/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.2441560]

I want to build a wheelchair for myself, but search engines have been cucking me. Anyone happen to have any resources like guides for measurements or something? And has anyone else had near conspiracy theory levels of trouble finding even one bit of help what you want to make?

>Have degenerative spine condition
>Wheelchair is needed on some bad days
>Decide to get a lightweight wheelchair that would be suitable for my height
>Literally over a thousand dollars, sometimes multiple thousands
>Fuck it, might as well build one before my back dies completely
>Google how to build one
>Get irrelevant results like building a wheelchair ramp
>Try other searches, get similar results or just shops that make them
>Try another search engine
>Try even more search engines
>Never a guide for building an actual manual wheelchair, always stuff like off-road chairs or beach chairs
>Incognito mode doesn't change anything, a virtual machine doesn't change anything
>There's no punchline, I just can't fucking find anything helpful

[Anonymous No.2441574]

know you said degenerative, is it genetic?

also, tried yoga to extend your time?

as far as a chair goes, many of them have lots of engineering and compromise depending on the type.

OP pic is meant to be pushed, the patient can't really move. most are made to collapse in some way, some have speedy disassembly to fit places. some recline. some are built to allow a power option.

it makes sense you wouldnt find anything. After all, the person who needs a chair is typically incapable of building it themselves, and people who don't need one that can would get a job doing it.

[Anonymous No.2441579]

>>2441574
Not sure if it's genetic, but probably not. Neither of my parents have it yet that I know of.

I've got a physiotherapist and various exercises to help out.

I know that it's a push chair, not a manual. I just grabbed a random picture of google images, but I could hunt down something closer to what I'd be after.

Surely though there would be something written by a partner who made their loved one a wheelchair or something like that

[Anonymous No.2441581]

>>2441560
Not trying to be a dick but it's a relatively small market in general as a % of the total population, and the number of people who need wheelchairs and want to DIY is even smaller, so expecting there to be a lot of online help doesn't make a lot of sense, assuming it's some conspiracy is even more nonsensical.
Anything that is even vaguely medical in nature will always present at least the worry of liability issues for people assisting others to bypass official channels, and even though a wheelchair isn't like an implantable device there's still special knowledge and safety issues surrounding the design and fabrication that add up to a situation where if you don't know exactly what you need to do already to design and build one, you probably shouldn't be doing it...it's not like a diy bike or go kart where you can ease into testing it and probably come away from a crash or failure with minimal injury, when you need one you are fully committed to relying on it to keep an already compromised body safe and a failure can result in catastrophic injury.
If you are truly capable of doing one from scratch then taking what info you can find from chair ideas that arent exactly what you want and adapting it to what you do want shouldn't be hard, and you might be able to find someone with a professional background to help you with basics, possibly even parts or less expensive donor chairs to adapt and cannibalize.


FWIW, I found these online-

https://medmartonline.com/custom-build-ur-own-wheelchair

https://chairinstitute.com/wheelchair-guide/

https://towsonmedicalequipment.com/service-and-repair/wheelchair-measuring-page/

https://www.stellartransport.com/measure-find-right-wheelchair-size-3-simple-steps/

https://codedistillers.com/subsidies/what-size-wheelchair-do-i-need/

[Anonymous No.2441605]

>>2441560
buddy i have a really nice electric wheelchair with new batteries. I'm near DC. where are you?

[Anonymous No.2441617]

>>2441605
I have a motorized chair don't need anymore. I'm in north Idaho

[Anonymous No.2441637]

>>2441581
Thanks for the resources, you've been a massive help

>>2441605
Not the US, plus I'm not wanting an electric wheelchair. Doesn't fit my needs

[Anonymous No.2441664]

imagine calling a wheel chair brand karma
you got what you deserved cripple

[Anonymous No.2441683]

Have you checked the used market? Even a damaged wheelchair could be easier to fix than building one from scratch.

[Anonymous No.2441693]

>>2441560

WOW what a great idea! holy shit I wanted to buy a new car but they are like $40k plus. shit I will just build my own for a fraction of the cost!

YOU ARE A FUCKIN GENIUS!

[Anonymous No.2441724]

>>2441560
You buy a wheelchair with insurance, or with government assistance like Medicare if you are too poor for insurance
Nobody pays full price

Tell your doctor you need one and them hey will write for one
It’ll be cheaper than diy ing it

[Anonymous No.2441725]

>>2441579
>surely though there would be something written by a partner who made their loved one a wheelchair or something like that
If you actually loved them, you would buy the properly built one they can roll themselves around in, which won’t fail on them or be uncomfortable
There is a reason you don’t see tutorials on this

[Anonymous No.2441727]

The resale on chairs is abysmal.

Buy one second hand for pennies on the dollar and upgrade the bits you don't like.

Or steal one from a hospital. They won't chase you.

[Anonymous No.2441805]

>>2441725
>The resale on chairs is abysmal.
This is true of a lot of similar items like crutches and walkers and chair based devices like medical shower chairs, transfer benches, etc. that people often just donate to thrift stores or toss on the trash when selling them doesn't work.
That makes them a great source to cannibalize for high quality parts that are usually over engineered , often of anodized aluminum and stainless steel.
The other benefit from a diy perspective is that they often have adjustable telescoping legs and other parts that tend to be standardized sizes and precision bends so you can assemble things out of them like tinker toys, but super sturdy.
If you need to connect tubes and don't have welding capabilities you can often use other tube to make connector sleeves or inserts and epoxy them in using a structural grade epoxy like for foundation anchor bolts.
If OP got a basic chair with functional wheels he could probably use those kinds of parts and techniques to replace heavier steel ones and custom fit it and add adjustability and other features but still have factory built and tested running gear.

Used would work but even a new one Iike this is pretty cheap; the back wheels alone start at around $100 bought separately.

https://medmartonline.com/wheelchairs/lightweight/tracer-sx5-wheelchair

[Anonymous No.2442441]

>>2441560
Making a DIY wheelchair is a great way to end up in a wheelchair.

[Anonymous No.2442452]

>>2441560
Try Googling "wheelchair dimensions." "How to build" is something that you should be about to suss out from looking at one. Be aware that welding will possibly give you your best/strongest results. If you're trying for lightweight you'll need to be able to work with aluminum. As to supplies, work it out from the pics.

[Anonymous No.2442502]

>>2441560
>I want to build a wheelchair for myself
why? you can find practically new ones at thrift stores for $25
>And has anyone else had near conspiracy theory levels of trouble finding even one bit of help what you want to make?
it's not a conspiracy since no one builds their own wheel chairs. so no you won't find any help online about it.

literally every insurance will buy you one.

[Anonymous No.2442506]

>>2441725
exactly. tried to sell my mothers electric wheel chair. it could handle 600lb, literally no one wanted it no matter the price because everyone can get one for free from insurance.

[Anonymous No.2442507]

>>2441560
>And has anyone else had near conspiracy theory levels of trouble finding even one bit of help what you want to make?
no, but sometimes for finding parts for things. had an electric motor than needed new mounts, very proprietary, and manufacturer refused to sell them to me. no one carried them anywhere.

[Anonymous No.2442512]

>>2441560
a powered wheelchair? would be tricky. consider adapting something from another application, like those electric scooters, or alternatively just get a powered sit-down style scooter like the ones that fat people in the mall use.

an unpowered wheelchair shouldn't be too difficult. really it's just a comfy chair with big wheels in the back and swivel wheels in the front. might be hard to make one that folds up neatly. likewise might be difficult to make it look professional and non-DIY. but it definitely could be done.