What did you make today?

glatt · 06-19-2019, 04:55 PM

Name: 4free.jpg
Views: 616
Size: 38.4 KB

I got one of these backpacking chairs for Father's day. They are like $20 and very comfortable. I had one already from Christmas a year ago. Same brand and model. I wanted a second one so my wife and I could just grab a chair and sit on the porch drinking a glass of wine.

Anyway, the chair I got for Father's day was significantly less comfortable. I felt like I was sliding out of the seat. Upon closer inspection I realized the manufacturer had switched the slightly longer front legs with the slightly shorter rear legs. The chair was dumping me forward.

I'm sure I could have bitched and moaned and asked them to return it and send a new one, but I actually viewed it as a double gift, because now I had a neat little project.

I went down into my shop and tried to pull the little rubber feet off the legs so I could unhook the bungie cord inside and remove the legs. The little feet weren't budging. I needed to clamp the legs in a vice so I could hammer the feet off with a hammer striking a block of wood. But the feet really weren't budging. I was going to have to clamp it so hard, the tube would be crushed.

So I grabbed a block of wood and a drill bit the same size as one of the legs, and I drilled a hole in the block of wood. Cut the wood apart through the hole. Used that to gently but very firmly clamp the fragile aluminum leg in the vice. And hammers those feet off the legs. Then it was a simple matter of untying the bungie cord and swapping the legs front to back, threading the bungie cord back through the joint, tying it back off, and putting the feet back on.

All in all, it was about 20 minutes of fun work, and the chair is super comfortable now.

xoxoxoBruce · 06-19-2019, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

snip
So I grabbed a block of wood and a drill bit the same size as one of the legs, and I drilled a hole in the block of wood. Cut the wood apart through the hole with the bandsaw I made my very own self. Used that to gently but very firmly clamp the fragile aluminum leg in the vice. And hammers those feet off the legs. Then it was a simple matter of untying the bungie cord and swapping the legs front to back, threading the bungie cord back through the joint, tying it back off, and putting the feet back on.

All in all, it was about 20 minutes of fun work, and the chair is super comfortable now.

Griff · 06-20-2019, 06:09 AM

If you add in building a saw, that's a fair amount of prep time.

Griff · 06-24-2019, 06:50 AM

I made the springs sag on my Tacoma yesterday. Ride, composted horse manure, and firewood.

xoxoxoBruce · 06-24-2019, 09:55 AM

Is that your spare behind the seat.

Griff · 06-24-2019, 05:44 PM

Well, I couldn't just throw a load of horseshit on the bike...

xoxoxoBruce · 06-25-2019, 12:26 AM

True but most people settle for a spare tire/rim in their pickumup truck.

06-20-2019, 06:09 AM	#3
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	If you add in building a saw, that's a fair amount of prep time. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-24-2019, 06:50 AM	#4
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	I made the springs sag on my Tacoma yesterday. Ride, composted horse manure, and firewood. Attached Images __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-24-2019, 09:55 AM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Is that your spare behind the seat. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

06-24-2019, 05:44 PM	#6
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Well, I couldn't just throw a load of horseshit on the bike... __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-25-2019, 12:26 AM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	True but most people settle for a spare tire/rim in their pickumup truck. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

06-19-2019, 04:55 PM	#1
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I got one of these backpacking chairs for Father's day. They are like $20 and very comfortable. I had one already from Christmas a year ago. Same brand and model. I wanted a second one so my wife and I could just grab a chair and sit on the porch drinking a glass of wine. Anyway, the chair I got for Father's day was significantly less comfortable. I felt like I was sliding out of the seat. Upon closer inspection I realized the manufacturer had switched the slightly longer front legs with the slightly shorter rear legs. The chair was dumping me forward. I'm sure I could have bitched and moaned and asked them to return it and send a new one, but I actually viewed it as a double gift, because now I had a neat little project. I went down into my shop and tried to pull the little rubber feet off the legs so I could unhook the bungie cord inside and remove the legs. The little feet weren't budging. I needed to clamp the legs in a vice so I could hammer the feet off with a hammer striking a block of wood. But the feet really weren't budging. I was going to have to clamp it so hard, the tube would be crushed. So I grabbed a block of wood and a drill bit the same size as one of the legs, and I drilled a hole in the block of wood. Cut the wood apart through the hole. Used that to gently but very firmly clamp the fragile aluminum leg in the vice. And hammers those feet off the legs. Then it was a simple matter of untying the bungie cord and swapping the legs front to back, threading the bungie cord back through the joint, tying it back off, and putting the feet back on. All in all, it was about 20 minutes of fun work, and the chair is super comfortable now.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 6 (0 members and 6 guests)