Okay, I promised Mark

[Stephen Stokes]

Here is the chair that Mark referred to in his response to my post about visiting him. I made this chair for my neice for her wedding. It is not a design of mine, rather a copy of the famous Maloof chair. I will take more detailed pictures as I finish the 2nd chair that I am making for my wife. I started two at the same time, in case I messed one up I could still finish the one for as a wedding gift!

I used the pictures from Maloof's books and made full size sketches from there. Maloof's will always have a better line, but I think I did okay?! :confused: What do you think??

[jonathan snyder]

I think you did a fine job!! That is awesome.

Jonathan

[Tom Cowie]

Anyone that can build chairs to this quality is a pro on my list..

Great job!!

Tom

[Jack Ferrell]

It's easy to see why Mark was impressed with your work. I certainly am.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stephen..........It's hard to argue with Mark! And why would anyone want to?..........Nicely done chair! Excellent!

[John Grossi]

Stephen, I think you just wanted us to see that beautiful lawn! Seriously, outstanding job on that chair. I would put you in the "fine craftsman" category. Being pretty new to this woodworking hobby, could you explain how you approached this project, the time involved, type of wood used. I am guessing a lot of it was hand carved. Again, excellent work.

[Brian Penning]

I'm a big fan of Maloof and it looks like you did a fantastic job.
What kind of wood?

[Aaron Beaver]

Awesome work, just a great looking chair.

[Roy McQuay]

That is beautiful. I hope I live long enough to do work like that.

[Don Bullock]

Anyone that can build chairs to this quality is a pro on my list..

Great job!!

Tom

Tom, I fully agree!! It also takes a lot of talent to build chairs that look this good.


Stephen, that chair is beautiful. Your lines are very smooth and your use of the grain pattern are excellent. I'm sure your daughter will cherish her new chair. I will be interested in seeing the detail work as you share your wife's chair.

[Roy Wall]

Stephen,

Welcome to SMC! Your chair is beautiful .

I'd like to know more about the joint details for the seat (front / back).

Great stuff!

[Peter Pedisich]

Stephen, thats a great looking chair.
Thanks for sharing.

Pete

[Frank Snyder]

Very impressive! How many hours did this project take you?

[Rich Torino]

Just wonderful work. My hat's off to anyone who makes chairs...

[Alan Greene]

Great job on the chair. Your niece will be proud to use it during her wedding.

[John Shuk]

That is a wonderful chair.

[Mike Heidrick]

Great chair. Looks beautiful.

BUT

Wedding present - two people get married - one chair? Doubt they will use it as an actual chair anyway - too beautiful for that.

[Zahid Naqvi]

You did better than ok, you did a wondeful job.

[Joe Jensen]

Here is the chair that Mark referred to in his response to my post about visiting him. I made this chair for my neice for her wedding. It is not a design of mine, rather a copy of the famous Maloof chair. I will take more detailed pictures as I finish the 2nd chair that I am making for my wife. I started two at the same time, in case I messed one up I could still finish the one for as a wedding gift!

I used the pictures from Maloof's books and made full size sketches from there. Maloof's will always have a better line, but I think I did okay?! :confused: What do you think??

I love them. I've always wanted to build them but I've been intimidated. How long do you think it would take to build a set of 8?

[Kyle Stiefel]

What a wonderful gift, I am sure they will treasure it!

[Jim Becker]

Wonderful work!

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Beautiful work, Stephen. What comes to mind is what an elderly neighbor used as a compliment, "Ain't no flies gonna sit on that." :p

[Hans Braul]

I have been trying to work up the courage to make my first chair. You are inspiring me. Wonderful work, beautiful wood, great craftsmanship and an eye for form.

Well done!

Hans Braul

[Stephen Stokes]

:) :) Thank you all for your kind comments!

I can not remember the exact details of how long it took to build the chair. That being said, I could probably go faster on my next one. The chair is made of cherry. I started with 12/4 cherry. I started with the Maloof books and sketched a full size drawing by eye and a lot of measurements of existing chairs. My wife sit in a lot of chairs that I measured to get the proporstions correct. Especially the arms. I was very concerned that the back of the arms would interfere with the elbow. In the end, I was able to work out the proportions to prevent the elbow from hitting the arm when resting.

As for time to build. It would be a guess, but I think around 200 hours. I used the Maloof style joint to join the legs to the seat. The seat was drawn by feel. I used proportions of chairs that we use regularly. The shaping was done with an angle grinder with 34 grit sandpaper, dremel, rasps, random orbital sanders and a power carver.

The key to making work like this is breaking it down into managable steps. All projects can seem overwhelming when you start, but when you break it down into doable steps, it just becomes a series of tasks. Think of building a house, it is overwhelming, but when you break it down into the trades it becomes much more managable. Projects such as chairs are no different.

Thank you again for your kind comments. I hope to finish the second chair this summer. I will post pictures as I complete it.

S Stokes