Remove Herman Miller Aeron arm rests?

February 13, 2007 4:02 PM

Is it possible to remove Herman Miller Aeron arm rests?

I have a couple of these chairs and have recently started playing guitar. The arm rests get in the way when I try to play. I figure if I wrench hard enough they will come off (after loosening them all the way) but if anyone has found a good trick to removing them easily and with no/minimal chair damage please share.

Ideally I'd like to be able to take them off and put them on a few times a week.

posted by Kristan to grab bag (4 comments total)

Depends on the model of the chair. Some of them are adjustable/removable, some are not .. or at least are not made to be. Have you tried contacting the manufacturer?
posted by twiggy at 4:38 PM on February 13, 2007

On my chair, it looks like you may be able to use a hex wrench to detach the "undercarriage" piece from the back, and pull the arm out, but I haven't tried it.

For guitar, I find that if I adjust the arms all the way down, there's no left-arm elbow issue; and leaning (oneself) forward a bit, plus shoving the right chair arm to the left, gets the guitar body out of the way of the right (chair) arm. That makes it bearable, but obviously not as comfortable and flexible as we'd like.

And of course all of that depends on chair size, chair model/options, (human) body size, guitar size, etc.
posted by staggernation at 5:47 PM on February 13, 2007

I'd recommend finding a different chair/stool to use. Loosening and tightening that often isn't a good idea.
posted by FlamingBore at 5:50 PM on February 13, 2007

If you want to take the arms off permanently, you can. But it's an ordeal so it isn't going to be an on and off and on and off thing.

To take them off, you have to have the right hex drivers, then take the back off the chair. There are hex screws inside the arms that you can get to with the back off. Just unscrew those and the arms pop right off with no damage. Then replace the back and the chair is back to normal with no arms.
posted by cmm at 6:13 PM on February 13, 2007