DIY Miniature Eames Chair (for the kids)

The other day while browsing one of my favourite websites (Apartment Therapy), a particular post got my attention, a post on an unusual “garbage find”. Someone found an Eames chair left out on the curb on garbage day! I can’t believe it, imagine. Alright, I admit, the idea of collecting other people’s “trash” isn’t too [...]

Article by Pete
Pete’s Website

Eames

The other day while browsing one of my favourite websites (Apartment Therapy), a particular post got my attention, a post on an unusual “garbage find”.

Someone found an Eames chair left out on the curb on garbage day! I can’t believe it, imagine. Alright, I admit, the idea of collecting other people’s “trash” isn’t too appealing but to be fair, it’s an awesome chair and it’s not like it’s actual smelly garbage or anything… just a chair that was probably considered excess (and in poor shape).

Ok, back to the point.

While looking at a picture of this “mess” (the chair was in bad shape and in pieces) it suddenly struck my how simple the construction of this thing really was. I got to thinking: “I bet I could build one… if only I could bend the plywood”… well bending plywood is not exactly a daily thing for me (neither is building furniture) but I’m gonna give it a shot anyway.

I went to the local lumber yard and bought a very thin 6mm (1/4 inch) thickness plywood sheet which I will attempt to turn into a quasi Eames chair for my little girl (she will be 1 year old on Nov 30th!). If it succeeds I’m pretty sure she’ll be the only one with a mini-Eames.

Bending plywood (as far as I could figure out) is done in 1 of 3 ways:

  1. steam the plywood and squash it in a mold once it becomes plyable
  2. soak the plywood overnight and squash it… blah blah blah
  3. build it up layer by layer using veneer sheets, in a mold, to the desired shape

I don’t have a workshop or patience to hunt down adequate (cheap, soft) veneer sheets to build it up layer by layer… I also don’t want to build a steam chamber for a single (or few) projects… because I don’t have a workshop. MY WORKSHOP is my attic. I’m lucky enough to have a bit of attic space above my apartment (which I hope to renovate into a 2nd floor some day) where I can make a mess!

Anyway, to keep this post to a reasonable length… I’ll stop now. I’m going to take pictures regardless of the outcome, I hope you will see a beautiful little chair but I have a feeling you will see a lot of soggy plywood instead. Keep your fingers crossed.

PS: If this actually works, maybe we can think of other plywood furniture to do in mini-specs.

PPS: I hope to start on this soon but it might be a little while since we have to organize Petra’s first birthday

WHAT TO DO NOW?

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5 Comments

  1. Renomart's 2 cents worth... November 15, 2006 | Permalink

    Good idea. I hope it works. By the way, Corian is easily bent with heat! Just a thought…:)

  2. Pete's 2 cents worth... November 15, 2006 | Permalink

    A good thought!

    I’m going to check it out. I plan on giving the plywood a shot anyway since I paid for it (about $10) but if that fails miserably, I’ll look into Corian.

    Have you worked with it much? I see on your site that you do kitchen design, I imagine you’ve seen all kinds of materials.

  3. Renomart's 2 cents worth... November 16, 2006 | Permalink

    I specify it regularly but haven’t worked with it. I am surrounded by it all the time e.g counters, lights, works of art etc. It is pricey though…

  4. ronnie's 2 cents worth... December 26, 2007 | Permalink

    I’ve been trying to do this for about a year with the same chair and this be what I found out

    1) you are gonna suffer
    2) your gonna need 1/8 sheets and later them
    3) plywood is cross patterned
    4) lots of glue
    5) foam about $100.00
    6) leather. That’s one full hide about $140.00
    7) steam box ( use foamboard sheet and nails $30.00
    8) steamer $45.00
    9) parts from old chair
    10) staple gun
    11) and lots of time

  5. Laura's 2 cents worth... September 16, 2009 | Permalink

    I love the ingenuity however, I found out that a version of the eames chair is available for kids. And it’s affordable. I’m no DIY mom so it’s perfect for me!

 

 

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