7A-2 Turning Old Tires Into Seats

By finding reused tires at a tire store, we decided to transform them into something that people use everyday: seats.  We wanted to make a comfortable and functional seat, that fits every person. First, we went hunting for free tires, which were very easy to find. We washed them because they had a significant amount of oil and dirt. To add aesthetics to the tires, we spray painted the tires with flattering colors that we got from a local hardware store.

We made two different designs of a tire seat. One had a soft cushion, and space for storage in the tire. To make a storage area we placed two pieces of wood on either side of the tire, and glued the backside with wood, and made our cushion the top of tire and removable. One of the tires had a stretchy, trampoline-like surface.  To make this type of surface we drilled holes into the outer ring of the tire, and put rope through the holes and across the tire.  One challenge we had was when we were using the drill to put holes in the tire, we were not using it correctly.  Therefore the tire started smoking. We learned later that the drill was going backwards. Through the process, we learned how to use a drill, correctly, and how to use a jigsaw. For anyone who would like to do this project, you should make sure you have a tire store close to you, that you can get free or cheap tires from. Also, maybe to have someone experienced while you are using the jigsaw or drill.

On the day of the Maker Fair, we asked people to try both of our seats and then vote on which one they thought was more conformable. The green chair won by ten points, so if you can only do one chairs, we suggest making the green chair which was voted more comfortable. While the blue looks more comfortable and also has storage space, the green one has a bouncier feeling to it. At the maker fair we put the tires on a bench so they wold be easier to use, but if we had more time, then we would have elevated them some other way. We thought about putting two tires together so that the seat was higher up, but we decided we wouldn't have enough time. The cost for each tire seat was about fifteen dollars each. while the tires were free, the paint cord, and fabric were not.

Here's a link showing how to make tire seats: Link (Although we did ours a little differently)