Woven Graphic Stool

I propose this instructable on a stool, with a metallic frame made with welded steel rods, and a woven sitting made with colored polyester yarns. The pattern in the center is supposed to represent 3D cubes... but it is not so obvious to see (I acknowledge I made some mistakes)

Quite simple:

- steel rods, diameter 7 mm

- polyester yarns of different colors, diameter 5 mm that I found in an ETSY shop: Monomey Studio from Simona. It comes from Lithuania (one of the Baltic countries in the North of Europ). A lot of colors are available and I find it is not expensive: 20€ for 200 m, but you will need to find different projects to use them! I selected 3 colors: turquoise 51, purple 50 and orange 215.

Here is the link of the ETSY shop:

Monomey Studio

It took some days to be delivered, in 2 separate parcels which didn't arrive together. I was a bit stressed, and started to think about a drawing with only 2 colors, but finally the third color arrived.

With a compass and a bracket at 90/30/60° one can easily trace a hexagon. At each top, I fixed a nut that will allow to bend the rod.

The structure is made of steel rod of 7 mm diameter, which I had in the workshop, bent.

I used clamps to tighten the steel rod on the nut, it takes at least two to clamp the rod. By putting a tube around the rod you want to bend, you can have a bigger lever arm and it is easy to bend. However, it is difficult to have a tight angle and we rather have a radius, that I tried to make as small as possible.

At the end of the day, it’s not too far from the template, it’s a little bit twisted , but you do not need big force to make it in plane again.

I’ve planned overlength, I gathered the two ends together with a clamp and cut them together, then I welded them using a vise to maintain them.

Once the frame is welded, it can be deformed to make it almost coplanar. At the end of the day, the framework is a little bigger than expected, but OK.

With the same principle of template traced on the wood, with some nuts screwed on the wood, I made a jig to bend the hairpin legs.

Quite easy to bend :

- maintain the rod against the nut with a clamp

- use a tube to bend the tube close to the nut

- bend until you reach the marking

Now that we have the 3 legs and the seat pan, we can assemble them.

I used the clamps to maintain the rods together and welded them.

I welded an horizontal rod between 2 legs to make the structure stiffer.

After some grinding, the structure is ready for painting.

I used silver paint in spray, it looks nice already. It is now ready for weaving the seat pan.

the yarn is attached to the first side, and tensionned and blocked on the opposite side with a knot. It's not because I'm French, but I think that the name of the knot is Napoléon Claw knot. In the pictures you will understand the principle. The polyester yarn elongates when you pull on it, I pulled quite strong to get a high tension and a stiff seat pan.

For the first color, I had a difficulty: the complete yarn drum couldn't go through the structure, and I had to estimate the length needed.

I made 5 times 7 yarns.

The second color is woven on the next side with the same attachment principle.

To make the pattern of 3D cubes, every block of 7 yarns is going above 1 block of blue, and below 2 blocks of blue. the next block is moved 1 block.

I am not sure it is very clear, but you can see on the pictures.

The third color is not so easy to weave because the first 2 are already tensionned together and it is not so easy to have the yarn follow the intended path.

Then the intended path is not so easy to define. It is again the general principle of 1 above and 2 below with respect to the last color, but with the 2 colors already in place, not so easy to define the path.

I also must acknowledge that I made some mistakes. At he end of the day, the 3D cubes are not so visible, but the pattern is quite graphic and I like it.

I first published this (infrench) on my blog olivierbricole

tabouret tresse olivierbricole

and on the site ouiaremakers.

tabouret tresse ouiaremakers

I apologize for language mistakes, but pictures can compensate...

With this Instructable, I participate to the contest 'Weaving challenge', if you like it, vote for me!