Building chairs: just the thought of it brings out a certain uneasiness in many woodworkers. At first, the curved back leg and back slats may seem a little intimidating. But they’re fairly easy to cut by using a template to rough out the shape on a band saw. Then you can use the same template to smooth them on a router table. Woodworking is not the only challenge when building a chair. You also have to upholster the seat and this plan includes step-by-step directions to help you. But the thing I like most about this chair is sitting in it. The curved back fits a body’s shape nicely. And it’s a comfortable angle — straight enough for eating, yet comfortable for sitting. These chairs have a matching table. See the Dining Table plan. 11 pages of step-by-step instructions 60 full-color photos and illustrations Cutting diagrams and materials list Patterns for the curved parts Shop-tested guarantee from the editors of Woodsmith magazine 17 3/16"W x 18 3/4"D x 38"H
This Woodsmith Plan is a downloadable PDF file that you save to your computer after you complete your order.1×6 @ 3 feet long 1 – 2×2 @ 8 feet long 1 – 1×4 @6 feet long 1 – 1×2 @ 8 feet long 1 – 2×4 @ stud or 8 feet length 1 – 1/2″ scrap plywood for seat top, 19″ x 19″ 1 yard of fabric 1 piece of foam, 19″ x 19″ 1″ thick 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws 2 – 2×4 @ 38 1/4″ (Chair back legs) 2 – 1×4 @ 17 1/2″ (Side Aprons) 2 – 2×2 @ 17 1/4″ (Front Legs) 2 – 1×4 @ 16″ (Front/Back Aprons) 4 – 2×2 @ 4″ (Supports – both ends cut at 45 degrees off square, NOT parallel to each other) 1 – 1×2 @ 16″ (Seat Back Top) 2 – 1×6 @ 16″ (Seat Back) 2 – 1×2 @ 19″ (Longest point, one end cut at 8 degrees off square) 1 – 1×2 @ 16 3/4″ (Center Support) 1/2″ plywood @ 19″ x 19″ (Seat top) If you follow these steps carefully, you can cut back legs that are straight and symmetrically to each other.
Mark the legs as shown in the diagram. The front – where the chair leg connects to the side aprons – needs to be cut in 1/4″ to account for rounded edges on 2x4s. The goal is to make as many cuts as possible with a circular saw, but you will need to finish inside cuts on the back with a jigsaw. Follow the diagram above carefully. I advise taking the scrap piece of 2×4 and cutting a leg first from it to get some practice. Once your legs are cut, lay them together, and check to make sure that the top, bottom and front sides all match. The other parts are not as significant. Sand your cuts smooth. Attach the side aprons to the back legs, flush to the bottom of the front cuts on your chair back legs. Make sure the two leg pieces still match up – if not, your chair is going to be crooked! Attach the front legs to the side aprons as shown above. The tops are flush, and your chair part should match up at this point. Attach the front and back aprons, carefully predrilling.
I used pocket hole screws and glue. The cross supports will not only add strength to your chair, but it gives you something to screw your seat to. Attach the seat back top as shown above. I used pocket holes from the back but you can also use predrilled screws from the legs. Attach as shown above. The base supports will add considerable strength to your chairs. Attach the base center to the sides as shown in the diagram above. Spray glue the seat cushion to the seat top plywood. Lay fabric facedown on table with seat top on top of fabric, foam side down. Staple fabric carefully to the underside of the chair, tucking corners neatly. Use 2″ screws to attach the seat to the cross supports or use pocket hole screws. This chair was painted with Valspar Antique White in Flat Enamel, three coats. A top coat (Valspar satin finish poly) was added. The fabric is from Joanns, and is part of the Home Decorator’s 45″ wide fabric, and was on sale for $5 a yard.
For a foam pad, I used a discarded chair pad cut to size. Total cost of this chair was under $20. Last week I showed the creation of the Back Slats for this classic 18th C Ladder Back Chair. This week I’ll back-track and show how I started the modeling of the chair. First I need to give credit to Lester Margon who masterfully captured this design in his book “More American Furniture Treasures”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used his drawings for reproductions in my home. His drawings are exquisite and, I think, beautiful art. I scanned Lester’s drawing and imported “as an image” into SketchUp. As I’ve explained before, I adjust the scanned image so that it is perfectly aligned with SketchUp’s axes, and also scale to full-size. Then I use the scanned image as a background for shaping and sizing components. Using the Line and Arc Tools, I draw over the boundaries of the various pieces of the chair. These sketch-overs produce flat planes that I copy over to a blank part of SketchUp for embellishment with the 3rd dimension and other details.
The first component that I create is the Back Post, and here are the steps that I used. But first I’ll show an orthographic drawing showing the front, side and top views. (I’ve made this orthographic from three copies of the overall chair, each copy rotated appropriately, then displayed with parallel projection. Step 1: By tracing over the Margon drawing, I create the half-shape of the turned Back Post. For turnings, I always extend the centerline beyond the two ends of the component. These extensions help position and dimension the components later in the process. I find that it helps to make the circle path by first running the radius in the red axis direction, which is aligned with the plane back post shape. I also placed a cut mark at the “knee” of the back post. This knee will be the location for the start of the bend backward for the upper section. Step 2: After doing the Follow me, I made some additional cut marks in the upper taper section. At these points I’ve indicated a radius dimension to help me in the turning process.
At these locations I will use the parting tool and calipers. Step 3: I make a full-size template of the finial portion of the Back Post. This I will use to mark out the intricate cuts on the lathe. I like to use X-ray when making templates so I can see the centerline for helping with the template cutting process. Step 4: Now I’m going to cheat a little bit. The Back Post is a “bent” shape to produce a slight cant with a 5/8″ offset from perpendicular. This will be a steam bend on an arc shape, but in SketchUp I will simplify by rotating at the “knee” in a straight line. I select the upper half of the back post and grab the Rotate Tool. I obtain the correct orientation of the Rotate Tool (green axis my case) and place on the centerpoint of the knee (visible in X-ray view). Then I rotate the upper tapered section 2.3 degrees. There are ways to do this tapered bend on an arc and Dave Richards has sent me a solution which involves a special plug-in. Perhaps we’ll show this method in a later post.