How to Design a Cardboard Chair
Furniture can be expensive and difficult to create. Making furniture out of wood requires specialized tools and skills. However fully functional furniture can be created using cardboard and engineering know-how. The main way this is achieved is using the corrugation of the cardboard as support. The small air pockets inside the sheets of cardboard act as tiny columns to support weight when that weight is applied along the side of the corrugation. Many design and engineering schools conduct building contests to see who can make the best cardboard chair.
Instructions
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Decide how to hold up the weight of a person. One very popular way is to fold cardboard into triangle columns with the open air spaces facing down toward the ground and up toward the seat of the chair. You can also support weight by coiling cardboard with the corrugation facing top to bottom as with the triangle columns. Alternatively you can use very small boxes that are stacked, although this may not be desirable because of the comparatively large open space inside the boxes. Remember, the key is very small open spaces, including corrugation. These supports can be attached with glue or tape, or they can poke through the seat with cardboard pegs through the supports underneath.
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Consider where to place these support structures. When you are constructing the seat, be sure to figure out where the weight supporting elements from Step 1 are going to go. Usually the seat is roughly square-shaped. You will need to place supports at the corners and probably in the middle of the seat. The spacing of these supports needs to be close enough to hold the weight, but right next to each other, or the chair will be unstable and tip over when someone sits on it.
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3
Design the seat so that the intended sitter can fit comfortably on the seat. Make sure that it is large enough to fully fit underneath the person. It should also have attachment points for the supports.
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4
Decide what kind of backing to use. You can opt to have no backing, and instead have a type of stool. You can also decide to have a high back, low back, arm rests and other additions. The backing can be a simple sheet of cardboard or several pieces. You may need to use supports like the ones you used to support the seat to support the back of the chair. If you want the sitter to be able to lean heavily on the backing, a support will be needed.
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References
- Photo Credit cardboard box image by MAXFX from Fotolia.com
