Local inventor has designed a chair that can do everything

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 1/17/19

Reinventing the chair might be right up there with reinventing the wheel.

But if it's got to be done, Tom Derecktor is the man to do it. This career inventor, who recently moved from Portsmouth …

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Local inventor has designed a chair that can do everything

Posted

Reinventing the chair might be right up there with reinventing the wheel.

But if it's got to be done, Tom Derecktor is the man to do it. This career inventor, who recently moved from Portsmouth to Warren and works in Bristol, holds 9 patents and has more than 35 years of experience in engineering and product development in the automotive, shipbuilding, composite structures, and marine renewable power industries.

And, he says, it's got to be done.

"I grew up as a boatbuilder, in the family business," he said. "We built everything — America's Cup boats, Coast Guard boats." He started his own company in the mid-90's, TracRac. The rack system for pickup trucks was a huge success, and he sold it to Thule in 2008. Then he became interested in renewables and launched a wind turbine servicing business, followed by a research project with Brown University where he developed hydro-kinetic energy, building pontoon vessels, and oscillating foil turbines, to make energy from moving water.

"In the course of that, I was having more and more back trouble from sitting down at my computer all day, and decided to get a standing desk," he said. "But I wasn't happy standing all day either."

There's no shortage of research suggesting that sitting all day at a desk may have some serious health implications. There are also plenty of would-be solutions on the market.

"I tried balls, kneeling desks, every last thing, and none of them solved the problem. So I figured I'd make one that would."

The earliest prototype was basically a seat attached to a standing desk that flipped up and out of the way. "It was okay," said Mr. Derecktor. "But I wanted to make it more comfortable."

So he went through about 20 more iterations.

"I can be a little obsessive at times," he admits.

His dedication has paid off with The Fehn, his solution for the standing desk, named for his friend and longtime collaborator, machinist Mike Fehn, who at age 87, is still working full time helping to fabricate his namesake product.

"We've been working together since the early 1980's," Mr. Derecktor said. "He's taught me a lot."

What makes The Fehn so different is that it really can be all things to all people. You can sit or lean in multiple positions and angles, and easily change your position by switching between the multiple foot rests.

"We spent a lot of time working with ergonomics experts, physical therapists, and medical specialists and developed a seat that would allow you to rotate your pelvis with varying tension, depending on the person," said Mr. Derecker.

The Fehn lets you flow through multiple positions while you work, so you are regularly adjusting your position, alleviating back pain, fatigue, and muscle strain. Mounted on a pivot, it frees you to rock, move, and stretch while you sit, without thinking about it.

"Sitting is not a solution, standing is not a solution, and leaning is not a solution," said Mr. Derecktor. "Moving between all those positions is the solution to being healthy and comfortable all day. that's the key….It's very unique and we think it solves a problem for everyone who sits in front of a computer. Once someone's been on it for 30 minutes, they're sold."
The Fehn is being manufactured right at Mr. Derecktor's shop on Franklin Street in Bristol. Production is currently happening at a fairly slow pace, with parts being milled from solid blocks of aluminum, the kind of low-volume machining that is ideal for product development. He hopes they will have cause to ramp up production before too long. The price is commensurately high with the time and effort going into the production of each chair, but Mr. Derecktor says it's well worth it.

"I can work all day long now with no back pain at all," he said. "You stay loose and feel great."

"There's nothing else like it out there….if there was I would have bought it."

Tom Derecktor, The Fehn

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