Prototype chair

[Jeff Wittrock]

I've been playing around with different styles of simple, light, chairs.
Kind of reinventing/copying the wheel, but it is fun to just toy around with different shapes especially ones that I can work on using my spoke shaves.

I have been using southern yellow pine as I don't like the idea of spending too much on something that may well not work out.
Its fun being able to perform much of the shaping of the arms and back after assembly. The radius between the arms and legs is too tight for my curve bottom spokeshave, so used a microplane and rasps in those areas, but still enjoyable.

Southern yellow pine isn't so fun to work. Maybe it's just me, but the huge variation in density between the early/late wood makes it harder to shape using chisel and knife. Despite that, it was a fun project and is a usable chair even if I don't care much for the face grain areas.

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[Mike King]

Nice sculptural elements. Have you tried a travisher and scorp rather than a chisel and knife?

Mike

[William Fretwell]

Visually very effective in SYP. How long to make a chair?

[ken hatch]

Jeff,

Very interesting and nice work on the SYP.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

One of my wishes is that SYP would show up in the Pacific Northwest.

It is a nice looking design and has some features reminiscent of a captain's chair.

jtk

[ken hatch]

One of my wishes is that SYP would show up in the Pacific Northwest.

It is a nice looking design and has some features reminiscent of a captain's chair.

jtk

Jim,

Ain’t going to happen ��, Several years ago I built a SYP bench and the nearest source was Houston. What I would love is some old growth DF.

ken

[Derek Cohen]

https://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=396144&d=1541466909

Jeff, that is very nice work. It is far more challenging that many realise.

The design looks to be based on Hans Wegner's "Round Chair" or "The Chair". I made this one in 2014 ...

Alongside an original chair. Which is which :) ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/WeavingSeatCompletingTheChair_html_m1a3cedf0.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Michael Roberts]

That is hands down the most beautiful piece of SYP furniture I’ve seen. Well done.

[Hasin Haroon]

Stunning work, very inspirational.

[lowell holmes]

I am impressed. :)

[Bruce Haugen]

Very nice. It might be light, but having made a few chairs, I know from experience there’s nothing simple about your chair. Good work!

[Jeff Wittrock]

Thanks all for the kind words.

Derek,

I have always loved "The Chair" and it is was indeed my guide here. I think your build is just lovely. Which one is orginal? I'm guessing Hans Wegner never considered Jarrah :).
I wanted to adapt it to a solid seat. I tried moving the side rails down under the seat to allow the through tenons for the front and rear rails and to try and hide them to give a lighter appearance.
In the end, I'm not so sure I really liked it this way.

I also considered forgoing rails altogether and using faired joints between the legs and seat (Maloof joint) but could easily see my 5/8" quarter-sawn/laminated SYP splitting right down the center when the kids jump on it.
I think on the next pass, I may just try it though. I'll leave it thicker in the center underneath and tapered down at the edges so it still looks thin.

-Jeff

[Jeff Wittrock]

Mike,
Making a travisher is on my list.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Jeff,

Beautiful work. I quite like the side rails recessed under the seat, especially since you went with a solid seat and floated that ever so slightly away from the legs. All together, it certainly lends to a sense of lightness and grace. It may actually be one of my favorite variations of “the chair” that I have seen. Certainly a noteworthy one.

-Andrew

[David Eisenhauer]

Very nice work on a beautiful chair Ken. I wish my through mortise work was half as pretty as yours. I have been slowly using up my leftover-from-a-workbench-build-SYP for a while now, but will confess I never thought of a chair. And certainly not a work of art that you have produced. Good stuff.

[Brian AdamsMS]

Beautiful chair, I love the subtle curves of the piece.

As for SYP, Im in central Mississippi and we are surrounded by it. Of the cheapest, easiest to source is at the big box stores. Usually the 2x4 construction material with the pink mold resist sprayed on it. Just have to look at the stamping from the mill for the 'SYP'. Around here less than $2 for an 8 foot piece. I have planed my fair share of the pink stuff off.

[Mark Gibney]

I love that chair. Great work. The solid seat is very attractive.

Did you have a Wagner chair take measurements from, or did you work off a drawing you made?

About SYP - I've never seen it in person or handled it. To me it looks almost indistinguishable from doug fir. Are they similar?

[Tom Bender]

As Brian says "cheap construction lumber". Huge annual growth and very soft vs hard in every ring makes it a pain to work with. And it's very unstable. If it's not available in your area, trust me, you are not missing out on furniture wood.

And yes those are some beautiful chairs.