How to model a Panton Chair in SOLIDWORKS?

In today’s SOLIDWORKS tutorial, I will show you how to model the famous Panton Chair in SOLIDWORKS. Although the design of this organic chair dates from the sixties, it’s still a modern design chair.

The designer of this chair is Verner Panton. He was one of the most influential industrial designers of the sixties and seventies. Verner Panton was born in Denmark and later relocated to Switzerland. He became famous for his original and modern furniture designs. The Panton Chair is for sure one of the most recognizable chairs in the world. The design of this chair was inspired by the Zigzag chair of Gerrit Rietveld.

One of the ambitions of Verner Panton was to create a plastic chair molded in one single piece. Panton searched for a long time for a manufacturer of this modern chair. Finally, he found the company Vitra to develop the chair for series production. The Panton chair received many different awards and is now recognized as a classic of modern furniture design. Because the organic shape of this chair looks so interesting, I thought it would be nice to create a SOLIDWORKS tutorial about this chair.

Happy modeling! 🙂

Jan

P.S. I encourage you to share this SOLIDWORKS tutorial with your network.

Click here to download this SOLIDWORKS tutorial as a free eBook (PDF).

Open a New Part with model units set to millimeters

Go to: File > New > Part

Save the file with the following name: Panton_Chair.SLDPRT 

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Centerline

Draw a vertical centerline coincident to the origin

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign a vertical length of 580mm, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Centerline

Draw a horizontal centerline starting from the origin

Draw two more horizontal centerlines starting coincidentally with the vertical centerline, as shown below

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign the dimensions to the centerlines, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area.

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Spline

Draw a spline passing through the red encircled points as showed in the image below

Click on the spline and drag on both spline handles to activate them

Hold the Alt key, and drag the middle two handles to maintain the tangent symmetry

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign an angular dimension to each handle with their corresponding centerlines, as shown in the image below

Now click on each handle and assign the required handle lengths, as shown in the image below

Click on the Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Go to the feature tree, click on Sketch1 and click on the Eye icon to hide it

Create a 2D Sketch on the Right Plane

Select the Right Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Tools > Convert Entities

Click on the existing sketch to convert it into a line, as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation

Now click on the converted line

Go to the property manager and tick the For construction checkbox

Go to: Tools > Sketch Tools > Centerline

Draw a horizontal centerline starting from the origin towards left

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the horizontal centerline and assign a length of 150mm, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Sketch Tools > Line

Draw a vertical centerline starting on the left end of the horizontal centerline

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the vertical centerline and assign a length of 280mm, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Spline

Draw a two-point spline by using the upper points of the vertical lines, as shown in the image below

Click on the spline and drag on both spline handles to activate them

Click on the upper handle and choose the horizontal relation from the property manager

Hold CTRL key, select the vertical line of 280mm and the spline

Go to the property manager and choose the equal curvature relation, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the horizontal handle and assign the handle length of 400mm

Click on the vertical handle and assign the handle length of 600mm, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Use the Project Curve Tool

Go to: Insert > Curve > Projected

Go to the property manager and select Sketch on Sketch as a projection-type

Go to the modeling area and click on the Sketch2 and Sketch3

A projected curve is generated in yellow as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Centerline

Draw a vertical centerline coincident to the origin and the upper endpoint of the converted sketch

The coincident point is encircled in red in the image below

Draw a horizontal centerline starting from the origin

Draw three more horizontal centerlines starting coincidently with the vertical centerline, as shown below

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign dimensions to the centerlines, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Centerline

Draw a vertical centerline coincident to the horizontal centerline with a length of 360mm

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign dimensions to the new vertical centerline, as shown in the image below

Click on the Close sketch  to close the sketch area.

