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Cuna
Side Chair
Derived from the Spanish word, "cradle", Cuna's ergonomic design is perfect to nestle in after a long day. With sitting cross-legged as one of the most popular sitting positions among the younger generations, I wanted to design a chair catered to that. Sitting in one position has always been hard for some. With the ergonomic seat curve and the deep base, this is the perfect chair to get comfortable in.
THE CHALLENGE
To design a side chair that is comfortable to sit in from different positions and easy to manufacture, so people can sit normally, cross-legged, or however they feel most comfortable.
SKETCHES
Before I started to sketch, I observed how many people sat cross-legged and opted for a curve that would be comfortable for the general public.
ORTHOGRAPHICS
The final orthographics ensured that each angle was interesting to look at and each element of the chair complimented each other.
BENDING THE FRAME
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
I printed out a full scale drawing of mmy chair frame and used it as a point of reference for when I bent my tubes. I was able to figure out where the curves started and ended to find out how long to cut the tubes.
I cut the tubes to size using a metal cold saw. I used this machine to cut the tubes and to trim it to size.
I ran each piece though the belt sander to give it a bevel edge to get rid of the bur.
I used a 0.5” diameter tube bender to bend each piece to the right angle. I went a little at a time to avoid over bending.
FITTING THE TUBES
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
I used the mill to to cut the bird mouth at the ends of the tubes to make sure it fitted like a glove. It took a lot of figuring out the angles and trial and error
I did a dry fit of the pieces to make sure it fit my drawing.
Final layout of all my pieces. There was a total of 11 pieces.
MAKING THE SEAT
I cut and routered over 40 pieces to make just the buck for my seat and later used four layers of 1/8" plywood to make the seat.
For the seat back, I only made the male part of the buck because of how small it was. I used strap clamps to clamp 4 layers of 1/8" plywood to form the seat back.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the general shape. The jigsaw helped make sure the edges was perpendicular to the face of the chair.
This was before I sanded and cleaned up the edges. Even though it was rough, the general shape was starting to take into place.
I used a horizontal belt sander to shape my chair. The final sanding was with a orbital hand sander to smooth out all the edges.
I cut and routered over 40 pieces to make just the buck for my seat and later used four layers of 1/8" plywood to make the seat.
For the seat back, I only made the male part of the buck because of how small it was. I used strap clamps to clamp 4 layers of 1/8" plywood to form the seat back.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the general shape. The jigsaw helped make sure the edges was perpendicular to the face of the chair.
This was before I sanded and cleaned up the edges. Even though it was rough, the general shape was starting to take into place.
I used a horizontal belt sander to shape my chair. The final sanding was with a orbital hand sander to smooth out all the edges.
I cut and routered over 40 pieces to make just the buck for my seat and later used four layers of 1/8" plywood to make the seat.
For the seat back, I only made the male part of the buck because of how small it was. I used strap clamps to clamp 4 layers of 1/8" plywood to form the seat back.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the general shape. The jigsaw helped make sure the edges was perpendicular to the face of the chair.
This was before I sanded and cleaned up the edges. Even though it was rough, the general shape was starting to take into place.
I used a horizontal belt sander to shape my chair. The final sanding was with a orbital hand sander to smooth out all the edges.
I cut and routered over 40 pieces to make just the buck for my seat and later used four layers of 1/8" plywood to make the seat.
For the seat back, I only made the male part of the buck because of how small it was. I used strap clamps to clamp 4 layers of 1/8" plywood to form the seat back.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the general shape. The jigsaw helped make sure the edges was perpendicular to the face of the chair.
This was before I sanded and cleaned up the edges. Even though it was rough, the general shape was starting to take into place.
I used a horizontal belt sander to shape my chair. The final sanding was with a orbital hand sander to smooth out all the edges.
I cut and routered over 40 pieces to make just the buck for my seat and later used four layers of 1/8" plywood to make the seat.
For the seat back, I only made the male part of the buck because of how small it was. I used strap clamps to clamp 4 layers of 1/8" plywood to form the seat back.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the general shape. The jigsaw helped make sure the edges was perpendicular to the face of the chair.
This was before I sanded and cleaned up the edges. Even though it was rough, the general shape was starting to take into place.
I used a horizontal belt sander to shape my chair. The final sanding was with a orbital hand sander to smooth out all the edges.
I cut and routered over 40 pieces to make just the buck for my seat and later used four layers of 1/8" plywood to make the seat.
For the seat back, I only made the male part of the buck because of how small it was. I used strap clamps to clamp 4 layers of 1/8" plywood to form the seat back.
I used a jigsaw to cut out the general shape. The jigsaw helped make sure the edges was perpendicular to the face of the chair.
This was before I sanded and cleaned up the edges. Even though it was rough, the general shape was starting to take into place.
I used a horizontal belt sander to shape my chair. The final sanding was with a orbital hand sander to smooth out all the edges.
WELDING & GRINDING
I used mig welding to tack all the pieces into place and then welded them together. The dremel was my tool of choice because of how light and how detailed it can be. I also had more control, even though it took a lot longer.
FINAL TOUCHES
I used water-based general finish as my wood finish to give it a satin look and sprayed deft finish on the chair frame to protect it from rusting.
EXPLODED VIEW
FINAL
The side chair features a birch plywood body along with polished steel and paired with soft grey upholstery.
DETAILS
Every detail of the chair has been taken care of and polished and sanded to perfection.
SITTING POSITIONS
The ergonomic shape of the chair allows the user to sit in various position comfortably.
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