Defining Selection Criteria for Office Chairs/Workshop Stools

DMS General
#1

To start off a new thread to discuss any upcoming needs for office chairs and/or stools.

Here is the criteria determined through much discussion.

Supports 300 lbs.
Stain and odor resistant
Designed for high comfort in a work environment
Back support to reduce strain and fatigue
High durability with warranty
Casters strongly preferred

Please include your opinion on what DMS’s chair/stool needs are. Please keep it positive and towards making new selections. Not plans to burn, give away, or destroy the current chairs.

I’ll add one:

Cost effective (<$500/ea)

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#2

I would like to add the Herman Miller Aeron.

It can be expensive ($800) in ones and twos, but I love mine, and I’d happily pay it again. As far as the requirements goes, it checks:

Supports 300 lbs. - Chart here goes up to 300 lbs and 6’6" with the C chair size https://www.hermanmiller.com/content/dam/hermanmiller/documents/product_literature/other/ap_sizefitref_classic_aeron_chairs.pdf

Stain and odor resistant - The chair isn’t a hard plastic, so it loses some point here, but the mesh doesn’t hold smell, and any stains/grime can be washed out pretty easily.

Designed for high comfort in a work environment - Checked. It’s “the standard” that everyone compares others to.

Back support to reduce strain and fatigue - It’s customizeable to allow different types of supports for the unique body types of our members. This does have the downside of it allows customization and you might spend the first minute of sitting in the chair setting it up for your body type.

High durability with warranty - 12 year warranty.

Casters strongly preferred - Check. They have both carpet and hard surface rated casters available.

Cost effective (<$500/ea) - Biggest downfall of this chair. $750ish new, it blows the <$500 point, but I suggest we order a couple and see if they are well liked.

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#3

On the selection of new chairs front, I suggest instead of doing it the “data” way we did it last time that we order a couple of the suggestions by the members and then have a chair tasting to see which ones we’d like to order more of. This has the advantage of diversification because surely out of 4 or 5 different types of chairs anyone could find one that works. There is no reason we need to have 20 matching chairs. Also, as a consolation prize, we’d still have the sample chairs forever so if 10 people like the most popular one, and only 2 or 3 the least popular one, that chair will still be at the space for use.

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#4

Do you envision different requirements for workshops vs. classrooms vs. common areas?

I ask this because total elapsed sitting time in a classroom chair is unlikely to be more than 2-3 hours, whereas in the common room it could be much more.

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#5

I can speak to the welding area of the metal shop, and stools being 100% the best thing. We should have enough stools for the short term, and the needs of them will be different enough requirements from the rest of the space I think they are out of scope and would be a committee purchase.

Not sure about the rest of the space.

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#6

I think we need to have an easy way to return them to the area where they belong, because they will walk all over the space. I think we should select some colors and standardize upon them - by area.

  • Committees should buy their own stools or chairs. They will be specific to the needs of that area and best decided by that committee. For example, 1800 people don’t need to weigh in on what type of stools Metal Shop uses.
  • General use areas
    • everything designated for the Common Room should be one color. Whatever brand/style gets selected, including the test chairs, should be that color. Let me select blue for the sake of illustration. Multiple manufacturers make blue chairs. All the blue chairs, regardless of make/model are to be returned to the Common Room.
    • Everything for the classrooms should be a different color …
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#7

Can we color wrap them like we do tools? My vision would be that I could come up to the space and find the body type chair that I like using and then roll it to wherever common area I’d like to use it in. If all of the areas like the common room had a red electrical tape band on the caster forks then we’d know that’s where they belong.

I propose this in addition to your suggestion, because of course, if we could get the chair in blue that would be nice, but if we can’t then a blue mark should suffice as well.

#8

I will be honest I think the red chairs might work great in a classroom where folks needed to move around some
and where we are working with staining materiasl

On stools in the workshop, it would be nice id most areas had at least one backless shorter
stool With my bad knees and short legs, climbin up into a stool is not a good ide
neither is sitting on the floor in the workshop One I can do

I know that I am just one member with special needs, but I am sure that there are or will be others

Also a few chairs with back support in the back would be nice for those that need back support
These could even be some good folding chaires so they are not in the way

#9

Have any suggestions?

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#10

After I get back next week I will see what is available
Headed for St Louis tomorrow for my Mother in Laws intenment

#11

@frank_lima loves the lightweight aluminum stools in Laser. No casters. Seat swivels. He borrows them for Machine Shop, which is ok with me. We have two stools too many for our area at the moment.
Easy to clean.
The legs of two are color wrapped.
I’ve saved the Amazon link on our wiki, for future purchases.

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#12

I do as well. Those stools are great.

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#13

I did find some Aeron Chairs that were less than $500 but they were odd colors or have some minor aesthetic manufacturing defects.

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#14

Unless something has changed the mesh is not covered under the warranty. Give that the mesh will be the first thing to fail I think the Aeron would not be a good fit for the DMS.

I too have a Aeron at home and absolutely love it.

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#15

According to their warranty all “Herman Miller Materials” are covered for 5 years (page 2). All moving parts are covered for 12.

HMI_Warranty.pdf (62.3 KB)

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#16

That’s what I mean with buying a couple of each type and see what works. We’ve been spending too much time worrying about why the options suggested won’t work and too little time suggesting more options.

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#17
  • Workshop
    • Metal stools in the workshop strike me as a good idea - sturdy, stain-resistant, no casters to cause injuries working with power tools or otherwise performing physical work, at an appropriate height for standing-height worktables.
    • Drafting stools are another possibility, but those have the added wrinkle of casters and are often as not upholstered. They have a place for some workshop functions.
    • Alternatives to stools I sit on a vintage example of this style of chair at home as an alternative to a task chair in front of my computer (cats keep murdering the upholstered varieties). Not sure how sturdy these are relative to my well-worn example, but it’s supported my non-trivial mass without complaint for years.
  • Office
    • Aerons Not a fan myself. I’ve never found the tension mesh seats comfortable and as a textile element its durability/stain resistance is suspect. In my experience, performing basic adjustments such as locking the back - something I feel is critical for a task chair - was needlessly troublesome. Given the target market - managers and other well-compensated presumably fastidious professionals - I’m not sure how they’d hold up in our 24/7 multi-user environment.
    • Current red chairs Haven’t sat in them myself, but having sat in an unpadded wooden chair I don’t expect that I’d find them too uncomfortable.
#18

I bought a 3rd one for home from a black market guy on CL for $350. I just didn’t want to mention that for the space. Scratch and dent as long as we still have the warranty would still be an good option for DMS though.

#20

You’re in the wrong thread. That belongs in the other thread.

Have any suggestions?

#22

I don’t know I agree that his argument is in the wrong thread. I would say one opinion that I don’t fully disagree with is a discussion around the merit of spending more DMS money on expensive chairs. I think that is working towards a solution and not re-hashing the evils of the last process.
I claim ignorance on what maker related activity requires long periods of sitting in the common room. I understand community and the desire to hang out, but I am not sure spending another $10,000 of DMS money on chairs to be more comfortable while hanging out is a good use of money. That said, I do claim ignorance and there may be very valid arguments why members need 3+ hours of sitting in the common room.

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