How to make a chair from polypropylene pipes with your own hands: step-by-step manufacturing instructions

Plastic water pipes have long become a common occurrence; they are not only used to build modern communications, they are also a good material for various kinds of homemade products. It is inexpensive, cuts and solders well, so the idea of ​​making a chair from propylene pipes with your own hands not only looks attractive, it is a truly great way to replace metal and simplify the process of making home furniture.

One of the best options for homemade chairs made from polypropylene blanks

Features of creating chairs from propylene pipes

Interest in polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride materials is explained by a simple and very technologically advanced way of connecting individual plastic parts into one very strong and reliable structure. For this, a special system called a pipe soldering iron is used. Most of the parts and components for the chair will not need to be cut and turned; it is enough to buy a standard set of tees, angles, adapters and the pipes themselves. Having a little DIY soldering skills, assembling a stool from plastic pipes will not be difficult.

To make a chair, you need to be able to handle the material, for example, correctly cut a polypropylene pipe with scissors, not a saw.

But before you get to work, you need to become more familiar with the characteristics of the material, since PVC and PP are seriously different in their properties from metal pipes:

• Polypropylene plastic is used primarily for communications installed indoors. PP does not tolerate solar ultraviolet radiation well, and if you leave furniture made of polypropylene pipes in an open area during the summer, it is quite possible that at the end of the season you will have to make a new chair;
• The material has a fairly high coefficient of thermal expansion, and easily tolerates heating up to 60-70°C. For an ordinary stool, this does not matter much, but if you make your own stool for gatherings by the fire, near the grill or barbecue, then it is better to use metal or wood;
• Pipes made of polypropylene plastics are easily soldered with corner and triangular couplings-connectors. The quality of soldering is so high that if the technology is followed, an almost monolithic material is formed.

For your information!
But there is also another side to the coin. When soldering two parts, for example, a coupling and a polypropylene pipe, it is necessary to accurately calculate the seating depth of the parts removed from the soldering iron, otherwise you can easily miss, and as a result the crossbar or stool stand will be shorter. You have to cut off the “crooked” soldered element, install a coupling - insert - in its place, and only then continue working. As a result, the stool acquires additional unplanned elements that significantly change its appearance.

A propylene chair can be easily hidden on the mezzanine or in a closet

If you plan to make plastic furniture with your own hands, then it is best to try making a stool from PVC pipes. This design will be softer, more flexible and reliable. Even if you don’t like the appearance, the furniture can always be used for auxiliary purposes, for example, as a fishing chair.

I will share my experience

Gardeners and gardeners living in the south of the country (and now also residents of the middle zone) in the summer are faced with the need to water their plants quite often due to the lack of rain.

There is not enough moisture for both vegetable crops and shrubs. The usual quick watering from a watering can or hose does not give the desired effect. Water either spreads over the surface or goes much deeper than the roots along cracks in the soil.

This solution is quite functional, but over time, wooden stands, constantly being on wet ground, begin to rot, and it is not very convenient to carry them along with the tank. I'm not even talking about the appearance of these structures.

Therefore, I decided to make new stands for the tanks.

They must be resistant to rot, not repulsive in appearance and easy to manufacture. For quite a long time I could not find a suitable design for the stands.

And then I accidentally came across PVC pipe fittings in the barn, left over after laying the water supply.

The idea of ​​making furniture from PVC pipes is far from new, but in my case it came at just the right time. Almost all the parts were already on the shelf. I only had to buy a plastic pipe and a few plugs.

Dimensions of chairs made of plastic pipes

It’s worth immediately making a reservation that for the manufacture of plastic furniture for sitting, chairs, stools, folding models of benches and high chairs, unreinforced polypropylene pipe with a diameter of 20 and 25 mm is used. This greatly simplifies the work, although there is a significant drawback. The rigidity of polypropylene, and even more so polyvinyl chloride pipes, is low. You can easily verify this if you pick it up and try to bend a piece measuring 50-60 cm. An adult can do this without much effort.

