REI Chair Fix
3D Printing a New Foot for a Camping Chair
Earlier this week a friend asked me if I would be able to help him repair his REI camping chair like this one. He explains to me that he has 2 of them, and on both chairs the feet are breaking.
Broken Foot
I told him I should be able to easily make a new foot for his chair. The problem with these feet is that they are extended too far forward on top of having too thin of plastic, so after a little use and if they are leaned on a little wrong the tubing from the leg breaks through the back of the plastic as you can see above. I thought this could easily be solved by reinforcing the heel and improving the load distribution.
The Problem
I tried to illustrate what I was seeing as the problem, and the reason the feet were breaking. Due to the toe sticking so far forward it is easy for it to apply too much torque, twist the foot, and blow out the heel.
Fixing the Chair
I began thinking about how to fix his chair immediately after we talked, this image shows what popped into my mind as the basic concept of improving the chair.
Diving into design
As I set out to solve the problem a few things came to mind in order to make this new foot better. The chair works by having 3 legs that fold away from each other around a circle 120 degrees apart. The legs then meet the ground at about a 45 degree angle. One of the key requirements for this design is to have the legs be able to fold together nicely when not in use. This meant that my original idea for creating the foot would need to be tweaked in order to fit together nicely.
Basic Requirements
- Legs fold up nicely
- Stronger than original
- Hold the strap like the original
I first modeled the part that holds the legs together, this was necessary so that I would be able to see how everything would fit together once complete. Once the part was done I was able to build the assembly and begin work on the new foot design.
First attempt
The first attempt ended up having some geometrical issues, but after backing up and trying again I ended up with a design that seemed to fit quite well!
Ready for 3D Printing!
Here you can see the final design, you can see the I’ve added a rib down the front for increased strength on the toe, as well as adding a completely support heel.
Here is what the chair should look like when folded up. I managed to strengthen the heel as I planned while also still being able to fold up the legs and carry the chair as compact as possible.
The Finished Product
When it was all said and done I now have an awesome replacement part for these chairs that looks pretty cool as well as it is now Glow-In-The-Dark!! That comes with the added benefit of being able to find your chair in the dark while camping!
This part is now available in our store. If you have an REI chair like this with a similar issue check out the product in the shop!