Students

Josh Melnyk, Luqman Issah, Gilron Tsabkevich

Project Description

Whether in a school classroom, bedroom, or the beach, people use chairs to sit and relax everywhere. However, some chairs are bulky and difficult to transport which prohibit people from using it in more than one setting. In order to address these issues, we are planning to design and construct a portable nesting chair that anyone can take, set up, and use almost anywhere. We plan on using wood as the optimal material to build our project because we will be using friction, along with screws, to hold the chair together. According to a study by Meijun Xu et al., friction was maximized when the grain directions of the two wood specimens were perpendicular to the sliding direction and perpendicular to each other. Therefore, we are using wood to provide for this perpendicular force to maximize the force of friction to help counteract a person’s mass and force. We are adding curvature to the legs as well to balance forces when the two pieces of the chair are put together in the final step.

The nesting chair’s design allows it to be collapsed into a more compact and portable form. The chair is also designed to withstand weights up to 250-300 lbs, so that it can be used by almost anyone. The nesting chair has two main components which are the “seat” and “backrest”. When assembling the chair, the seat piece slides into the front of the backrest piece and the two pieces will support each other. The self-supporting nature of this chair is a useful feature because it avoids the use of fasteners to secure the chair properly. Afterwards, the seat piece can be slid or “nested” into the back of the backrest piece to make the chair more compact and portable. We plan to test the weight limits of the chair by sitting on it as well as placing weights on the chair. Ultimately, this chair will be used for personal use outside, in a dorm, or at home, allowing anyone with space restrictions to be able to store the chair with ease.

Design Drawings

Fabrication Process