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Features tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Spline

Draw a spline passing through the red encircled points of the Sketch4, as shown in the image below

Click on the spline and click on both spline handles to activate them

Hold down the Alt key and drag the middle two handles to maintain the tangent symmetry

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign angular dimensions to each of the handles with their corresponding centerlines, as shown in the image below

Click on each handle and assign the required handle lengths, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Go to feature tree, click on Sketch4 and hit the Eye icon to hide it

Create a 2D Sketch on the Top Plane

Select the Top Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Spine

Draw a two-point spline starting coincidentally from the lower endpoint of the previous sketch

Hold CTRL key, select the free endpoint of the spline and select the converted sketch

Go to the property manager and assign a Pierce relation between them, as shown in the image below

Click on the Normal To  icon

Click on the spline and click on both spline handles to activate them

Click on the left handle and choose the Vertical relation from the property manager

Click on the right handle and choose the Horizontal relation from the property manager

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the vertical handle and assign a handle length of 300mm

Click on the horizontal handle and assign a handle length of 600mm

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Create a Reference Plane (Plane1)

Go to:  Insert > Reference Geometry > Plane…

Go to the feature tree, select the Top Plane as a first reference

Go to the modeling area, click on the encircled point of Sketch5 as a second reference, as shown in the image below

Click OK to complete the operation

Create a 2D Sketch on Plane1

Select Plane1 from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > 3 Point Arc

Draw a 3 point arc randomly on the sketch plane in the same orientation as shown in the image below

Hold down the CTRL key, select Point A and the Converted Sketch

Go to the property manager and assign a Pierce relation

Hold down the CTRL key, select Point B and Sketch5

Go to the property manager and assign a Pierce relation, as shown in the image below

Click on the Normal To  icon

Click on the spline and drag on both spline handles to activate them

Hold down the CTRL key, select Point B of the arc and the Center point of the arc

Go to the property manager and assign a Horizontal relation, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Make a Surface Loft:

Go to: Insert > Surface > Loft

Go to the Property Manager > Loft > Profiles

Click on the profiles selection box

Go to the modeling area, select Sketch5 and then the blue projected curve (Curve1)

Go to the Property Manager > Loft > Guide Curves  

Click on the guide curves selection box

Go to the modeling area, select Sketch6 and Sketch7 as a guide curve

Go to the Property Manager > Loft > Start/End Constraints

Open the Start/End Constraints tab

Click on the Start constraint and assign the influence Normal to Profile

Leave the End constraint as default as shown in the image below

Click OK to complete the surface loft operation

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Centerline

Draw a vertical centerline coincident to the origin and the upper end-point of the converted sketch

The coincident points are encircled in red in the image below

Go to feature tree, click on Surface-Loft1 and hit the Eye icon to hide it

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Centerline

Draw a horizontal centerline starting from the origin

Draw a horizontal centerline starting from the top end of the vertical centerline

Draw two more horizontal centerlines starting coincidentally with the vertical centerline

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign the dimensions to the centerlines, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area.

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Features tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Spline

Draw a spline passing through the red encircled points of Sketch9, as shown in the image below

Click on the spline and drag on both spline handles to activate them

Hold down the Alt key and drag the middle two handles to maintain the tangent symmetry

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign an angular dimension to each handle with their corresponding centerlines, as shown in the image below

Now click on each handle and assign the required handle lengths, as shown in the image below.

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Go to feature tree, click on Sketch9 and hit the Eye icon to hide it

Create a 2D Sketch on the Right Plane

Select the Right Plane from the features tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Tools > Convert Entities

Click on the existing sketch to convert it into a line, as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation

Now click on the converted line

Go to the property manager and tick the For construction checkbox

Go to: Tools > Sketch Tools > Centerline

Draw a horizontal centerline starting from the origin towards left

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the horizontal centerline and assign a length of 165mm, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Sketch Tools > Line

Draw a vertical centerline starting from the end of the horizontal centerline

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the vertical centerline and assign a length of 280mm, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Spline

Draw a two-point spline by using the upper points of the vertical lines, as shown in the image below

Click on the spline and drag on both spline handles to activate them

Click on the upper handle and choose the horizontal relation from the property manager

Hold down the CTRL key, select the vertical line of 280mm and the spline

Go to the property manager and choose the equal curvature relation, as shown in the image below

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Click on the horizontal handle and assign a handle length of 400mm

Click on the vertical handle and assign a handle length of 600mm, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Use the Project Curve Tool

