Home shop built recliner chairs?

[Scott Winners]

The wife and I are shopping for a love seat that is essentially two power recliners on one frame so we can hold hands while watching TV.

I have pretty well concluded this is an item I am going to have to buy - as I don't think I can (time/cost effectively) make one in my shop.

I could certainly build a stout wooden frame to connect two off the shelf moving metal seat frames to - but I got beans for upholstery background.

Has anyone been able to build even a single power reclining armchair for not too much money in a reasonable amount of time?

Thanks

[Bradley Gray]

This needs a punch line

[Scott Winners]

This needs a punch line

I don't have a punch line. I am about to spend the money on a thing I don't think I can build at a reasonable price in a reasonable amount of time.

But I might have overlooked something.

[Bradley Gray]

Yeah, we can't make everything.

[Jamie Buxton]

Many years ago I tried to design and build a recliner. Mine was to be muscle-powered, not electrical. It turned out that there was a lot of engineering in getting the movement of all the parts right. I went through four or five prototypes before I gave up. I never did get as far as addressing the upholstery.

[Walter Plummer]

Sorry, no help on building one. I did get a peek at the construction. I had to repair one of mine and when you peel back the upholstery I found out it is made mostly of 1/2" OSB with a few small glue blocks. In fairness it was fine till a certain eleven year old hockey player got to it.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A recliner will be a challenge! I bought plans for the Morris Chair. I intend to make two. They do not recline very far. Jimmy Rogers sings affectionately about his old Morris Chair. The Morris chair fits into the recliner evolution around 100 years before the Barcalounger. Upholstery is a stumbling block for several things I have tried to make. My Sister is very skilled at upholstery and has the equipment. When I get around to the chairs she will be hired to do that part.

[Roger Feeley]

No help here. We have a double power recliner and love it. This one has lasted 7 years of daily use. When it goes bad we will get another one but not until I scavenge the linear actuators.

make sure to get the power headrest. It sounds like overkill but four cup holders would be a bonus.

[Warren Lake]

are these the chairs that also raise up to make it easier for elderly people to stand up? If so got one from my parents and did some repairs on the mechanism that does the lifting. Fine now and in the garage its pretty damn comfortable. All I need is a big screen TV run through a stereo, oh and a woodstove would be nice.

[Richard Coers]

I built hippie style furniture in the early 70s. 4x4 frame sofa with a rope suspension. It was an easy lesson to leave upholstered furniture up to the experts. Recliners have a great number of linkage to get all that action from one lever. I added a 4" tall box under the wife's recliner when she had knee surgery. Worked just as well as a lift chair for her.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I've made cushions for two Morris chairs, one old one that came from my mother's family and an extra tall one that I made so I could have a comfortable chair to sit in. I just bought foam, cut it to size with a bread knife, got some upholstery fabric for $1 a yard at the local dollar store chain that sells closeouts and surplus and cut out and sewed the covers. Rectangular cushions like these are very easy if you have a fairly heavy duty sewing machine, but curved cushions or a recliner would be orders of magnitude harder, I think. I stripped the plastic gear that drove the bottom end in my mother's '70s Singer, and got a new gear for it online but it fit too tight, so I had to take the gear out and sand the back down thinner 3 or 4 times before it worked. Then I bought a '50s Singer 403a, which has all metal gears, and it has done fine.

[Rich Engelhardt]

It's a pity you aren't close.
Our old loveseat with the manual recliners isn't making the move to our new house.
It's going to have an accident during the move that leaves it scattered all over the driveway.....

I could have arranged for its accident to happen in sort of controlled enough manner that you could see how the mechanism all goes together - or - better yet, rescue it & haul the thing away and dissect it at your leisure.
Maybe...
I'm not sure if the 300# of dogs lounging all over the thing will be willing to have their safe space go away...

[Greg Parrish]

I ordered a set off the internet for our motorhome when I replaced the factory sofa with powered recliners. It was much cheaper than the versions available locally and they've held up just fine for the past 4 to 5 years of use.

https://www.theaterseatstore.com/home-theater-seating

https://www.theaterseatstore.com/super-sale/clearance-theater-seating