The NHC - the No-Hassle Chair (From CNC Mill and 4' X 4')

The NHC (The No-Hassle Chair) is designed to be a fully usable chair requiring little work to construct. The entire chair can be made from one 4' x 4', meaning it minimizes your environmental impact, and the amount of supplies and time required. The chair is quite comfortable and versatile, as it can be used both indoors and outdoors (if weatherproofed).

• 3-axis CNC milling machine
• 4' x 4' x 1/2" plywood
• Mallet
• Glue (wood or all-purpose) - not necessary
• Clamps - only needed if using glue

The design should be in a file compatible to work with the CNC Machine. We used a CRV file. Our design is pictured here and attached as an Adobe Illustrator file (we were unable to upload the CRV, but the contents are the same). As you can see, we made sure to fit all the pieces onto one 4' x 4' to conserve material. You can make slight adjustments, as long as they do not affect the supports of the chair.

Our design includes:

• 2 chair sides
• 2 armrest tops
• 14 total horizontal slats (some are the seat/back, others are supports)
• a circular feature for the chair back

Once the file is completely ready, it's time to mill! Above are three images of what the milling process should look like; the last shows the pieces immediately after being milled.

Use a 3-axis CNC machine to mill the pieces in the file. You may need to convert the file to the kind that your CNC machine’s software application accepts. We used a 2 flute 1/4" up cutting drill bit, but use whatever you would normally use to cut plywood (this chair can also be made out of MDF, but if so you should consider making the material thicker). Be sure to tack your plywood down to the base securely in safe zones, as the plywood cutouts might jump out during the milling process. Please follow all other CNC protocols (including zeroing your machine properly). Cutting in two rotations should be plenty, though our software initially suggested four.

Sanding

Once all the pieces are milled, you can begin sanding to your satisfaction, working from rougher grades to finer ones. We mostly used 100-grit sandpaper. We used an electric sander for a few rough edges.

Chair Back

Next, construct the back of the seat before you add it to the chair: line up the oval piece with the slats that have cutouts, then attach the bar over the top. We would recommend using wood glue for this section, even if not for others. Wherever necessary, use clamps to help the pieces and the glue set properly.

Assembly

Lay one side piece of the chair on the floor or a flat surface, and add all slats and back piece, applying wood glue and clamps and utilizing a mallet as you see fit.

Then, slowly attach the other side piece of the silhouette, being sure to align everything and applying glue in the joints and clamping before attaching securely with a mallet.

Finally, attach the armrests with a mallet. This part may take more force than the others. Again, clamps may be useful.

If you used glue, keep the clamps on until the glue is completely dry. Then, enjoy your No-Hassle Chair with the knowledge that you created a versatile and comfortable chair with minimal environmental impact!