You only need to assemble a chair or stool with a soldering iron, no glue, otherwise the polypropylene frame will fall apart

Therefore, when planning the design of your favorite chair model made from polypropylene pipe, you need to take into account some recommendations:

• The height of a standard design chair with single legs should not exceed 40-50 cm for the seat and 70-80 cm for the upper edge of the back;
• The seat is made from pieces no longer than 50 cm, otherwise the entire structure of the seat will not be rigid, and the chair will “play” and deform under the weight of the person sitting;
• When assembling the structure, namely when soldering parts, it is necessary to strictly follow the technique of planting the melted ends of the pipe inside the coupling.

This is far from being a whim of the designer; if soldering is performed strictly in compliance with the alignment of the two parts, then this ensures maximum strength of the connection. If you try to solder at an angle not provided for in the technology, then it is quite possible that in the future such a chair will fall apart at the most inopportune moment.

If you want to make a stool or chair with three legs, like in the photo, think again about whether it’s worth saving and violating the conditions for safe soldering of parts.

You cannot solder polypropylene pipes this way.

Simple rocking chair from the designer

This master class is for those who know how to weld metal. Minimalism has been in fashion for a long time. Try making a simple yet distinctive rocking chair. Pay attention to the work of Belgian designer Muller Vann Severen. His works are distinguished by geometry, simplicity and functionality.

The frame of the rocking chair is made of steel tube, and thick textiles are used for the seat. The choice of color is limited only by your imagination. Such furniture can be placed in an ultra-modern apartment, put on a loggia, or create a comfortable corner for relaxation near a country house.

Prepare materials for work

First of all, you should prepare existing or specially purchase metal pipes that will become the base of the rocking chair. A round or oval profile with a diameter of at least 2 cm is best suited. In addition, you will need a piece of durable (preferably with a high cotton content) material 120x130 cm in order to sew the sling seat. You should also have on hand:

• Metal welding machine.
• Eye and hand protection.
• Grinder with cutting and grinding attachments.
• A device for bending metal pipes (pipe bender).
• Primer for metal.
• Paint (color of your choice) on metal.
• Magnetic angle for welding.
• Tape measure, pencil.
• Sewing machine.

Before you start creating a chair, you will need to select or cut the necessary blanks from the pipe:

• 4 parts (A) 65 cm long;
• 2 elements (B) 26.8 cm each;
• 2 parts (C) 86.7 cm long;
• 2 elements (D) each 60 cm;
• 2 parts (E) 89.6 cm each.

A diagram with letter designations of parts will help to imagine the design and method of arrangement of all workpieces.

If necessary, you can change the given size of the chair to your own, proportionally increasing/decreasing all parameters. Be careful when creating a larger product; choose a profile pipe of a larger diameter so that the base can withstand a greater load.

Description of work

1. Prepare the ends of the steel pieces so that they fit snugly together when joined. Using a grinder and a sanding attachment, make rounded notches in the indicated places:

• on steel rods A, cut and sand both ends;
• on parts B, make notches on one side only;
• On each rod C, sand one end in this manner.

Attention! When welding parts, be sure to place them on a flat surface (on a large table or on the floor) to avoid distortion of the joints.

1. As indicated in the photo below, assemble the side parts of the chair first. Using a magnetic welding square, make sure all parts are 90 degrees to each other. When welding, to ensure that the angle is not broken, you can also use any cinder block as a template.
2. When the two sides are completely ready, attach two front and two back parts A to them.
3. Now you need to give the desired bend to the chair runners (E). If you have a pipe bender at your disposal, then the task seems simple. If there is no special equipment, find a suitable device. You can find some clever ideas online. For example, the solution could be a forked tree trunk and an additional metal rod (thin and solid, not a pipe). Place the rod between the trunks, put the part on it, slowly pressing on the free end of the pipe, give it shape. Do the work carefully, the bend of both parts should be as similar as possible.
4. Solder the ends of the curved pieces (E) to the chair legs. This completes the most difficult part of the work.
5. Use a grinder with a sanding attachment to clean the joints so that the joints are neat, smooth, and without dangerous sharp edges.
6. Clean the frame with a sponge soaked in soapy water.

