how would you make this?

[Bob Riefer]

My wife is interested in having me build some stools like these and I was wondering what sort of reading / video watching I should do in order to learn how to accomplish the curved backrest portion. Thanks in advance for any tips!

https://scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t45.1600-4/179810160_23848163938800290_4991118445341100513_n. jpg?stp=c0.185.526.526a_cp0_dst-jpg_p526x296_q75_spS444&_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=86c3dc&efg=eyJxZV9ncm91cHMiOlsibm9fc2FmZV9pbWFnZV9mb3JfYW RzX2ltYWdlIl19&_nc_ohc=9uJk7Z5GJvcAX8Bpcuv&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&oh=00_AT_xrcI7Vns6VrYcaxPwhcg-z_bd3EVy_o7CPEOZajdIpw&oe=621800F4

[Lee Schierer]

Most of it is pretty straight forward woodworking with mortise and tenon joints. For the back rests you will need to learn to do steam bending or thin material glue up to make the curved backs. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nG20EPk5Rk)

[Bob Riefer]

This is perfect Lee, thanks for the link to that video series!! The curved backrest would be a fun new challenge to learn, which is an important part of how I pick designs these days (to have a practical reason to learn a new skill).

[John TenEyck]

Those stools are gorgeous. I hope you build them - and let us know how you go about it.

John

[Erik Loza]

My wife's aesthetic leans toward mid-century modern. We tried out a set of chairs that were very similar in design to those (curved backrest) and went a different direction. We both found the contour and position of the backrest borderline uncomfortable after more than a few minutes. If your wife is just going off aesthetics for this selection, I would highly suggest actually sitting in one before she commits. Just my experience.

Erik

[Bob Riefer]

My wife's aesthetic leans toward mid-century modern. We tried out a set of chairs that were very similar in design to those (curved backrest) and went a different direction. We both found the contour and position of the backrest borderline uncomfortable after more than a few minutes. If your wife is just going off aesthetics for this selection, I would highly suggest actually sitting in one before she commits. Just my experience.

Erik


I suppose a key trick in this design execution will be to mockup and find the perfect angle for the back rest ahead of actually going for it. Perhaps I'll build from the seat upwards out of cheap materials as a first / test step.

[Erik Loza]

I suppose a key trick in this design execution will be to mockup and find the perfect angle for the back rest ahead of actually going for it. Perhaps I'll build from the seat upwards out of cheap materials as a first / test step.

That's a smart idea.

Erik

[Lee Schierer]

I suppose a key trick in this design execution will be to mockup and find the perfect angle for the back rest ahead of actually going for it. Perhaps I'll build from the seat upwards out of cheap materials as a first / test step.

One other area for concern is the joint between the curved back rests and the support piece. That is going to be a face grain to end grain joint so mortise and tenon would be a wise choice for that joint as well. You are probably going to want the leg and the arm rest support piece to be one continuous piece of wood.

[Bob Riefer]

Good advice there!! Thanks Lee!!

[Edwin Santos]

First off, beautiful seat. I sincerely hope you take it on.

Not sure if I'm being humble, honest or stupid here, but a piece like this would not be straightforward for me.
Without an actual working sample available, sorting out the angles and relationships properly will take a bit of doing, maybe a few mock-up iterations. Most important would be the seat angle and its relationship to the angle of the back. Many people will sit far enough forward at a bar to not be leaning against the back, but for those that do, you want it to be comfortable. It also looks like some complexity in the joinery of the multiple pieces that form the back and the main back leg pieces. The manufacturer used finger joints, but as a non-factory woodworker there are other ways to do it that you might try. I do not think any parts have been bent, I think they are sawing all curves which is why the pieces need to be smaller to minimize waste and subsequently joined. The good news is plenty of photos are available. They offer downloadable CAD files which are usually intended for designers not builders, but if you have access to CAD you can try and see if they are helpful.

