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Tub Chair Now Made From Scratch for My Home Office
by
Janice Anderssen
(IC: blogger)
In this project you will find instructions to make a tub chair and upholster in your choice of fabric. After making the prototype tub chair last week, this weekend I managed to put together and upholster the tub chair for my office. This chair is full size as per the measurement provided in the original project and is properly upholstered in my choice of fabric.
My office tub chair has lockable caster wheels that allow me to roll around the office easily, it also has lots of padding and a thick cushion so that I get to be comfortable no matter how many hours I spend at my desk. The design for the chair is almost exactly the same as the original prototype with a few minor differences. This time I used 16mm particle board for the base, seat and top frame. I figured this would reduce the cost of the chair.
I couldn't use the pockethole jig to attach the seat to the frame - the pocketholes would decrease the structural integrity. Instead I drilled holes at an angle and then drove in the screws. It worked perfectly and it's a strong join.
As with the original the outer frame is clad with 3mm masonite, but this time I also clas the interior frame. Because this chair is larger it was easier to bend the masonite around the inner frame. These sections were fastened in place to the top, frame and bottom sections using wood glue and panel pins.
The tub chair was then clad with 25mm thick medium-density foam glued to hold it in place. After that, the top and bottom of the foam was stapled to the frame. This may or may not have been necessary but I thought it a necessary measure in case the glue didn't hold the foam in place on its own. Finally, foam was glued to the front armrests.
Cutting the fabric was the next step. I opted to use an entire piece of fabric for the sides, over the arms and down the inside of the frame. To do this I needed to cut the fabric that would be on the inside in order to sew pleats that would pull the fabric taut. I cut 4 sections as shown below. The cuts were cut to the height of the outer sides.
GOOD TO KNOW:
At this stage we can staple the outer fabric to the base of the frame, making sure that the inside frame pleats are on top of the frame all the way around. Start at the back of the chair and pull taut before stapling to the base. I applied a doube row of staples all the way around.
Now you can move to the inside and secure the fabric to the chair seat. Again, pull the fabric taut and staple to the seat as close to the side edge as possible. The inside fabric is stapled all the way around the seat.
I used a piece of masonite to make the front panel and covered this with thick batting. A piece of fabric was wrapped over and stapled at the back. Make sure the corners are not too bulky or you will find that the panel will not sit flat on the front of the chair.
To finish, the cushion was upholstered using a front and continuous side panel and a top and bottom. The top was attached to the side/front section and then the foam cushion inserted and the bottom panel hand sewn in place.
You will find more detailed instructions for making and upholstering the tub chair on www.Home-Dzine.co.za in our DIY section, or visit the previous post on hometalk for the prototype tub chair with slipcover.
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Published July 21st, 2015 3:54 AM
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Lori on Jul 21, 2015You did a great job and it looks amazing. Would you mind telling me though what it cost to finish and how long it took in hours. If you did it for the satisfaction of building your own chair then I certainly understand but I am thinking it cost way more than to buy one new.
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Janice Anderssen on Jul 22, 2015The cost in ZAR was around R600 to make, so count on it being around 25% of what it would cost to buy a new chair and have upholstered in your own fabric. Of course, the satisfaction of making my own was very rewarding.
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