Introduction: IKEA Chair Ergonomic Hack, 3D Printed

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The problem to solve...

I've bought an inexpensive and confortable IKEA office chair, but doesn't have the correct height for my desk.
As you can see on the picture the position of my arms to the desk surface is not ergonomic. They should be flat over the desk surface.

Solution...

Design and 3D print a stand off to elevate the chair.

Step 1: Tools and Materials to Use

CAD Software

I've chosen the Fusion 360 from Autodesk. It's a easy to use but advanced software with cloud file sharing.
You can access my public design here: http://a360.co/1PtSGVW

Desktop 3D printer

I've used my beautiful BEETHEFIRST to 3D print the standoff.

Materials

  • PLA filament
  • 4x M8 140mm hexagonal head parcial thread screws (note: start designing after having the screws)

Tools

  • caliper rule
  • set square

Step 2: 3D Design: Preparation

Disassemble the chair

The base of the chair and the seat are connected by 4 screws.

Take a picture of the base

I've used this photo to help on my 3D design.

Start 3D modeling with "Fusion 360"

This is not intended to be a detailed tutorial about Modeling and 3D printing but I've written the sequence and the necessary keywords that can be googled (fusion 360 tutorial <keyword>). This way any one can learn from scratch how to model a part like this one, without previous knowledge on this tool.

Step 3: 3D Design: 1-Canvas

Insert image Canvas

I will use the photo taken from the chair base, to help trace the sketch lines.

  1. Insert/Attached Canvas
    1. Edit Canvas
      1. Canvas Opacity = 45
      2. Scale

Step 4: 3D Design: 2-Sketch

Create a 2D Sketch

  1. Sketch / Create Sketch
  2. Add Line (use set-square and caliper rule; consider one corner as a reference to all measures)
  3. Add Arc/3-Point Arc
  4. Add Sketch Dimensions
  5. Add Constraints

Note: It's normal that the design with the exact measures don't fit exactly the image from the photo. The photo will have some distortions.

Step 5: 3D Design: 3-Press Pull

Create a 3D Extrusion

  1. MODIFY: Press Pull
    1. Distance = 120mm (define height according to the screws you bought)

Step 6: 3D Design: 4-Cut Model

Cut Model

  1. MODIFY: Split Body
    1. Chose Plane YZ

Step 7: 3D Design: 5-Add Text

Add Text

  1. SKETCH: Create Sketch
  2. SKETCH: Text

Step 8: 3D Design: 6-Text Extrude and Fillet

Text Extrude and Fillet

  1. MODIFY: Press Pull
    1. Distance = 1mm
  2. MODIFY: Fillet
    To the letters be perfectly 3D printed without using support material.
    1. Radius = 1mm

Step 9: 3D Design: 7-Save Body As Stl File

Save body as stl file

Finally we have a design (one Component) that have two Body. Each Body have to be saved as *.stl file to be 3D printed.

  1. Mouse Right Click over each Body
    1. Save as stl

Step 10: 3D Print: BEEsoft Import and Print

BEEsoft is the driver software for the 3D printer BEETHEFIRST.

  1. Drag and drop *.stl file over BEEsoft
  2. Rotate
    to put the part in proper position for printing.
  3. Click PRINT
    1. Resolution = Low (0,3mm layer heigh)
    2. Density = 10% (infill)
  4. hit Print button!

Step 11: 3D Print: BEETHEFIRST

These are the 2 parts 3D printed.

Step 12: Assemble and Test

Assembling was easy because the design was rigorous and everything fit perfectly.

The real test was done with 75Kg of my weight over the chair and I didn't heard nothing breaking! So I gave it a quality pass check!

That's all folks.