Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
Barry Irby
Slowly dawned on me that I spend a lot of time in my desk chair and was considering updating it. Saw ads for the X-chair. Was surprised at the price. Then thought it over and decided it was like another tool and I might spend that much on something to work with. So, anybody got a recommendation for a really good comfortable desk chair?
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
JL
Some thoughts. What do you want in a desk chair? Arms? Fabric seats okay?
What sort of floor is it rolling on?
I bought my wife a "Sadie" chair from HON for her sewing room. Got some "soft" non-mar wheels so it would not do anything to the floor. No arms, fabric seat. That chair stays parked at her sewing machine table.
She also has a "task" chair for her cutting table that is a bit higher. It is from Lorell. It sits a lot higher than the other chair - still with soft wheels.
I would really look at HON - good American company, been around for years.
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
William Duffield
Herman Miller Aeron. I highly recommend it. I have lots of problems with back pains. As soon as I sit down in the Aeron Chair they all go away. I bought mine with the optional adjustable lumbar support. I also have a third party head rest, because I have a tendency to fall asleep in the chair, and the head rest keeps me from snapping my neck. If you want a head rest, I can look up where I bought it. The Aeron Chair is guaranteed for 12 years. After using it constantly for several years, mine is none the worse for wear. Note that they are built in three sizes, and it is not necessarily intuitively obvious what size will fit you, so you need to go to a dealer and try them out for fit. I bought mine in Fairfax.
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
Barry Irby
Interesting, sounds like what I want. Need to find a local dealer to get fitted. If I work it out I will get back to about the head rest because I know I will be napping. (That's the point of buying the good chair.)
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
John McGaw
Well, Herman Miller Aeron may be in the cards but only if I win the lottery or something. The prices I've seen easily run up to around $1.1K (and that is a Spring sale price!) and that is way too rich for my blood no matter how comfortable they might be.
Aeron
John K Jordan
>>>Herman Miller Aeron
I've had one for my office chair for a bunch years before I retired in '06 (I worked from home, software engineering and 3D graphics, often 12 hours or more per day) and we still use it. It's still like new. The controls are good, the open fabric lets it breathe and not get hot, the frame construction and tension of the fabric on the seat and back is very comfortable. Go try them out and chose the correct size. Then bite the bullet and take it home. If you decide you don't like it I'll apologize publicly.
JKJ
Butt test
paul in AZ
You are ignoring the all important [maybe only] criterion for your chair. The butt test.
Asking people what works for them presumes that everyone's butt and back is the same.
The logical way to go about this is to visit an office supply store [or several of them], sit in many chairs and find one that fits your butt's size and shape the best.
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
William Duffield
Yes, I know 
. It was more expensive than my PM 15" Shelix head planer, or my PM 12" disc/6X48" belt sander, or my DJ-20, or my Oliver patternmaker's vise, or several other machines in my shop. The issue is not so much how comfortable you are, but your level of pain when you are not sitting in it. If it does not relieve your back pain, or if you are comfortable sitting on a stump 
, definitely don't waste your money! If you just need a regular office chair, check out your nearest Habitat Restore. They are dirt cheap and often in good condition.
Re: Butt test
William Duffield
There's a bit more to it than the butt: there's the back, and the neck, and maybe even the toes of the bench dog who likes to sleep under our chair while we are ranting on WoodCentral 
. As Barry noted, for an Aeron, you have to go to the retailer to make sure it fits. They often carry other makes and models of office chairs, and you can try them all out.
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
Barry Irby
Thanks William.....Had not thought of the ReStore. There are two close enough to drive to. I don't have back issues and I am cheap, so I might find something that would work for me.
My son bought a recliner that has leather upholstery and sheepishly admitted he paid $2500 for it. His reasoning was that he had noted that when you buy a piece of furniture you tend to live with it for a long time. His friends and his friends parents as well as his own parents seemed to never get rid of and upgrade a piece of furniture unless it completely fell apart. He is completely correct. I have lots of crappy furniture that does the job. I have made endless furniture for others, including him and yet can't bring myself to upgrade that crappy dresser I got in the divorce. (I'm not wasting my good wood on me!)
It dawned on me that I spend about as much time in my desk chair as I do in my shop and I am not squeamish about spending $1000 on a Domino or $700 ($700!, Really!) on a shopvac to go with it. Some nights I know when to go to bed when I wake up with my head tipped over backwards and a sore neck, so I NEED a excellent chair with a head support and I can snooze until morning and save wear on the sheets.
Does an Areon chair have a pocket for the remote?
True
Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level
As I type this I am sitting in an Aeron chair. I had one for many years as my desk chair before I retired. I think it is one of the greatest chairs ever designed. So good that I had to have one at home. They are not cheap but even at retail I think they are worth every penny. That said, I bought my home one, used, on ebay. T.
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation????
William Duffield
Sorry, no pocket. You could get one (or more) of Ellis’s new pocketed WC t-shirts. I’ll see if I can find where I got my headrest, but it might be specific to the Aeron.
Re: OT Desk Chair Recommendation???? *LINK*
William Duffield
The headrest I have was designed specifically for the Aeron (Æron?) chair.
I bought it about 5 years ago, after once nodding off and putting a painful crick in my neck, which took quite a while for the pain to go away.
The only real problem I have with the headrest is the lack of hysteresis between adjustments for locking it securely in position and unlocking it for adjustment.
The Original Headrest for The Herman Miller Aeron
Take your pick...Nyuk nyuk
Clint Searl
Re: Butt test
Barry Irby
Searched local Craig's list thoroughly. Only one on there was the largest one. I think I need the middle one. I will also check with the two Habitat stores locally.
May buy one on EBay.
Re: Take your pick...Nyuk nyuk
John K Jordan
Did you find all those on Craigslist for less than $50?
All high end gallery stuff
Re: Take your pick...Nyuk nyuk
John McGaw
Odd. Not one of those looks even vaguely comfortable and at least one of them looks to be some sort of Medieval torture instrument.