Good luck, and if you take them on, please share. Thanks for sharing this designer, some of their other pieces in the collection are superb.

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[Bob Riefer]

Very interesting, thanks for those close-ups.


My initial thought on the curved back was to glue up a shallow v-shaped series of 8/4 blocks, and then resaw the curve shape from that. Does that make sense? Could it work? Would it be strong enough?


If I went that route, I would oversize so that the point where back rest meets arm rest has enough "play" for me to sneak up on the angle for that joint. Then carve the joint to blend it.

[Jared Sankovich]

Very interesting, thanks for those close-ups.


My initial thought on the curved back was to glue up a shallow v-shaped series of 8/4 blocks, and then resaw the curve shape from that. Does that make sense? Could it work? Would it be strong enough?


If I went that route, I would oversize so that the point where back rest meets arm rest has enough "play" for me to sneak up on the angle for that joint. Then carve the joint to blend it.

That is how the back above was done. Follow the path of the finger joint, it bisects the curve.

[Erik Loza]

More of an opinion than anything else: The finger joints make the whole chair look cheap to me. Maybe because every time I see a finger joint, it's the cheapest of cheap framing studs or Ikea furniture. The original MCM designs I saw were either bent-lam or machined from a solid piece.

Erik

[Jared Sankovich]

More of an opinion than anything else: The finger joints make the whole chair look cheap to me. Maybe because every time I see a finger joint, it's the cheapest of cheap framing studs or Ikea furniture. The original MCM designs I saw were either bent-lam or machined from a solid piece.

Erik

The Danish use a longer finger joint, that does look "better" but it's still a finger joint.
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[Erik Loza]

The Danish use a longer finger joint, that does look "better" but it's still a finger joint.

That finger joint is a whole lot less ugly than the one I'm used to seeing. By the way, in case anyone is curious, that Brazilian place is almost certainly using a 5-axis CNC router to crank those parts out. That's the only way to economically do that at scale.

Erik

[Bob Riefer]

That is how the back above was done. Follow the path of the finger joint, it bisects the curve.


I can skip the finger joint I think, right? If I face-glued enough blocks together to achieve adequate width and thickness to enable the curved shape cutting... leave myself enough extra to fiddle with the connection point to the upper leg/arm rest area so that I can achieve optimal angle for comfort... maybe that connection is made via dowel or domino.

Am I thinking about this sensibly? Just building 2 of these, so efficiency isn't a concern in my slow-as-snail workshop :)

[Rich Engelhardt]

The finger joints make the whole chair look cheap to me. Except - those aren't really finger joints.
Until I saw them close up - I too thought they were.

That joint is made with a lock miter bit - which appear to be used to make stacked cuts - which takes that joint to a whole new level of crazy.

https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/mastering-the-lock-miter-simple-steps-for-airtight-joints

[Carl Beckett]

I think if I was making these I would look at some of the maloof rocker joinery techniques.

[Jared Sankovich]

Except - those aren't really finger joints.
Until I saw them close up - I too thought they were.

That joint is made with a lock miter bit - which appear to be used to make stacked cuts - which takes that joint to a whole new level of crazy.

https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/mastering-the-lock-miter-simple-steps-for-airtight-joints

It's not a lock miter, it's a common standard Danish chair joint.
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[Rich Engelhardt]

It's not a lock miter, it's a common standard Danish chair joint.I don't doubt you that it what it is in the picture you linked to - but - those joints in the pictures that Edwin links to are different.

[Jared Sankovich]

I don't doubt you that it what it is in the picture you linked to - but - those joints in the pictures that Edwin links to are different.

Those are standard finger joints
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[Greg Funk]

I don't doubt you that it what it is in the picture you linked to - but - those joints in the pictures that Edwin links to are different.The finger joints are made and then the back is contoured. It's the contours on the back that make the joint look strange. If you look at the joints on the inside of the back they look like standard finger joints.

