Sign Chair

Step 3 Bracing

As I said in the intro, I kind of winged the bracing -- adding a piece, testing it, adding a piece, etc. Again, with a little more forethought, you could plan out all these rails a little better. So, I added two diagonals, parallel to the rails on the underside of the seat, and two braces cross-ways at front and back.

The tension brace that runs in an X at the floor end of the legs is made with nylon string. Tie wire or rope works just as well. This brace does a couple things: it prevents the tendency of the legs to spread outwards from the center when weighted, it tightens the legs against the top joints where they join the sign, and it can exert a lot of force on the still-flexible chair, straightening it out so all the feet hit the floor evenly.

The brace is made similarly to a tourniquet: run a loop of string from corner to corner, then put a dowel or bolt or something in between the strings and twist until taut. Tie it off at the intersection to keep them from spinning out.