Another recent thread on booth chairs has me thinking….I have a tall aluminum directors chair. I have no plans to replace it, as it works quite well. But I would like a table like surface to span both of the arms. I don’t mean the little tables you see attached off to the side of the commercial one: I mean something that essentially covers my lap, but whose weight is resting on the arms. If I’m sitting and need to wrap a purchase I end up either standing up to do it, or reaching over to the regular table next to my chair for tissue and bag and doing it on my lap. At slow shows I work or sketch: it would be great for that too.
If the “table” attachment was just laid over the arms, I would end up knocking it over at some point. It would be great if it was attached to one arm, then could be swung over and out of my way when I needed to stand up.
Has anyone built anything like this and have suggestions for me? Thanks!
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The arms are tubular aluminum, so screwing on a hinge would be difficult. I was thinking of a more flexible arrangement. The way my arms work, the table would just dangle along the side when folded. But then when laid on its side in the van, it might create stress due to the uneven weight.
But I do like the idea of making something detachable. I keep thinking of carabiner clips, but I’m not sure the gap when opened is enough to fit around the arm, which is about an inch in diameter. I thought maybe some one had a better idea.
Linnea, we have two of those aluminum folding chairs also, without shelves, but I know what you mean. I liked Robert's suggestion very much, but with something permanently attached, I wonder what happens when you fold the chair. Where does the shelf end up, meaning, does it make the whole thing bigger/harder to store in your vehicle? I wonder, instead, if you could adapt hardware or build something using your jewelry skills, like two bracelets (pretend the arms of the chair are the wrists) and you could have the shelf be detachable. The "bracelets", or connecting hardware, would be attached to the shelf, but you could have simple clasp to detach it. You might think about making it streamlined so it doesn't catch on your clothing. At first, I thought of two sturdy leather straps that could have snap closures, and that were secured to the shelf using rivets, but the weight of the table top will eventually stretch the leather. Let's see what others have to say....
Attach the hinge to the chair arm and the table top.
hinge-lid-support