For further processing, it would be good to hang the frame, then all metal parts will be processed equally.

1. First, cover a clean, dry frame with two or three coats of primer. Each subsequent layer should be applied only after 24 hours when the previous one has completely dried.
2. If desired, paint the metal base with the paint color of your choice or cover it with 1-2 layers of matte varnish.

Entrust the making of the cover to a person who knows how to operate a sewing machine. Instead of new fabric, you can take an old blanket, then the fabric does not have to be folded in half.

1. Fold a piece of prepared fabric 120 cm wide and about 130 cm long to make a rectangle 60x130 cm. Sew the two long sides to make a sleeve. Turn it inside out. Fold the edges of the sleeve inward and sew them up as well. Such careful work will extend the life of the fabric part of the rocking chair.
2. If you can position the product as shown in the photo, sew the chair onto the frame with a machine. Otherwise, try to do this work manually as efficiently as possible.

That's all, your rocking chair made from pipes with your own hands turned out to be no worse than a designer one.

Drawings of chairs made of PVC pipes

The use of PVC pipes has added virtually nothing new to the design of homemade seating furniture. You can try to come up with some unusual designs, such as in the photo.

This looks more like a designer’s experiments than comfortable, practical furniture, but such designs also occur

Folding chairs with a backrest height of no more than 70 cm and a seat of 45x45 cm are extremely popular. This model is easy to store and use, the most important thing is that assembling it with your own hands will not be difficult even for novice DIYers.

This drawing can be used as a basis

You can make a fairly simple office chair from a polypropylene pipe. A metal pipe is used for the sidewalls; the back of the seat and the jumpers inside the frame are made from PVC or PP. Using the same principle, you can easily assemble a rocking chair.

For a garden plot, you can make a small portable chair with a seat height of up to 20 cm. In the example given you can see the principle of connecting legs and horizontal jumpers with couplings.

If you wish, you can make a whole set of garden furniture with your own hands from PVC pipes.

Calculations and drawings

You can design a chair from pipes on a piece of paper or a personal computer. There is no need to make complex calculations, since the products have a simple design.

When planning your work, you should consider the following nuances:

1. Using the curvature factor. Curved fragments look more interesting and attractive than straight links. A chair with a sloping back will fit better into any interior. You can give the workpiece a curved shape by slowly heating it over an open flame. Then it is carefully bent and fixed until it cools completely. Another way is to use factory-made contours.
2. The length of the pipes is selected taking into account the fact that part of the workpiece will be immersed in the fitting. This distance is 20-50 mm depending on the type of plastic pipes. Before drawing up the drawing, you need to experimentally measure how far the links fit into the coupling opening.
3. It is better to take a sample that is comfortable to sit on as a basis for the project. You can supplement it with your own ideas. Please note that plastic bends under pressure. To increase the strength of the finished product, transverse ties are provided on the legs and seat. Reinforced plastic is much more practical than analogues without aluminum inserts.
4. The diagram is drawn to scale with an accuracy of 1 mm. It displays all the details, places and order of joining of workpieces to each other, couplers and partitions. An option is provided for cutting blanks, in which the amount of waste will be minimal.
5. If the workpieces are joined without glue or soldering, then the joint must be strengthened. To do this, screws are used, which are screwed in so that they tighten and fix both fragments. It is better to screw hardware on the underside of the pipe and from the back. This way they will be practically invisible.

The finished diagram is the basis for carrying out calculations of building materials.

How to make a chair from polypropylene pipes

Before you try to assemble a more or less working structure of a stool or any other furniture from PVC or PP pipes with your own hands, you need to properly prepare for the work. Using the drawing, calculate the number of connection points and the total length of the crossbars. As a result, we obtain the number of couplings and the footage of PVC pipes, respectively.

