How wheelchairs are made

The first lightweight folding wheelchair was built in a garage in 1933 by two engineers, one hurt in a mine accident.

stations: 6
things upstream: 47
raw sources: 15
steps from the ground: 8

The short version

A manual wheelchair is a frame, seat, footplates and wheels. Lengths of steel or aluminum tube are cut, drilled and bent, then joined in jigs into a frame. Seat and footrest parts are drilled and fitted, brake and wheel assemblies are added, and the chair is checked for alignment before it is packed. Sample chairs go through drop and rough-terrain tests.

Cut the tubing

Lengths of extruded aluminum or steel tube are cut on drop-saws to exact size. CNC mills make smaller parts from bar and plate stock.

Goes in
Steel Aluminum
Drill and bend the parts

Cut pieces are set up in jigs on drill presses and drilled, and sheet parts for the handles are cut and shaped. Jigs keep the holes in the same place on every chair.
Join the frame

The tubes are joined into a chassis. Folding chairs add a cross brace so the sides can close together, while rigid chairs stay as one piece.
Build the seat unit

Seat, back and footrest blanks are drilled for adjustment and fixed to the seat framing. Handles, straps and brake parts go on next, and a cushion or sling goes on the seat.

Goes in
Plastic Polyurethane
Fit the wheels

The seat unit is joined to the chassis with footplates and front wheels. Large rear wheels look much like bicycle wheels, with a push-rim for the hands and solid, pneumatic or gel-filled tires.

Goes in
Vulcanized rubber
Check and test

Each chair goes through an alignment check. Periodically one is run through timed tests on simulated rough terrain and through drop tests.

End of the lineWheelchair

Worth repeating

One Australian charity's volunteers build over 400 rough-terrain wheelchairs for children every month, testing them to World Health Organization guidelines.
In 1655 the watchmaker Stephan Farffler built a self-propelling chair with cranks and cogwheels.
In 1887 Atlantic City rented out rolling chairs on the Boardwalk, and healthy tourists took them too.