A Footrest For My Folding Lounge Chair

Footrest:  A structure to support the calves and feet of the seated occupant at a comfortable angle and height above the floor.  

Cherry Footrest

For this project my aesthetic goal was to create a solution that belongs to the lounge chair next to it. Detail continuity. It should appear as an obvious mate. As my lounge chair folds up flat for easy storing and moving, the foot rest should also ideally fold up flat.  A bonus option is that the foot rest stores under the frame of the lounge chair when not needed. It doesn't slide under the seat assemble for a quick clearing of the space in front of the chair.  The front stretcher blocks that path.  It will slide under the stretcher if folded up first though. This footrest is just a bit narrower than the outer frame of the lounge chair so it can slide underneath it without scraping against the sides. 

I had enough cherry wood to make this footrest. I also had the hardware needed for it on hand. I had canvas for a sling to support a pad.  I didn't have any material that matched or complimented the cushion on the lounge chair so I ordered a cushion online.  

To make the side parts I started with three 15 inch long strips, 3" wide,  and 1" thick. They were glued together side-by-side. Once the glue was dry I scraped off any squeeze out then ran the board through my drum sander to smooth both sides. The final panel thickness was 31/32".   A nice feature of my CNC software is that it can render how the board will look after the toolpaths are cut.  This render is how the side parts were cut out. I held the board down with clamps on the outer corners.  The opposite side of each piece needed a little more work, but I try and maximize what is done while the board is on the CNC.  

All Four Side Parts

After the toolpaths were done I took it off the CNC.  I used my bandsaw to cut through the tabs and free the boards. Next step was to use a spiral downcut flush trim bit in my trim router table to cut off what was left of the tabs.  The CNC could only round over the edges of one side of each piece.  I put a 1/4" radius roundover router bit in my clamp-on trim table to round over the other side.   It only took 3 minutes or so including time to clean up whatever cherry chips the shop vac missed while cutting.   

My trim router table.

Dowels: Three dowels were needed. The dowels have a mating taper on their ends to fit snug into the tapered mortises.  I had enough cherry, but no pieces long enough. I ripped six 1" wide strips from a 9" long board, and then took them to my router table to round over all corners.  I then joined those 9" dowels end to end using this end-to-end finger joint design.  

End A

End B

The same vectors were used for both sides. The reality of CNC work is that sometimes bits bought turn out to be something other than the diameter they claim.  Testing the fit of this joint after cutting both sides I found it looser than I expected.   My conclusion is that the bit I used was slightly larger than the 3/16" diameter it claimed to be. My experience with Onsrud brand bits is that they are the most accurate.   As such I ordered new 3/16"d upcut and downcut bits.  

For the third dowel I remembered that I had a bag of 1" cherry dowels that were 12" long. I took two and used the radial finger joint show above to glue them end-to-end. Fit was not as tight as I expected it to be using the Onsrud 3/16" spiral upcut bit.  It was tighter than the other joints I used an older bit to cut though.  After gluing the two sections together, I cut it to the needed length, then clamped it vertically on my CNC to taper then ends.  

Puzzles occasionally show up when parts assembled don't match expected action.  This showed up when I first assembled the side parts and found that the inner leg didn't rotate under the upper dowel of the outer leg.  This was not a critical failure, but became a nagging subconscious thought as I remembered checking that it would fold flat in my CNC software.   A few days later I checked the drawing to determine how long the canvas needed to be. I realized I'd misplaced the bolt holes on the outer legs. Drilling new holes where they should have been was fairly simple.  Patching the initial holes took a new CNC toolpath file and scrap of cherry to cut snug fitting plugs from. The inner frame now rotates flat within the outer frame. The dowel ends and the sockets for the dowel ends are tapered with a 3 degree tapered end mill. 

The canvas sling.  Some careful measurement suggested it needed to be 19.24" + 1.5"overlap for two rows of snaps and 3/4" wide hems on each end long, and 17.5" wide + 3/4" wide hems on each side. The snaps allow installation and removal without taking apart the frame. Nice when it may need cleaning or replacing. Two rows of snaps keep the canvas flat. With just one row the canvas ends may bend up/down when snug and try to pull the snaps apart. I laid out the canvas I had, marked and drew the rectangle needed. Trimmed a 45 degree slice off the corners so when the hem were folded over they would miter together. I marked the fold line as well as the reference lines that the canvas folds to. Using fusing tape and some straight pins I folded over the sides and used my iron to seal them down. 

Canvas with Snaps

To verify the canvas with snaps would work, I assembled the frame for a test. 

