A Folding Lounge Chair

Fit. Red oak,  Cherry Stain

This chair I designed and built in 1981. I call it my Fit Lounge.  Look up the word "fit" for a rounded out description that very well matches the chair's features. 

Dictionary.com: Fit

Fit is a good example of 4th dimension design.  For most of its life it stands still and ready.  Welcoming me in for some time off my feet.  Several times in its life it has folded up flat for easy carry and compact shipping. 

4th Dimension Design.

The cushions are supported by canvas.  Under the seat the canvas is stretched drum tight using two aluminum bar cam levers. Originally the cam levers were made from oak. Not being sure how long the oak levers would last I replaced them with some 1/4" thick aluminum bar stock.  Through the cushion you never "bottom out" and feel a hard surface.  During shipping/moving the cam levers can release the tension to let the canvas relax.  The back canvas wraps around the top rail, runs over two elastic straps, around a 1" dowel to the low base stretcher between the back legs. It runs around that stretcher and with sewn in Velcro strips it sticks to itself. When the chair is folded up the path for the back canvas is a little shorter, easing tension on the back straps.  The back straps add a flexible lumbar contour to the back cushion. Much more comfortable than a flat plane. 

Canvas Support

Pivot points between the seat and the outer frame have a 1/16" thick nylon washer to keep the wood from rubbing against wood.  The black bracket is 1/16" thick aluminum plate sprayed black for contrast.  If I made a new one I would have the plates powder coated. The cushions have been recovered twice, and are due for one more update. Perhaps with leather this time. 

Folded up it is four inches thick with cushions removed.

All outer edges are rounded over.  A friend volunteered to model it for me.

Gretchen

Fit won 1st place in the summer casual furniture category at IWF's Design Emphasis competition in 1982.  I mentioned to the judges that I also had a redwood version that I took out to my deck when the weather was nice.  Because it folded up flat for easy carry it was easy to take in and out.  

Fit has proven its durability and usefulness.  It has been my favorite landing spot after a hard day of work for 41 years. 

Questions and comments are encouraged!

4D

Versatile Coffee Table Design

This design I came up with many years ago.  It is a simple table design composed of two wood leg boards and a wood beam for the base, with a table top board to rest on them.  The identical base boards have an offset 3.0625" wide hole through them that the rectangular beam easily slides through.  The boards (legs) lean on the beam. An example of my pursuit for simplicity in designs. 

What I didn't realize until I first assembled the base was that there were several ways to assemble it. 

Opposing legs

By flipping one leg you get another stance. 

Parallel legs

Flip the base assembly upside down with 2.125" wide and 3" tall beam lower and you have two more looks. Beam high and beam low.

Beam Low

Flip one leg upside down relative to the other leg and with the beam at an angle it changes the height of the table. Tip the legs to the other side and you have another table height.

Beam angled. Table taller.

Beam angled.  Table shorter.

Version 2 changed the hole shape so I could turn the beam sideways.  Doing that you'll end up with 16 unique stances and 6 different table height options.  Image above shows the legs angled to result in the maximum height position. Tip the legs to the right to get the minimum height position with the beam oriented up. Twist the beam 90 degrees for an even lower table height.  

The key is the rectangular beam cross section and the hole that allows it to slide in standing up or laying down. With some drafting iteration the hole and beam size could be tweaked so the different heights of the top were steps between 14.5" and 18".  

The only weakness in this design is that the table top only rests on the base. There is no alignment strategy or interlock between parts that would allow picking up the table by the top alone. The loose top can be flipped over, and one side could have a game board inlaid into it.  Scrabble or Checkers/Chess or Chutes and Ladders maybe?  Make a recess and glue in an actual game board, or use different colors of wood and V-Carve inlay each

square of the board into the top. 

As the stance and table height of this table can be changed easily by re-arranging the 3 base parts it is a great example of 4th dimension design. A design that over time may look different and vary in usefulness. 

4D

Comments and questions encouraged and appreciated!