The Parrot Chairs ... Sketching in Metal

Inspiration Photo

Via a referral from a friend in Massachusetts, we were contacted by a client who had an interest in having Sam fabricate some 'parrot chairs'. The client had saved a picture from a magazine, but had no other details like measurements, what the front legs looked like, a close up of the parrott detail, etc. We agreed to make a mockup for a small fee and the results and their proposed changes are shown below. It took us a while to get to it as there were some 'thought problems' to work through such as how to bend the back legs/hoop piece with even a small amount of repeatable control. I'm sure these things are pressed out cold by the thousands in factories around the world, but unfortunately, we're not one of them. We ended up making a pretty elaborate jig that, with a few modifications, will work fine. The jig was essentially based on the one we use to steam bend backs for Windsor chairs, something we've been doing since the late 70's. Creating a new chair design is tough in any medium, as what you are really creating is a functional sculpture, something viewed from all four sides with small complications like comfort, durability, and repeatable production thrown in. Tough in wood, not much easier in metal ... We'll see if we get to build them .... It will be a challenge for sure if we do ....

The 'sketch'

Proposed changes to the 'sketch' ... click to enlarge

Back view

Test drive ...The seat needs to be wider in the front and the back needs to be tipped back a little more .... other than that, not bad for comfort ...

more cockatoo chairs

these two left for boston yesterday ...
ok, here's the challenge ... make a windsor chair out of metal ... the backs legs and bow are made on a home made form of angle iron and plywood, loosely based on one of my chair back bending forms. the back legs and top rail are one continous piece of 3/8ths solid steel rod, bent slowly, by heating a section at time with a handheld acetylene torch. the rounded seat frame is bent the same way and welded on its own form. ditto for the front legs .
sam made these four chairs back in 2009 but we never documented the tricky part, drilling the holes in the back rails. so, sam when asked me for a refresher course, i decided to document it for him this time ... i started out as a windsor chair maker back in 1980 and i have made my share of them. i won't say how many as i know you probably won't believe me ...
we kept the original prototype luckily, and sam used it to make comparisons as he went along. there are no drawings of this chair so it was also helpful for laying out the spindle and 'cage and perch' spacings on the new chairs ...
the first step is to mark out and drill the holes in the midrail, but only halfway through ... it is really important to buy yourself some brand new cobalt drill bits for this task as the bow steel is hardened a bit by the heating and bending/shaping process. in the photo two photos above, the spindles are inserted in the mid rail and used to 'sight' the hole angles as you are drilling the top rail. for sure an old windsor drilling trick. when drilling these holes, you want to start small, like an 1/8th", and ALWAYS start perpendicular to the bow curve ... once you get started, gradually change your angle until it 'points' where you want it to go .. a little dab of 3 in 1 oil about halfway through the 18th" hole never hurts. after the 1/8th", then follow with a 3/16ths", which, in this case, was the final spindle size ... see the video below of enlarging an 1/8th" hole to a 3/16ths ... sometimes the start is a little tricky ..

i'm testing loading a video directly to my blog rather than putting it on you tube with a link ... let me know what you think ... better? worse? don't watch videos? don't care? thanks ...
sam fabricated and welded on the little metal feet and painted the waterjetted cockatoos with glossy enamel house paint. trevor did the seats in the client's outdoor worthy fabric ...
all for now ...

Update on the Cockatoo Chairs

All welded up now ... We kind of like the weld 'buttons' on the top of the bow ...

Believe it or not, we are still working on the prototype parrot/now cockatoo chairs. (Original Post) Our client has been extremely patient but now we're on the home stretch ... Primer tomorrow. Click the photos to enlarge them ... And I thought designing a wood chair from scratch was hard .... The cockatoo is still not perfect but after talking with our client, we modified the one we had by cutting his neck, 'cocking' his head and rewelding it. We'll make it right for the real ones. The rest of the chair is all welded now and it looks good and seems comfortable for most folks. The size and proportions of the new chair are much better and we changed the scale of a couple of the elements, especially the 'cage' bars. It'll look a lot different once it's all painted ..... almost done !

The full size drawings

side view

Clamped up and ready for 'the cage'

reworked and rewelded cockatoo

Took it out in the garden yesterday to have a beer with it's friends....It was happy to be out ...
Paint tomorrow ...