Upside down to snap the canvas ends together

Standing up the canvas loop serves to limit how far  the frame opens. The slope is intentional as it is the angle my lower legs want to be at when sitting on the lounge chair. 

Standing up. Canvas Sling.

Teak Oil Finish

8/7.  The cushion arrived after spending 20 days between my house and somewhere in China. The red fabric is darker than the cushion on the lounge chair. Pretty much what I expected. It had been vacuum packed and was a tedious challenge to get through the wraps of tape that covered  the packaging. It needed a few days to recover/expand from the vacuum process. 

In use the angle of the frame and cushion make a very comfortable footrest for use with the lounge chair.  

I'll be making one more at least to improve on a couple flaws I found in this prototype. The lower dowel is right where my feet want to plant when getting out of the chair. Model #2 will move that dowel 4" up the sides rather than at the ends. Model #2 will also rethink how the cushion attaches. This one came with elastic straps that stretch then click together.  There is no adjustment. They want to collapse the frame unless the weight of my legs are on top of it. For now I've hidden a "push" bar in the middle under the canvas to keep the canvas tight. 

Comments I encourage.  

4D

Rolling Stand for a Portable Air Conditioner

Portable AC Cart

I made this rolling stand from some old wafer board that had previously been the side of a shipping crate. The legs were cut from a couple scrap pine 2x6 boards.  

Stand Alone

The center bulge is for a 5 gallon pail to collect the water from the AC's drain. 

The pale pail. 

 

Drain Hose Attached

Four old casters add mobility to the stand. Their stems extend through the wafer board and into the pine legs. 

Old Casters

A stiffening rib made from northern hard maple was glued and screwed to the bottom of the bottom shelf to keep the weight of the water from bending it.  

Stiffening Rib

The wafer board was marked and distracting.  I ran it through my drum sander a few times, then painted both sides before assembling the stand. The paint is a dark red latex left over from a previous project. The pine legs were shaped to compliment the top and bottom. A bit of detail continuity. They have a spar varnish finish on them for some protection from the environment.  They compliment the red of the top and bottom.  

A simple design.

I used my CNC to cut out the top and bottom outlines and pocket holes where the caster shafts are.  I also used a V-bit to mark where the screws needed to be for screwing the legs to the top and bottom.  With the holes marked I took the boards to my drill press to drill through and chamfer the screw holes.  

The shelves have 1" radiused corners.  The rounded corners of the legs I put a 3/4" radius on with the intent to set them in from the shelf edges 1/4".  I made this jig to help inset them when assembling the cart.

Inset jig

Legs inset 1/4" from shelf edges

For the radius on the legs I first used a moulding toolpath on my CNC.  Results were varied as  the 2x6 boards I started with were a bit beaten up.  Before putting a finish on them  I ran the corners through my router table past a 3/4" radius roundover bit.  Then a couple passes through my drum sander to smooth both sides.  Still a bit imperfect, but fine for this little stand. The casters are happy to have a new use.  The wafer board and 2x6 boards are also happy to be parts of something useful rather than scraps in my garage. 

4D

Ash and Red Zebra Wood Plant Stand

White Ash and Red Zebra Wood

Among the scraps of wood in my garage I found a nice big block of what looks like white ash wood. It was thick enough and large enough to make another plant stand top from.  Roughly 9" x 9.5", and 1.1875" thick.  

Taller and Wider

A little larger in diameter, and taller than the previous stands I recently made., This stand has three legs made from red zebra scraps I had. They are 3/4" diameter legs rather than the 5/8" dowels used for the previous two stands.  My thought is that if 3 rather than 4 they should be a bit larger to hold up the same weight. Using a little math tells us that four legs 5/8" diameter have a total cross section area of 1.227sq.in..  Three legs that are 3/4" diameter have a total cross section area of 1.325sq.in..  So in theory this little stand should be easily as strong as the two with 4 legs each.  A few other factors come into play, but with similar joinery and nearly the same angle to the floor both should do well. 

Detail continuity:  The radius of the dome shape is simply derived from the maximum useful diameter and thickness of the board used. The center point of the dome arc is also where the legs point to, and the chamfer on the edge also points to the same focus point. There is nothing arbitrary about each design consideration of these plant stands.  Even the length of the legs was determined from the diameter of the top.  They stop right below the edge.  The woods used and the finish applied are the only variables.  

The white ash wood was a bit splintery and chipped out an edge of the top surface.  A scar to remind us of its hard life before becoming a plant stand top. I could "fix" it with a patch, but that may be more obvious than the little chip out.  

