Work in Process - Office Chair

[Mike Henderson]

Here's a project I'm working on right now - an office chair. Actually, I'm building two office chairs, one for me and one for my wife. The wood is cherry, with poplar in the places you won't see it. The finish is sprayed lacquer, which I still need to rub out to get a high shine.

I carved a volute in the arms and on the top of the backs, just to try to make the chair a bit more interesting (what can you do with an office chair?)

I still have to put the upholstery on, once my wife chooses the fabric. The back will have padding in the cavity formed by the wood and the strapping. I'm going to try to put a bit more padding in the lower part of the back just to provide more back support - have to see how that works out. The seat will have the upholstry going over the whole seat and attached on the front and sides, about half way down.

Once I finish both chairs, I'll post pictures of the completed chairs.

Mike

[Ken Garlock]

Very nice work, Mike. The attention to the carved detail makes the entire chair special. I'm looking forward to the completed work.

[Jim Becker]

Wow! Those really look "substantial" and have a great unique design. Bravo!

[jonathan snyder]

Very nice Mike. Are the arms mortised into the back rails? It's hard to tell from the picture, it looks like one piece.

Jonathan

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice Mike. Are the arms mortised into the back rails? It's hard to tell from the picture, it looks like one piece.

Jonathan
Well, you might consider it a loose tenon. I used a piece of 3/4 inch dowel to attach them to the back rails - same for attaching the arms to the front supports. It's regular contemporary style construction - something Maloof would do (except he uses a screw as the dowel).

Another construction thing is how I hid the joinery for the front part of the seat into the sides. I used big finger joints to connect the poplar pieces (two fingers on each piece), and then put a "veneer" of 1/4 inch cherry over the poplar, with miters in the corners. The front "veneer" is actually curved so it is thicker in the center (1 inch), but 1/4 inch where it meets the sides. I was going for "hidden joinery" which is why I didn't use a screw to attach the arms, like Maloof, because then you have to put a plug over the screw.

Also note the fillets (or coves) on the arm supports to blend them into the seat side. I though that was a good design element.

Shaping the arms was a lot of work. I used rasps to work down a piece of 8/4 cherry into the shape for the arms. Since I'm making two chairs, I had four arms to do, which added up to a lot of physical exercise. Likewise shaping the bottom of the arms to blend into the arm supports.

Regarding Jim's comment about the chair being "substantial" - remember that half the wood on the back and the on front and sides of the seat will be covered by the upholstery. I think (hope) that once the upholstery is applied, it won't look so clunky - but it'll never be a delicate chair.

Mike

[jonathan snyder]

Mike,

Very nice joinery! Thanks for the extra pics. Lots of rasp work, but worth the effort.

Jonathan

[Ken Werner]

Very nice Mike. Great projects. I like all the shaping you've done.
Ken

[Zahid Naqvi]

Hey Mike, nice Maloofesque work on the joinery.

[Dave Ray]

Very nice chairs, Mike. I heard and read that building a chair is one of the biggest challenges in wooodworking. Looks to me that you more than met the challenge. That time spent rasping (is that a word?) really paid off. Thanks for additional pic's, please send more when completed.

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice chairs, Mike. I heard and read that building a chair is one of the biggest challenges in wooodworking. Looks to me that you more than met the challenge. That time spent rasping (is that a word?) really paid off. Thanks for additional pic's, please send more when completed.
While building a chair involves more angles than most woodworking, the skills and techniques are within the abilities of every experienced woodworker. The part that's really hard, to me, is the design - trying to come up with a visually pleasing chair that also works. People who design for a living, like Mark Singer and other architects on this board, have my real respect.

It's especially hard to do something new with a chair because the design is so constrained. The size and shape is pretty well fixed, and people have been building chairs for a lot of years so the field has been plowed quite a bit. Coming up with something new, and attractive, is really difficult (at least it is for me).

Mike

[Matt Bickford]

Mike,
What is the progression of gouges that you used to set in the volutes? What is the Diameter at its widest? I really like their entire shape.
Matt

[Mike Henderson]

Mike,
What is the progression of gouges that you used to set in the volutes? What is the Diameter at its widest? I really like their entire shape.
Matt
I drew the volute by hand, in pencil. I didn't get what I wanted the first time but erased and kept drawing until I had a shape that I liked. Then, I take a #2/5 gouge and begin making plunge cuts along the line. When the #2 is too flat, I go to a #3/5 and eventually a #5/5. Then, using a #2/10, I began angle cutting into the plunge cuts to begin shaping the volute. As I carve, I may need to do the plunge cuts again to deepen the cut. As I move towards the inside, I'll switch to a #2/5. On the far inside, close to the eye, I'll use a #3/5 or even a #5/5 to waste the wood. The reason I need to go to a gouge with more of a curve is the very tight curve of the volute - a flat gouge will not allow me to cut the shape correctly.

I just keep working the cuts until it looks good to me. To finish it, I lightly sand to remove the tool marks.

The carving is all in how it looks. I carve, look at it, then make adjustments. Also, the exact cut depends on the grain of the wood and how it's cutting. If the grain is going into the surface, you need to cut with the grain or the wood will split out on you - so sometimes my cuts are not exactly as I described above.

Volutes are really not hard to carve. If you've never done one, use some scrap and make one or two before you carve the work.

Mike