My first chair

There are a few particular projects that I believe every fine furniture maker needs to design and craft at some point, the two that come most immediately to mind are a music stand and a chair. All of my favorite makers have done this and so I felt that I ought to begin my process. A few months ago I made the music stand and it came out great -- so I felt ready to step it up. The chair unlike the music strand needs to not only be functional and beautiful, it needs to be comfortable.

I bought and studied dozens of books on chairs and spent a couple of years planning and strategizing, then finally began the build a few months ago. After laying out my principles and intentions, I made dozens of designs, lots of models, and a few cardboard prototypes. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic and scarcity of resources, I couldn't make a plywood prototype. But also, because the design had all these bent elements -- it seemed like more work to build a prototype than just build the chair. So I just built the chair and figured if it all went south, I could use the bent elements for a table or stool or something. The experience was riddled with a multitude of the challenges, experiments, and discoveries -- but ultimately it came out pretty much exactly like I had drawn it months earlier and much more comfortable than I predicted it would. Not a bad work for a first chair. Walnut. Maple. Leather.

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THAT is a chair that should make you proud! Thanks for sharing,

That's a complex piece for a first chair - lots of bending. You did a great job on it. Congratulations!

Mike

lovely design and execution!

Oh that is just lovely. What a beautiful shape and execution. Well done indeed.

But tell me more about the leather. It looks like there are bent laminations under the leather and the leather looks padded. How did you do that?

John

Man, if that's your first effort, I'd love to see some of your other work! That chair looks great!

Indeed -- The whole chair is bent laminations. For the cushions I cut plywood to the shape and length needed for each slat, then cut kerfs for the pieces to bend. They were then covered with padding/foam and leather. Then glued onto bent lamination slats. Easiest part of the process and most satisfying.

This chair took a very long time. Just bending all the parts took about 3 weeks because I was too lazy to bother making multiple bending forms. By the time I finally got around to the cushions, I just wanted the experience to be over.

You should be very proud.looks great.

Very well done! Given the size of the arm bends, those had to have been challenging to get set up and clamped. I think the best part is that the chair is YOUR design. Nice functional piece and artfully done.

That is truly a work of art! Everything works together perfectly. How are the leather covered slats attached to the frame?

It is an art piece. Very elegant with the contrasting materials and shapes. I also like the garden in the background. Looks equally inspirational and a proper setting for the chair. Thanks for sharing.

OUTSTANDING!! beautiful design and execution. Really well done Ollie.

That's good work! Looking forward to your next project!

Kudos! Nice lines and craftsmanship. A real looker.

Unique, stylish, and looks comfortable!

Truly beautiful...you sure that's a first time effort? Wow!

A beautiful result. Overcoming all those bending challenges paid of in spades.

Thanks everyone. Appreciate all of the support and kind words.

That is phenomenal work.

Impressive job! It would be nice to see the construction photos.

I don’t know how I missed this post.
Really nice design with excellent work.
Thanks for Sharing

I'm late to the party too, but that is a beautiful chair. Congrats!

Nice work. I'm curious as to what's going on at the intersections where the substructures meet. Visually it looks very delicate, almost as if the seat is levitating.

Simply gorgeous! Words can't express all that is behind the design and build. Congratulations!

How'd I miss this? That's a lovely piece of furniture! I have also been that guy that wants to take the dive into making a chair but I am very nervous. I've sketched things up but still just haven't been confident enough to take the dive. I'm very impressed with this one and can only hope that mine turns out 1/10th as good as this project. Very impressive work!!

Way late to the post as well. Beautiful chair. Love the design and very nice work.

high class work! Don't think I will try one

wow...:eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnny means

Nice work. I'm curious as to what's going on at the intersections where the substructures meet. Visually it looks very delicate, almost as if the seat is levitating.

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Not entirely sure what you mean by substructures. Do you mean where the maple slats meet the walnut rails or the where the rails meet the arms? Each of the slats is connected to the rails with two 8 x 40 mm dominoes on each side -- so four dominoes on each side. Definitely a lot of strength there. The arms are connected to the rails with a sort of maloof style/bridal-like joint with a couple of rather long angled screws in each joint. I did a lot of bouncing and wiggling in the chair and it's all held quite well. Even before gluing up, I was surprised by how well the dry fit support my weight, just with a few clamps. I was sure nervous sitting in it with clamps for the dry fit, but it was great.

I think the levitating illusion might be because of the maple underneath the leather cushions? In any case, thank you for the kind words.