore, a rocking chair for children is the optimal solution to help direct the energy of a growing body in the right direction and at the same time keep it under the watchful control of adults.

Many design options for children's rocking chairs have been created, starting with the classic wooden horse and ending comfortable chair with electronic control.

For relaxation on outdoors Rocking chairs made of metal, wood or plastic are most often used. They are not afraid of the vagaries of changeable weather, being durable and easy to maintain.

Among modern designs there are truly unique models, which in addition to comfort guarantee the owner independence from external energy sources. Here, for example, is a closed rocking chair equipped with solar panels. Their power is enough to power a laptop or tablet computer.

By the way, this original version can be reproduced fairly well by a home craftsman using a polycarbonate sheet for the canopy and thick plywood for the base of the structure. Install on it solar panels- no problem. Today they can be freely purchased online.

How to make a rocking chair with your own hands?

The main differences between a rocking chair and stationary structures are the presence of curved runners for rocking and a downward center of gravity, which increases stability.

Therefore, with a strong desire and the absence of a professional set of carpentry tools, such a chair can be built even from an ordinary chair, shortening its legs and placing it on bent runners made of wood or a metal strip.

A rocking chair made of wood is stronger than one made of wicker. It is resistant to changes in humidity and retains its presentation outdoors longer. To independently manufacture such a structure, you must have basic carpentry skills, as well as acquire quality wood hardwood (oak, hornbeam or beech).

A plywood rocking chair is made much easier and faster than a wooden one., which can be given a very original shape.

Plywood - excellent material for plastic modeling. Using a regular jigsaw, you can make a structure that combines the two most complex parts of a rocking chair - the sides and runners.

Let's take a closer look at how you can make a rocking chair with your own hands from plywood.. In order to avoid problems during assembly, it is necessary to prepare a drawing, indicating on it the dimensions of the sidewalls and connecting strips.

The main tools for the work will be a jigsaw and a screwdriver, and the main materials will be a sheet of plywood 15 mm thick, several planed pine or oak slats with a cross-section of 10x50 mm and wood screws.

Having drawn the contours of the sidewalls according to the pattern on a sheet of thick plywood, they are cut out with a jigsaw. Then the sidewalls need to be connected at three points with transverse bars with a section of 30x50 mm (fixed with wood glue).

After this operation, a facing strip made of a bar with a cross-section of 10x50 mm is carefully attached to the assembled frame. Then all structural elements need to be sanded with fine sandpaper, covered with stain 2 times and opened with acrylic varnish.

If the rocking chair will be placed not only in the house, but also in the yard, then the protection of the plywood sides from dampness should be of especially high quality.

For those who confidently own a welding machine and an angle grinder, it is worth considering making a rocking chair with steel frame. For such a design you will need a small steel corner 20x20x3 mm and a steel strip 40 mm wide and 4 mm thick.

After metal carcass fully assembled, it needs to be painted. After this work, holes are drilled along the entire length of the corner of the back and seat for screws for attaching the wooden facing strip.