In addition, you will need the following tool:

• Soldering iron with a power of 1.5 kW with two types of nozzles, for internal heating of the coupling and for external heating of the pipe edge. The soldering iron kit usually comes with several sizes of nozzles, so you don’t have to look for a tool separately;
• Scissors for cutting propylene pipes. It is usually not recommended to cut the material with a hacksaw or jigsaw; the edge is uneven and fringed, which greatly contaminates the heating tips of the soldering iron;
• Marking tool, tape measure, caliper, marker;
• Fabric gloves with rubber coating on the fingers.

There are different approaches to using gloves when sealing polypropylene. But even experienced craftsmen do not neglect such safety measures, since burns when handling a soldering iron can be very serious.

Stool made of polypropylene pipes

One of the simplest and most accessible models to manufacture is shown in the photo below.

In order to assemble a stool with your own hands, you will need no more than two to three hours of working time. Initially, it is necessary to solder two crosspieces, one of them will go for the upper part of the stool, and the seat will be attached to it.

The cross made of polypropylene pipes is very durable

Triangular couplings are soldered at the ends of the crosspiece. Barrel inserts are welded into the upper part to attach the plywood seat. The legs are soldered into the bottom hole.

The second cross is assembled in a similar way.

The result is a compact and very nice stool made of polypropylene pipes with a height of 46 cm and a width of 29 cm.

DIY folding chair made of polypropylene pipes

This model is somewhat more complex than the previous one and will require the manufacture of a fairly large number of parts. A folding chair is assembled from four main elements, two vertical posts and two frames that act as cross-braces.

The “crosses” of the crossbars are connected using metal bolts, resulting in the structure shown in the photo below.

“Crosses” are attached to the sidewalls with ordinary bolts

The folding chair does not have a rigid back; it is replaced by a fabric cover stretched over vertical pipes. Using a more rigid material, you can make a fabric seat and armrest pads for a chair using a similar method with your own hands.

It can be used in a country house, in an apartment, in a garage, in almost any room. The convenient folding design allows you to remove furniture and, if necessary, transport it to the dacha and back. The sequence of assembling a chair from polypropylene pipes is shown in the video:

Children's high chair made of polypropylene pipes

One of the most successful options for children's furniture is shown in the photo diagram below. The design of the highchair is in many ways similar to the stool shown earlier.

The curved shape of the back only improves the design of the chair

The seat backing is made by soldering the crosspiece using triangular couplings. A very reliable and durable backrest, made of arched contours made of polypropylene pipes and an additional armrest, has been added to the design.

This is only the frame of a children's high chair; you can always make the furniture more pleasant and comfortable, for example, add fabric upholstery and foam inserts with your own hands, making the furniture more attractive and cute.

DIY bar stool made from PVC pipes

Of all the existing designs, this model may seem the most difficult to make yourself. According to its purpose, the bar stool is very tall, at least a meter high. If you make it from metal pipes, then problems do not arise; the rigidity of the metal is enough to make the structure as stable and reliable as possible.

A polypropylene pipe is another matter; in order for the chair to be comfortable and not bend under the weight of a person, you have to use several vertical posts, and solder a rectangular footrest in the lower part of the frame. It also additionally performs the functions of horizontal struts, ensuring a more or less stable position of the entire structure.

Fishing chair made of polypropylene pipes

The design is very similar to the folding chair shown earlier. It also uses a design with two rotating frames. In this case, instead of side crossbars, a frame secured with a bolt is used. The general design of the fishing chair frame is shown in the photo.

The chair turns out to be very easy to make with your own hands, light, compact, comfortable, and most importantly, it is very convenient to get up from such a chair quickly, which has always been important for a fisherman.

Small size and comfortable back support

The general technology and manufacturing procedure are shown in the video:

Required tools and materials

Before making a chair from plastic, you need to purchase the necessary equipment and property for this.

To work you will need the following tools:

1. tape measure or pipe cutters;
2. hacksaw for metal;
3. oil level;
4. screwdriver;
5. special soldering iron;
6. drill or screwdriver;
7. stapler;
8. marker.

