Wheelchairs for a Small World

[Caption: Alexandra Jefferds holding pipe cleaner wheelchair rider, "Elbowhead."] I've been making miniature wheelchairs for as long as I can remember. The earliest were flimsy things made out of cardboard and tape, and I was never satisfied with them. It was five or six years ago that I finally found the skill and materials to build models that a person would actually find useful if he or she were Lilliputian. My chairs are all 1:12" scale, which is the standard for dollhouses. I build the frames out of 1/16, 3/32, and 1/8 inch aluminum tubing that I buy in one-foot segments at Kit & Caboodle, a local hobby supply shop.

[Caption: Elbowhead, with little sister "Buffalo," in a child's chair.] The various other types of hardware can also be found on K&C's model train equipment rack. For example, forks for wheelchair front casters are usually made out of these amazingly useful parts known as Quick Snaps. (I have no idea what train hobbyists use them for.) The chair upholstery is black plastic tape (similar to electric tape), and I paint the aluminum frames with nail polish. And the wheels? Ah, my life was saved by the Playmobil toy company whose large carriage wheels are perfect for my purposes, and at the replacement part rate of 50 cents each, the price can't be beat.

I usually build along the lines of traditional sport wheelchair designs a la Quickie and Invacare/Action, but lately I have also been experimenting with some of Whirlwind's new developments such as the levers that raise the seat relative to the wheels.

Assembly of miniature wheelchairs with pipe cleaner and Star Trek riders.

All of the dollhouse inhabitants will be with me at the University of Pittsburgh this fall, where I will be studying biomedical engineering. While there, I will make a point of working in Professor Rory Cooper's wheelchair testing lab. I hope to design and build wheelchairs as a career. Photos of all my miniature wheelchairs can be found on my Website - http://www.kesafloyd.com/modelchairs.html.

About the author: Alexandra Jefferds is a 2003 Albany (CA) high school graduate and presently a student at the University of Pittsburgh. She completed the Whirlwind wheelchair-building class at SFSU in 2002 and returned the following term as skilled teaching assistant to Ralf Hotchkiss.

Photos by Ralf Hotchkiss

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