Project Information
I Started this project last winter, finishing just in time for our little girl who arrived on Christmas eve. I had seen this chair in a baby store and it "looked" like it would be easy for me to make. Also, I liked the idea of the little one bellying right up to the table with the rest of us.
I bought the plastic chair rest piece, and in one way it came in handy to take measurements from. On the other, it made it more difficult as I had to make the chair to match it. Doubly difficult was that it seems the dimensions for the older chair is not exactly the same as the chairs they now produce and new plastic seat back, front guard etc.
Kokako http://lumberjocks.com/kokako/blog/25508 was nice enough to send me some plans but they didn't seem to match the plastic back i had to deal with. i made my mold/ jig the same way and it turned out perfectly.
Unlike the Tripp Trapp, I have my seat back hardware hidden from below instead of routed in the back. Also, I had seen complaints and video of the chair tipping back so I lengthened the bottom rails. The chair is on hardwood with felt pads underneath as well.
I mortis and tenoned the joints using the miter guage on the table saw set to the proper angle (cant recall off hand) for the male pieces and used my protractor to set the angle of the table of my drill press to rough out the female pieces. Finishing them square by hand.
Once all the head scratching was done i was able to hide my mistakes and have a nice sturdy chair for many years to come. It has seen a great deal of use in this first year. In fact, the footrest is completely burnished from those little feet sliding around!
I'm sure I'm missing some of my process. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Someone was nice enough to take the time to help me and I would be happy to do the same.
I have added a drawing i have made myself in the event that I want to make another chair.Some people have asked for various dimensions and I'm sure it would be useful for everyone to see a drawing. I would have begged, borrowed or stolen to have had my hands on a drawing before I started! It is a high quality file, it looks like the upload process may have downgraded the quality. I have broken the photo into 2 halves, hopefully that allows everyone to see the dimensions.
I bought the plastic chair rest piece, and in one way it came in handy to take measurements from. On the other, it made it more difficult as I had to make the chair to match it. Doubly difficult was that it seems the dimensions for the older chair is not exactly the same as the chairs they now produce and new plastic seat back, front guard etc.
Kokako http://lumberjocks.com/kokako/blog/25508 was nice enough to send me some plans but they didn't seem to match the plastic back i had to deal with. i made my mold/ jig the same way and it turned out perfectly.
Unlike the Tripp Trapp, I have my seat back hardware hidden from below instead of routed in the back. Also, I had seen complaints and video of the chair tipping back so I lengthened the bottom rails. The chair is on hardwood with felt pads underneath as well.
I mortis and tenoned the joints using the miter guage on the table saw set to the proper angle (cant recall off hand) for the male pieces and used my protractor to set the angle of the table of my drill press to rough out the female pieces. Finishing them square by hand.
Once all the head scratching was done i was able to hide my mistakes and have a nice sturdy chair for many years to come. It has seen a great deal of use in this first year. In fact, the footrest is completely burnished from those little feet sliding around!
I'm sure I'm missing some of my process. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Someone was nice enough to take the time to help me and I would be happy to do the same.
I have added a drawing i have made myself in the event that I want to make another chair.Some people have asked for various dimensions and I'm sure it would be useful for everyone to see a drawing. I would have begged, borrowed or stolen to have had my hands on a drawing before I started! It is a high quality file, it looks like the upload process may have downgraded the quality. I have broken the photo into 2 halves, hopefully that allows everyone to see the dimensions.