Currently, I’m immersed in the chair build for the four dining chairs that will accompany the bench at the farmhouse table. The client chose a double X back chair that I think will compliment the table and bench well.
Most woodworkers know that within the craft there are categories of skills required to make various items. There are woodturners, cabinet makers, carvers etc. And then, there are chair makers. Even though a lot of the skills I’ve acquired in building other items translates into chairs, I’ve been very humbled by the complexity of chair making.
The major challenge in chair making is achieving good ergonomics while making an aesthetically pleasing piece of furniture. Whereas a credenza or cabinet can feature shapes and details as you see fit, in chair making, you must consider how those design details influence the functionality of the chair in a completely different way.
I started this piece by forming the back legs. To me, this is one of the most crucial parts of a chair as it establishes the angle of the back rest and has a major impact of the look of the chair. After creating the leg in a scrap piece, I used the piece to create a jig that my real pieces will ride in using a flush trim router bit to replicate the part. The same was done for the front legs as they turn outward at the bottom.
With the shaping established, I milled all of the parts square and cut to length, and then proceeded with the joinery. And boy, there are a lot of joints! I am using the festool domino to make the joints a lot easier. This really comes in handy on the side seat rails which are cut at 3.8*. Cutting those tenons at the tablesaw would be very time consuming.
Although the domino really simplified the joinery, I had to get creative with the tool to create the mortise for the back assembly. I created a 5* taper jig the domino rests on to lay the back rails back 5*. I’ll need to do the same thing to create the mortises for the XX back as those need to follow the curve of the crest rail.
Its been a lot of work, and very challenging, but I’m proud of my progress so far. I’m looking forward to seeing these done, and sitting next to the table and bench!
Whitehurst Custom Woodworking 