Swivel Bar Stool Design Preview

For my final project, I have been struggling to find a concept that I would really enjoy exploring as well as something that I could use or look at daily! I was struggling between two very different aesthetics that both in their own way, spoke to me. The first aesthetic I explored was the aesthetic of trees, more importantly, trees that refuse to give up as can be seen in the photo below.

It is inspiring to me to see a tree grow out of something so hard and continue to thrive! Initially I thought about doing a small rotating paper mache sculpture that mimics a tree growing out of a rock. I was going to include lights and flashy aspects to give it this sort of bonsai type grow pattern.

After some thought and pondering my other aesthetic, I decided I would make the tree my backup plan if my main idea went south. The other aesthetic I was exploring was the aesthetic of manufacturing. Just look at this GIF below and tell me that is not super aesthetically pleasing, each shaving is almost identical!

I really wanted to put the idea of form and function together, however, I do not have access to these high end machines such as a mill and lathe so I decided to manufacture/fabricate a swivel bar stool. My inspiration for this swivel bar stool came to me when I was browsing through the internet and came across swivel L brackets for shelves similar to the one below. This swivel L bracket allows for the shelve to be put away and gave me the idea of the swivel bar stool as described more below. 

Currently, the house I live in has a bar in the basement and a pool table not to far from the front of the bar. The problem that we run into is that to play pool you have to remove the bar chair by picking it up and lifting it to another location of the basement. I decided I would make a swivel bar stool that would attach to the bar itself and swivel easily underneath the bar top counter for easy storage. Below are the images of my initial sketches of the design.

My thought process is to make an arm that can swivel and a seat that can swivel independently of that. Additionally, I wanted to make sure that once bolted to the bar, it could easily be removed for any reason so the design above shows these aspects. To take it off the bar you simply lift the swivel arm straight up and out of the bolted down bracket.

In the picture above, there is a top down view of the seat. I will use metal angle Iron to create a nestle of sorts for a piece of stained wood to be placed into the top of the seat giving it a nice rustic look while still being totally functional and aesthetically pleasing. Below is an initial CAD render of the 3 main parts of the assembly!

This diagram shows where the bolts will position the swivel bar stool to the bar. It is easier to visualize how the seat will go together in this layout. It will be real easy to bolt the swivel bar stool in because the material I will be using for the frame is material I currently already have in my possession and can be seen below.

This is perforated square steel tubing that is 1.5 x 1.5 inches and I already have roughly 5 feet of it making is an ideal candidate for this project. There are still some more materials I need to purchase and I will get them at Lowes. The outline of the materials I still need can be seen in the video recording below. On Wednesday March 30 I am going to get the remaining materials needed for this project. An outline of the timeline I will be following can be seen below. I expect to be done in one week from Saturday, April 10th.

Once completion of the project I imagine it will look fairly similarly to the render below. I am super excited to get started! Stay tuned!

 

Video of my presentation:

 

Citations:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-in-x-1-ft-Plated-Steel-Sheet-Metal/1000035125

Architecture & Design, www.architecturendesign.net/.

Giphy. “Private GIF.” GIPHY, giphy.com/gifs/cnc-slowed-machining-FKjTmC3duRXbi.

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2 Comments. Leave new

  • Hi Peter,

    Great idea for this project. I really think that this is an idea that you could potentially sell to a bar or restaurant that carries the same aesthetic. I agree with Joshua above that the math really matters for this, however, I trust that you know which calculations to make. Is there any calculations or ideas that you have struggled to quantify?

    Reply
  • Hey Peter,

    I really like the idea. Functionally, a swivel bar stool is a great idea. I’ve been to places before where you have to move furniture or adjust your shot around objects in the room to play pool and it is very annoying. Definitely make sure your math is right as far as forces go. It would be catastrophic if it broke when someone sat on it. Aesthetically I am struggling a bit to understand how you will express the manufacturing aesthetic. Is it due to the fact that you are using metal? are you going to give it a special color or finish? will you add certain ornaments that make it look like it was manufactured with big machines? I think you definitely have an aesthetic, I just felt you maybe could have explained how you will achieve this in your stool better.

    Reply

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