The materials needed are:

• PVC pipes;
• wood screws;
• fittings (corners, tees, plugs, contours, crosses);
• plywood 8-10 mm;
• foam rubber 50 mm;
• upholstery fabric;
• thick tarpaulin.

The number of fittings and pipe footage depends on the chosen design and construction. The seat can be made of thin tubes, strips of tarpaulin or foam rubber attached to plywood.

How to design a chair from propylene pipes

A significant disadvantage of homemade furniture made of polypropylene and PVC is the low decorative qualities of the material; gray and white colors are not suitable for the interior of apartments and houses.

Pipes are often painted, covered with film and even sheathed with threads in order to hide the polypropylene frame. It turns out quite original and beautiful. Finishing requires imagination and the ability to work with your own hands with the simplest materials, such as threads, leather, denim. As a result, the appearance is not even worse than industrial production, especially since factory-made furniture is often made using a frame made of polypropylene, PVC parts and pipes, among others.

What materials to choose for work

The quality and durability of the “service” of such furniture is influenced by correctly selected manufacturing materials and raw materials. Today, various types of products can be used to carry out work depending on the type of raw material: metal, plastic, bimetallic. Each option has advantages and disadvantages of operation. Plastic products are most often used; they have the following advantages:

• Corrosion resistance. If you decide to use a chair of the presented type to arrange your garden area, then it is best to choose plastic pipes. They are completely protected from moisture;
• Attractive appearance. A pleasant white tint of the surface will help create original and attractive products. Please note that PVC can also be painted using any paint. In addition to the original appearance, you will add surface protection;
• You can connect elements with fittings without using glue, this is very convenient during work. In addition, the product can be disassembled and reused.

But there are also disadvantages to using a chair made of PVC pipes. The main disadvantage is the low level of strength of the material. This is why furniture can become deformed, deteriorate, or even break down. In terms of this quality, metal products are much better, but they are highly susceptible to corrosion and their appearance is slightly worse.

Types of rocking chairs

All rocking chairs are divided into two main types by design:

• glider;
• classic on runners.

Each type has a number of features, so let’s consider them in more detail.

Glider (with pendulum mechanism)

This type of furniture has a fixed base, and swinging occurs using a pendulum mechanism. It has a number of advantages over the classic one, but the main advantage is silent operation. That is why it is often purchased by mothers for feeding and rocking babies.

The chair is very stable thanks to the fixed base

Classic on skids

This type of rocking chair is known to everyone, but not everyone knows what a wide variety of subspecies of this piece of furniture exist.

On simple runners of constant curvature (radius).

Radius runners are the simplest and most common type of support

However, it is worth knowing that this is not the safest design option. Professionals make custom-made, as a rule, rocking chairs on runners that are not of constant, but of variable curvature, which are calculated taking into account the height and weight of the users . It is these models that have the lowest risk of capsizing.

The chair on elliptical runners is equipped with additional bumpers for safety

Springs are made from especially valuable tree species, and in budget models - from plywood

The chair does not lose stability in almost any position

What materials can a rocking chair be made from - table

• beautiful appearance;
• long service life;
• ease.

• very light and beautiful;
• Only braided and adhesive joints are used in production.

• high price;
• quite fragile material.

• relatively low price;
• opportunity to make it yourself.

• carpentry skills are required for manufacturing;
• durable wood species have a high price.

• low price;
• variety of design.

Rocking chairs made of plastic, metal, rattan, willow wicker and solid wood - photo gallery

Armchairs for home and garden

In the house it is better to use products made from environmentally friendly materials, not too heavy, so as not to spoil the floor covering. Size also matters if your apartment is not too large. The most suitable option is plastic and wooden products. Wicker furniture is also suitable, but is not always appropriate in an urban interior.

If you plan to use furniture outdoors, then you need to take into account some points: how resistant the material is to moisture, exposure to the sun, and whether it is easy to clean . With certain preparation, a product made from almost any material can be used outdoors - forged, plastic, wooden models. Designs with a sun awning are relevant on hot days.

You can also make original rocking chairs from chairs that have been going to be repaired for a long time.

Photo gallery: options for wooden garden chairs