ALUMINUM WEBBED LAWN CHAIR PORTABLE

ALUMINUM WEBBED LAWN CHAIR PORTABLE

The chair's shape and interwoven fabric webbing were eventually refined and by the late 1950s, the Fredric Arnold Company was manufacturing more than 14,000 of these portable chairs each day from its Brooklyn factory. His original design in 1947 was more crude and less sturdy than today's metal folding chairs, but was it was influenced by the stripped-down utilitarian designs of the early mid-century modern period.

A former P-38 combat fighter pilot named Fredric Arnold came up with the idea of streamlining an existing collapsible chair that had been used for decades in schools and churches. It was actually a WWII veteran turned inventor who designed the original lawn chair. Turns out, narrow aluminum tubing was great for making chairs. After the war, manufacturers sought other uses for the strong yet lightweight material. Aluminum production soared during the war, since it was used in the structural framing of military aircraft. The rise of this all-American staple coincided with the growth of suburbs after World War II, when homes with larger lawns were suddenly more affordable. I wonder how many Fourth of July fireworks have been admired from the webbed seat of a classic aluminum lawn chair? How many great summer memories from your youth are punctuated with the sound of those chairs being snapped open? Lightweight and durable, the portable chairs are carted to campouts and tailgates, backyard barbecues and beaches. Replace any other missing strips in the same way.The folding lawn chair is an American summertime classic. Fold the excess webbing up and under the frame. Be sure the clip points toward the frame and curves up. Stick another clip through the webbing at the mark. Mark the location of the hole with a permanent marker. Be sure these strips go under the bar at the bottom (back) of the seat. Weave vertical strips with the chair folded. If the strips on either side go under, weave it over if they go over, weave it under. Wrap the strip up around the frame and over to the other side, weave it over and under every other strip. Insert the clip in the hole in the frame. Push one of the clips from the webbing kit through one end of the webbing, 2 inches from the end.

Add 4 inches to this measurement to calculate the length of the vertical straps.Ĭut your strips to these measurements. Measure the distance from the center hole on the front of the top of the seat, down around the metal bar at the back of the seat, and up to the center hole on the top of the front of the seat. Measure the distance between the holes for the vertical straps with the chair folded.

Add 4 inches to this measurement to calculate the length of the horizontal straps. For the straps that run from one side of the chair to the other, measure the distance between corresponding holes on either side of the top of the seat. Measure the distance between the holes in the frame of the chair. Replace any other missing strips in the same way. Stick another screw through the strip so it aligns with the hole in the frame. Wrap the end of the strip around the other side of the frame. Be sure to go under the bar at the bottom (back) of the seat.įold the other end of the strip into another point with the folds facing down. If the strips on either side go under weave it over, if they go over weave it under. Wrap the strip of webbing around the frame and weave it over and under every other strip. Screw it into the hole on the bottom or back of the frame where a strip is missing, so the strip sticks out from the frame. Stick a screw through the center of this point. The end of the strip will be a 90-degree point. Fold this side down so it is perpendicular to the side of the webbing. Fold the end of the strip at a 45-degree angle so the top of the strip is touching the side of the strip.

Aluminum webbed lawn chair