[Greg Funk]

It's not a lock miter, it's a common standard Danish chair joint.
474514I have a head like that and it always scares me running it. Sounds like a jet engine. Definitely not relaxing.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I guess I'll just defer to those with more hands on in this matter.

[Alex Zeller]

I think if it was me I might just get some wide boards and stack/ glue them. There's going to be more wood wasted vs the "finger" joint but for a few chairs it's not going to be that big of a deal. As long as you pay attention to matching the color of the wood chances are you're not going to even see it.

[Jared Sankovich]

I think if it was me I might just get some wide boards and stack/ glue them. There's going to be more wood wasted vs the "finger" joint but for a few chairs it's not going to be that big of a deal. As long as you pay attention to matching the color of the wood chances are you're not going to even see it.

The arms would be all short grain if you just face glued a stack of boards and cut out the shape.

[Bob Riefer]

The arms would be all short grain if you just face glued a stack of boards and cut out the shape.

Tell me more about this please... Because the approach I have been asking about throughout this thread is the "stack and shape cut" approach, but my concern was "will it be strong enough" because I was wondering if chunks might break off once the shape was cut. It's hard for me to explain what I mean... like if you have a pine board and cut a triangle shape... any corners that are perpendicular to the grain direction will be strong, whereas any corners parallel to the grain can be broken off with your hand strength. Does that make sense? Is that what you mean by "short grain"?


Edit: And how does the finger joint approach (or similar) get around this problem?

[Jared Sankovich]

Tell me more about this please... Because the approach I have been asking about throughout this thread is the "stack and shape cut" approach, but my concern was "will it be strong enough" because I was wondering if chunks might break off once the shape was cut. It's hard for me to explain what I mean... like if you have a pine board and cut a triangle shape... any corners that are perpendicular to the grain direction will be strong, whereas any corners parallel to the grain can be broken off with your hand strength. Does that make sense? Is that what you mean by "short grain"?


Edit: And how does the finger joint approach (or similar) get around this problem?

Hopefully this helps explain. The finger joints allow butt joints (which become long grain joints because of the finger angles) and for thr grain to follow (relatively speaking) the curve of the back/arms.

Ugly phone drawing
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[Bob Riefer]

Yes! That helps a lot, thank you. So the name of the game in this style would be to fit the pieces end to end with enough angle built into each connection to create rough shape that can then be shape cut.

[Myles Moran]

I suppose a key trick in this design execution will be to mockup and find the perfect angle for the back rest ahead of actually going for it. Perhaps I'll build from the seat upwards out of cheap materials as a first / test step.

A few notes when I did my chairs. I sloped the seat 1/2" lower in the back than the front. This feels fairly formal and upright. Similarly, the back is angled at 10°. That is less formal than the seat, but I'd say like 7° would be more on par with the 1/2" of the seat. These look like 3/4" or more of seat slope, so keeping that will make them really comfortable.

Finally, I did 4 back slats so the spine falls between them and you're resting on skin and softer tissue instead of bone against wood. I'd recommend playing around a lot with the curve of this back to try and achieve something similar. The height varies by person, but those look like they're right in the lumbar region of the back, so they'll get plenty of use (that's the only thing touching the back of my chairs a good portion of the time)

[Tom Bender]

Chairs are fun! I have made a few from designs out of my head. I suggest making a complete mockup and modifying it till it's right. This may mean some brutal slashing, replacing parts and slapping on some dutchmen. Then when the dimensions are close enough you may want to make a better mockup to get your method and finish right. This mockup can be less than perfect and banished to the garage.

A chair must not fail when your huge uncle sits in it.

Some cushioning may be needed for a long sit, or if, like me you are not equipped to sit on a hard chair for long.

Take your time and persevere

[Bob Riefer]

Thanks Tom! I think I'm going to talk to Scott Morrison about some of his plans because I had a great experience adapting one of his other DVD's for a Maloof-inspired bench recently. He has some curve back chairs that I think I could use to help me through the learning process... I'll post more soon! :)