When I wrote “Campaign Furniture,” I tried to avoid some of the “camp” campaign pieces – mostly pieces of furniture that had been adapted to plastic modern versions and available for sale at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
But this week, I call uncle.
One of the students in my New English Workshop class at Warwickshire College had spent most of his life in the tropics and collected a good deal of portable furniture, including a set of “umbrella chairs” he had purchased in the 1970s.
One evening after the class had adjourned, he took me out to his car and showed me a couple of them. He had replaced the upholstery, but the wood and metal were original.
While I have seen these chairs in operation in plastic and nylon, they are simply amazing in wood, metal and cotton.
First off: There is not a single woodworking joint in the frame. Everything is handled by geometry, butt joints and hardware. The more you play with them – open and shut and open and… – the more you appreciate their cleverness.
Oh, and they are comfortable, too.
The student’s chairs were made from some sort of mahogany-like wood and a non-ferrous metal. Perhaps aluminum. As soon as I finished fooling with the chair, I resolved to build some. I’m going to need to fabricate some hardware. But that’s not a big deal, right?
— Christopher Schwarz
Definitely interested in the hardware aspect. Please keep us up to speed on any progress. Specifically the replacement of the rivets. I don’t think the flat aluminum hardware is much of a challenge, I could be wrong…— ~Thomas
On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 12:31 PM, Lost Art Press
Tripolina chair.
Even better: http://www.tassodesigns.com/history/
I bought a set of 4 chairs almost identical to the ones you show in the mid 70’s from a small outdoor furniture store that is since out of business. We use them as additional seating for BBQs etc in the summer. Very comfortable, easy to set up and take down, and the design is quite elegant. I’ve reinforced the corners to get extra life out of the covers, but really need to replace them now for safety.
I’ve some butterfly chairs from the 70’s mobile days. Canvas and tubular iron bodies. Alittle hard to get in and out of but like a hammock? LOL!
Ooh! I want to get my hands on this.
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Maybe with enough interest our friends at Lee Valley would make a set of hardware in stainless…..
I’m a little skeptical about using aluminum. It’s a lot more expensive but I think you’d do much better with brass. Aluminum has an annoying tendency to work harden when you bend it like that and with those thin cross sections you might see tearing or failure at the bends. Of course steel would be strongest and still pretty easy to work but you need to worry about rust. Hot dip galvanizing would be a good solution and for such a small batch of parts it shouldn’t bee too expensive.
My chairs from the mid 70’s have steel parts plated with something I’m not metallurgist enough to recognize. Small rust spots where the plating has worn off, but otherwise in great shape. They do take a lot of stress in use, so steel is good, and the wooden frame + method of construction givers the chair frames a little give which helps the comfort.
Chris –
Might want to check out a makerspace near you if you want to fabricate the metal parts. If it has a decent metal shop, someone should be willing to help you out. Or if you come down to Houston sometime, our local one can show you how it’s done.
PW
I’ve been looking at making some of these chairs as well. Was thinking of using sections cut from 1 inch channel iron for the swivel and fold end brackets. Have also seen brass and aluminium channel. It would mean 3/4 x 1″ thick wood for the frame though, and not sure how much weight that would hold. I’ve seen similar chairs on the internet with 7/8″ thick frames.
Out of curiosity, what were the thickness of the frames on the chair you looked at?
In any reasonable qty, say at least a couple dozen, you should be able to have any decent sheet metal shop make the hardware for a decent price. They could laser cut and CNC bend it from any material you would care to use. That would make for a nice kit to sell as those chairs look much nicer than what can be bought for camping. I’m more than willing to help with the CAD if you can provide dimensions.