I'd love to see a comment or ten with thoughts on what these should sell for.  There is about $20 of wood and finish in each one. 

4D

   

A Little Pedestal Table

This project was inspired by a thread posted on a woodworking forum about a 3-legged  pedestal table. It was missing a top and had been discarded. It was found and restored with a new top by the woodworker. 

The detailed center post of the table had considerable aesthetic appeal. The 3 legs that dovetailed into it showed a classic way to connect pedestal legs. 

I've had a 3" x 3" block of oak wood mounted on the rotary axis of my CNC for the last 3 months or so.   It was waiting to discover what it wanted to be.  Becoming the center post of a new table seemed to agree with the wood block, so this is where this project started.  The 4th axis toolpaths I cut using my CNC would result in this shape from that block:

Render from Aspire

Actual cut time took a few hours.  The square block had to be reduce to a cylinder. 

First reduce square into a cylinder.

There is a gadget in Aspire that creates a toolpath specifically to remove the corners of square blocks to leave a cylinder. 

From a cylinder, then roughly shaped.

A roughing pass was done to remove most of the waste area from the cylinder. 

Rough cut contours

3/4 done

A final pass with a 1/8" diameter ball nosed bit works its way slowly down the cylinder to produce the final smooth shape. 

Final Shape

Flat areas on the bottom section will be where the feet join into the post. These areas of the bottom section are where dovetail slots were cut.

I flipped the post over end to end so the area where dovetail cuts were needed was at the top (right in the photo) and approachable by the spinning dovetail bit. 

First came pocket clearance cuts done with a 1/4" end mill to remove all the area except where the dovetail undercut would be.  Less work for the dovetail bit to do. 

1/4" end mill set for clearance cuts.

The pocket cut was repeated around the post every 120 degrees. 

Clearance pockets done.

Next came a bit change to a dovetail bit.  This one is 9/16" diameter and has 8 degree sloped sides. 

Setup for a dovetail pass.

The dovetail pass was repeated every 120 degrees around the post.  Once done the post was removed from the rotary axis mount. 

Dovetail cuts done.

With the post done it was time for the legs.  A few sketches of the table with legs were productive. Sketches pointed out that the wood needed to make the legs from needed to be found before the final shape of the legs could be determined.  I had in my scrap bin a couple of oak stretchers left from an abandoned chair design I never finished. They were 3" wide, 1" thick, and 25 inches long. Unfortunately their edges had been rounded over.  I planed them down to 7/8" thick, taking the same amount of wood off of each side. This left about 2.5" of width that was flat in the center of each stretcher.  The leg design I came up with is a simple curve with a hooked foot. Three were cut from that 2.5" width of wood.  

A challenge with the legs was to cut the male dovetail end that would fit into the center post. 

Jigged up for the dovetail cut.

I took care to clamp the first leg so the area for the dovetail was horizontal and sticking up where the router bit could reach it.  I then added supports and stops around it so repeating the cut on the next two legs could use the same setup. 

Dovetail bit zeroed out on the leg top. 

To start the cut I needed to zero the dovetail bit against the left and front edges and the top of the leg. 

 

Dovetail cut.

First dovetail looked centered and correct.  It was time to check if it fit in the post slots.

Fit is good. 

The dovetail slot is tapered to match the tapered shape of this leg end.  The leg slips in easily and snugs up tight.  With a good fit all I needed to do was repeat the cut on two more legs.  With all three cut I could stand up the table base for aesthetic evaluation and detail contemplation. 

Three legs fit. 

The top was yet to come.  I spent a few days contemplating the top.  Final shape. Edge detail?  Inlays maybe?  How the top ends up influences the final details I add to the legs.

Often it takes building an initial design idea to reveal the reality of it compared to renderings on a PC.  That is true for this table. It is a prototype.  A design in progress. The center post was the inspiration for making a table.  Initially the "fancy" post seemed to beg for a fancy top to hold up.  Eventually I realize I was wrong.  

It needed a simple top. Just a nice circle with some subtle detail and curve. My goal was to bring focus to the post.  

Simple round top.

I made this round top to enforce detail continuity.  The legs now stand out as the last parts with minimized relationship to the post.   Below is some iterative playtime with the leg design.

First idea was to taper the leg from top to bottom. Remove some of the visual mass. 

The round top has a subtle elliptical curve on the bottom, and to relate the leg an elliptical taper could be applied.  Perhaps too subtle.
 

A completely new leg profile was tried. A section of an ellipse.

Redirecting the groove to better define the foot.  I may have to make at least one to evaluate how well it adds to the aesthetic composition of the pedestal table. 

