Thread: Spitfire-inspired chair

Evening all, my first post. Does anyone have any ideas how I might start going about making this chair? It looks really cool but I can't figure what's going on under the sheet metal that you can see on the outside. Any ideas would be appreciated

Hi,

Shaped wood and a metal support frame for where the chair meets swivel? The original Spitfires were made mainly from wood. Looks great.

Ben

It is a very famous chair by Arne Jacobsen. Whilst I do not quite know the answer to your question if you search around I am sure you will find enough information on it. I do recall seeing one being manufactured in a You Tube video from memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_(chair)

Be sure to post a WIP if you are going to have a go at making one!

Cheers

Stinky

Retro To Go: Andrew Martin Hirshorn Spitfire Chair

I guess you could buy a cheap Chinese copy of the original Egg Chair and fix hand formed aluminium plates to it in a fashion akin to that of Marc Newson's Lockheed Chair.

Chair Of The Week: Lockheed Lounge by Marc Newson « Gallantandjones's Blog

Bob.

It looks like the "artist" had a go at hand beating the sheetmetal but ended up having to cut wedge shaped strips out and then re join with strips pop rivetted back on to get the compound curves. Is leaded panel steel still available?, it could be beaten into the required shapes for such a chair and look much neater too. I wonder if you could spin aluminium on a lathe over a wood form to get various curved shapes to cut the required sections out of.

Welcome to the mob,Tiger_Ted.

It will depend on your your metalwork and woodwork skills/ DIY background.

I would suggest this as a beginners project it would be difficult indeed.

What tools and machines do you have to achieve the project? This fact will have a big impact of the design and materials you will need.


If you wish a close reproduction of the chair in the photo,I would see the construction as along the lines of an aeroplane or boat with wooden or metal spar and rib construction.Perhaps a framework of ply spars and ribs half jointed at their intersections may be the easiest.They could be constructed with a jig saw.

Its a good time to learn a Cad program or get to know someone closely who has experience with one.Understanding orthographic drawing will be an big advantage.

Grahame

Originally Posted by bwal74

Hi,

Shaped wood and a metal support frame for where the chair meets swivel? The original Spitfires were made mainly from wood. Looks great.

Ben

I thought Spitfires were always made as an all-metal stressed skin structure including the fuselage.

The Hurricane was metal although its fueslage was metal tubes covered infabric.

May I suggest an English Wheel (or wheeling machine) might be very useful for this project. Aluminium can be shaped with dollies and nylon or soft-faced hammers, but this is a bit big to by hand.
Have a look at Youtube to see what I mean.
Looking forward to your efforts in pictures!
Joe

Originally Posted by Hoofie

I thought Spitfires were always made as an all-metal stressed skin structure including the fuselage.

The Hurricane was metal although its fueslage was metal tubes covered infabric.

You thought correctly ,Spitfires were never made from wood .
Early hurricanes were wooden framed fuselage with Irish linen fabric covering ,and also had wooden propellers.
The Mosquito was wooden framed and ply wood covering.

kev.

Originally Posted by Woodlee

You thought correctly ,Spitfires were never made from wood.

But the earlier ones had fabric-covered ailerons, so not all metal lol

Stuart

p.s. and rudders?

Egg chair has a structure that is very comfortable and durable, that can make any one love the design of the chair.