The Fractal Chair

I have recreated a "fractal" chair based off a patent from 1913. Similarly to the "fractal" vise that I previously restored, this chair uses the same series of pivoting sections to fully adapt to the shape of someone sitting down. The original patent can be seen here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US1...

I used the original patent explanation as best I could to help design the function of the chair which uses stacked tongue and groove steel plates that interface with each other through a series of ball bearings that provide the movement. The design was fully realized with the help of   / joshsfick   who digitally created all the pieces needed to be cut with a fibre laser.

Once the sheets of 1/4" steel were cut, I could start machining and assembling all the other components. Overall the chair weighs about 150lbs.

Sitting on the finished chair is odd. It's comfortable in how it conforms to you, but not comfortable to sit on wood slats that can sometimes be too far apart due to their movement.

There is lots of room for improvement here. Slats that are less thick would help lower the pivot point of each, so that it feels better to sit on. More "sections" would also increase the comfort. Increasing the range of each "section" and making a version where the backrest could pivot as well would be very nice.

Overall this was so much fun and I will constantly sit in it every time I get the chance.


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