how would you make this?

[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_entri...irtight-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_entri...irtight-joints

It's not a lock miter, it's a common standard Danish chair joint.
Screenshot_20220223-115146_Instagram.jpg

[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
Screenshot_20220223-134732_Chrome.jpg

Screenshot_20220223-135000_Chrome.jpg

[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.
Screenshot_20220223-115146_Instagram.jpg

I 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
Screenshot_20220224-082156_Samsung Notes.jpg

[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)