mental4astro
20-12-2011, 02:07 PM
Hi all,
Here's another DIY observation chair project.
My brief was to use as much stuff I had already at home, making the thing not only cheap, but as practical as possible. So here is my Mark 1 obs chair:
The seat is height adjustable. The mechanism works just by lifting the seat which disengages the 25mm dowel from the cut hole and lifting or lowering it to the next hole and the dowel just slots into the desired hole. The dowel piece came from the top end of a dead broom. The seat is from assorted detritus, including an old cypress pine floor board.
The frame is from a merbau off-cut. The holes in the seat piece were done carefully using a 25mm spade bit. What I did need to buy was the stainless steel hinge. Not for the corrosion resistance, but for the added strength of stainless over conventional steel hinges.
The bracing member is from ironbark recovered from a smashed up park bench (bloody hard timber!). The locking mechanism for it is the angled cut-out that slips over the frame. I can lift the chair just from the brace the lock is so effective.
The rubber feet where placed into filed slots so that when the chair is opened out, the maximum amount of rubber is in contact. The chair folds up neatly for storage too.
This is the Mark 1 version. In the field 'testing' is still to happen, once these clouds bugger off, :rolleyes:. So far the seat works a treat. Stable, adjustable and simple to use.
Thanks for looking,
Mental.
Here's another DIY observation chair project.
My brief was to use as much stuff I had already at home, making the thing not only cheap, but as practical as possible. So here is my Mark 1 obs chair:
The seat is height adjustable. The mechanism works just by lifting the seat which disengages the 25mm dowel from the cut hole and lifting or lowering it to the next hole and the dowel just slots into the desired hole. The dowel piece came from the top end of a dead broom. The seat is from assorted detritus, including an old cypress pine floor board.
The frame is from a merbau off-cut. The holes in the seat piece were done carefully using a 25mm spade bit. What I did need to buy was the stainless steel hinge. Not for the corrosion resistance, but for the added strength of stainless over conventional steel hinges.
The bracing member is from ironbark recovered from a smashed up park bench (bloody hard timber!). The locking mechanism for it is the angled cut-out that slips over the frame. I can lift the chair just from the brace the lock is so effective.
The rubber feet where placed into filed slots so that when the chair is opened out, the maximum amount of rubber is in contact. The chair folds up neatly for storage too.
This is the Mark 1 version. In the field 'testing' is still to happen, once these clouds bugger off, :rolleyes:. So far the seat works a treat. Stable, adjustable and simple to use.
Thanks for looking,
Mental.