Jim's Rising Chair

First off, I'd like to make clear that the design of the Rising Chair is not mine. It was the product of the genius of Robert van Embricqs, who won the RedDot Design Award in 2011 in the Netherlands for this design.

There is a propensity in the furniture design and manufacturing business to poach ideas without apparent liability. Le Corbusier's Chaise Lounge and the Eames Chair have been copied by so many manufacturers for so many decades with impunity, supported by a buying public who are happy to have scored a deal. Even though the Rising Chair is a relatively young design, I'm aware of at least one American designer who has shamelessly copied the design and marketed it as his own under the moniker of The Arania Seat. Yet counterfeit Gucci or Hermes bag are prosecuted with vigour.

The Rising Chair doubles as a piece of static art as well as a truly functional chair that can be folded flat and conveniently stored as a thin sheet of wood. Originally constructed in teak or ash, I wanted to make one out of something that would withstand the harsh Canadian climate and allow year round outdoor usage. And to see if I could reverse engineer the design as well!

37 one inch square tube aluminum, 60 inches in length

148 white plastic ends caps to fit aluminum tube

37 3/4" high hinges

148 #4 machine screws

2 four foot length of 3/8" diameter metal threaded rod and nuts

scrap lumber to construct jigs

The chair is made of 18 pairs of aluminum square tube with one central lone tube making a total of 37.

Each five foot length of tube must be cut once, precisely according to the chart and all ends cleaned up and finished with a white plastic end cap. A 3/8" hole is drilled through two sides of each square tube (the two tubes resulting from each cut) and a simple jig was fabricated to ensure the hole is drilled exactly in the same spot for each tube. The tubes are arranged in mirror fashion, #1 through #18, then #19, and then #18 through to #1.

The two halves of each square tube are attached on the surface that has does not have the 3/8" hole drilled with the 3/4" hinges by tapping and screwing in #4 sized machine screws, again facilitated by the construction of a simple jig to keep the pieces perfectly aligned.

Hopefully you will have read this Instructable completely before starting construction because I discovered these hinges are not strong enough to sustain the weight of a human adult. One inch high hinges are too wide since they will rub against neighbouring aluminum tubes and interfere with the easy opening of the chair. Luckily Metric sized hinges are available, and 25 mm high backflap hinges work perfectly, they are slightly smaller than the width of the aluminum tube. The head of the hinge pin does need to be ground flat to keep the total width less than that of the aluminum tubes and larger #6 machine screws are needed.

With all 37 tubes lined up, they are attached together by running the 3/8" diameter threaded rod through both ends. Then by standing the slab of aluminum tubes vertically upright, the chair can be opened into its deployed, sitting configuration.

Total cost of the chair will be about $500 with many materials bought in bulk on eBay.