The groove on the side of the legs could continue from leg to leg around the section of the post where the legs attach.  Linking the legs specifically to the  post. 

Perimeter groove to continue grooves on legs around the post.

Actual making of that last leg design would present a challenge. It has to be cut from both sides, and the only area around the shape that isn't cut is the back of the dovetail section.  I would need to divide the toolpaths into two sessions, to allow at least two clamps to hold it down.  Cut one side of the edges, then move the clamp to that side before cutting the other side.  Flip the board over and repeat.  Extra effort for a leg that may not be the right leg for this table. 

I used a 3/16" radius round-over bit to soften the round top edge and also the edges of the original legs. My initial instincts to focus on the post and de-focus on the legs and top did the job.  I've concluded it is time to wrap this project up.   The initial legs will do. 

Final less finish.

Some cherry stain on the red oak, followed with a clear finish will match the color of this table to other furniture projects I have in my house.  

Feel free to comment, criticize, or post any questions you may have. 

4D 

Iterative Progression

In furniture or product design often what you hope will be a good design ends up with obvious room for improvement. This is why initial builds are considered to be prototypes. It takes seeing and testing the first prototype to realize where flaws exist or where there is room for improvement in aesthetics or strength or performance or functionality or simplicity of build.

Shown here is a sequence of Balans style chairs I designed and made. Inspired initially by the original rocking Balans chair my pursuit was to find a design that was simple to build, adjustable, and stable.  In my PhDesk article photos you can see most of an earlier 3 caster perch version done as a class project by my students. The design was static with no adjustability or flexibility. Link:  PhDesk Article

Imbuia Wood Collapsible 

My Imbuia and leather prototype above improves on that earlier student design with knee pads that could rotate to meet your shins at a whatever was the most comfortable angle.   Initially the frame post beneath the seat was intended to be moved to different positions along the lower rails. This prototype revealed that changing the angle of the seat would also tilt the caster stems off vertical and reduce the ease of rolling the chair around. The frame could collapse by lifting the center post off the pin it rests on. Collapsed it would  fit in a smaller box for shipping or storage.

3 wheels Adjustable Height

Highest Perch Position

The 3 wheeled version above could be adjusted in height/angle.  This design isolates the caster base from the adjustability of the seat and knee rest. An aluminum push button  releases the aluminum post when pushed in and locks the post position when released. Knee pads pivot to meet shins at the most comfortable angle.

4 Wheels Adjustable

In use.

While there is an economic benefit to using 3 casters rather that four, a 3 point footprint comes with a flaw discovered in use. They could tip and roll out from under the occupant when leaning to the back right or left.  This four wheeled version eliminated the tipping flaw of all the 3 wheeled versions.  This version stretched the frame back so the back caster beam was behind foot clearance. It had the same push button height adjustment and pivoting knee rest as the 3 wheeled version above.  

The sharp bend in the center frame of the 3 and 4 caster versions above required making them from 80 very thin veneer layers of wood. This later version used far fewer and thicker wood layers by changing the center frame to a smooth arc from under the seat down to the rear caster beam. Below a few photos of the arced frame. It has a seat that can be slid forward or back and locked in position with a cam lever.  The arc made room under the frame for occupant heels to meet or cross. This final version was gifted to the International Woodworking Fair management office in Fall 1988. 

Hinge Point

Push Button Height Adjustment

Cam Release Seat Adjustment

The version above was the simplest build, the safest to sit on, and had adjustable height, seat position adjustment, and pivoting knee rests.  It was a design that only came about after making and using the previous designs. They were all built in a university fab lab and benefited from being tried out by several students and other professors. Feedback gained from each version led to advancements in later versions.  This sequence shows iterative progression in action. This iterative research help me gain promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor at Kansas State University. 

An even later iteration I designed is my rocking Balans.  You can read about it HERE.   

Iteration during the sketching stage of an idea always leads me to something nicer, more unique than what I started with.  Yet still, after building a piece, there might be a slight imperfect aspect that deserve more iteration to improve.  That was the case with my TV tray table design you can find here: An-improved-tv-tray-table-design

Nagging imperfections/details only found resolution with 3 following iterations:

1. Variations-of-tv-tray-table, Oak

2. Refinement-in-detail, Cherry

3. Tv-tray-table, Maple, 4th variation.

While my first Maple version worked fine, details in the shape of the outer legs, tension cables, and pivot bolts all found improvement in the following iterations.  Details no sketch would have revealed as needing improvement.   

Comments and questions are encouraged!

4D