Go to: Insert > Curve > Projected

Go to the property manager and select Sketch on Sketch as a projection-type

Go to the modeling area and click on Sketch9 and Sketch10

Then a projected curve is generated in yellow as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation

Create a Reference Plane (Plane2)

Go to:  Insert > Reference Geometry > Plane…

Go to the feature tree, select the right plane as a first reference

Go to the property manager and assign an offset distance of 150mm, as shown in the image below

Click OK to complete the operation

Go to feature tree, click on Surface-Loft1 and hit the Eye icon to unhide it

Create a 2D Sketch on Plane1

Select Plane1 from the Features tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Line

Draw a diagonal line as shown in the image below

Hold down the CTRL key, select Point A and the New Projected Curve

Go to the property manager and assign a Pierce relation

Hold down the CTRL key, select Point B and the Surface Edge

Go to the property manager and assign a Pierce relation, as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Go to feature tree, click on Plane2 and hit the Eye icon to unhide it

Use the Surface Loft

Go to: Insert > Surface > Loft

Go to the Property Manager > Loft > Profiles

Click on the profiles selection box

Go to the modeling area, select the surface edge (Edge<1>) and then the projected curve (Curve2)

Go to the Property Manager > Loft > Guide Curves

Click on the guide curves selection box

Go to the modeling area, select the straight line (Sketch11) as a guide curve

Leave the Start/End Constraints as default, as shown in the image below

Click OK to complete the surface loft operation

Use the Knit Surface

Go to:  Insert > Surface > Knit…

Go to the modeling area, select the two existing loft surfaces

Go to the property manager and check the Merge entities box, as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Make a Fillet

Go to: Insert > Features > Fillet/Round

Go to the property manager and click on the second icon to activate variable fillets

Go to the modeling area, select the yellow highlighted surface edge, as shown in the image below

Click on the upper unassigned fillet box and assign a variable radius 18mm

Click on the lower unassigned fillet box and assign a variable radius 2mm

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Use the Mirror Feature

Go to: Insert > Pattern/Mirror > Mirror…

Go to the property manager and click on the Mirror Face/Plane  option

Open the feature tree and select the Front plane as the mirror plane

Go to the property manager and click on the Bodies to Mirror option

Move to the modeling area and select the knitted surface body, as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Use the Thicken

Go to: Insert > Boss/ Base > Thicken

Select the existing Knitted surface as Thicken parameter from the modeling area

Go to the property manager, select the first icon as thickness type

Assign a thickness value of  5mm, as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Create a 2D Sketch on the Front Plane

Select the Front Plane from the Feature tree and click on the sketch icon

Go to: Tools > Sketch Entities > Corner Rectangle

Draw a rectangle starting from the origin

Go to: Tools > Dimensions > Smart

Assign the dimension as shown in the image below

Click on Close sketch  to close the sketch area

Make an Extrude Cut

Go to: Insert > Cut > Extrude… or click on Extrude Cut

Select the rectangular 2D sketch

Go to the Property Manager > Direction 1

Assign the extrude cut type Through All – Both, as shown in the image below

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Make another fillet

Go to: Insert > Features > Fillet/Round

Select both highlighted edges, as shown in the image below

Go to the property manager and assign a fillet radius of 2.5mm

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Make another fillet

Go to: Insert > Features > Fillet/Round

Select the flat bottom surface, as shown in the image below

Go to the property manager and assign a fillet radius  of 1mm

Click OK  to complete the operation.

Change the Appearance

Go to: PhotoView 360 > Edit Appearance…

Select Appearances (color) > Plastics > High Gloss > Red High Gloss Plastic

Double click on the Red High Gloss Plastic icon

Click OK to apply the new appearance.

Go to: View > Display

Select Shaded , Shadows In Shaded Mode  , and Ambient Occlusion (if possible)

The completed panton chair will look like the image below

Save the File again

Congratulations, you’ve just created your own Panton Chair in SOLIDWORKS!

I hope you liked this free SOLIDWORKS tutorial. Do you also want to learn an alternative way to model the Panton chair using blueprints? Then make sure to download the free eBook below.

Click here to download this free eBook (PDF).

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Thanks a million!

Jan