24 Feb, 2021, Oakland, CA
I’m happy with how these funky little Oak chairs turned out.
I began this project last summer because I had acquired and refurbished an equally funky Oak table with sleek steel legs and put it in my kitchen. I kept the chairs from our old craftsman-style dining set. The combination looked terrible.
Candidly, I only half thought through what I was doing interior-design-wise, half wanted an excuse to make my own damn chairs because COVID shut-down was in full effect and I needed to have something (read: anything) I could control.
When I started researching how to make a chair, Google dished up this gem[1] which appealed to me because of its apparent simplicity and approachability. Here is the hook:
In this video I’m making a chair from two oak 1×4’s. I don’t own a jointer or a planer, so I wanted to find an easier way to make a chair from pre-milled lumber from the local home improvement store.
I too have no jointer, no planer, but do have a jumbo Home Depot[2] nearby. I paid twenty bucks for the plans[2] and started mulling over how I would adapt these little beauties to make them my own. I paid no mind to the hardships that come with abandoning rectilinear designs. I bought all the lumber required and a cheap bandsaw, cut most of the parts to final, and started hand-chopping mortises with $65 worth of sweet new Narex chisels from Amazon[2]. At this point (and after an unpleasant few days of Narex slices to my thumb and index finger – always break the edges), a series of life events caused me to push the project to the side.
It began with garden-variety life distractions (a vacation, I think), quickly followed by a serious shoulder injury, then a more serious sailor’s dive into the formal study of woodworking that quickly made me realize what I hack I was (am?). From there I prioritized a dozen or so shop improvements and skill-acquisition projects.
Finally, ten or so months into that cycle, I ambitiously pulled a bin containing the bell bottom chair project from the crawlspace and carefully laid out the parts, plans, and notes from so long ago. Right after that, I took off my apron, went upstairs to see my family, and spend some time thinking on whether or not this was the direction I was meant to go. I’m happy to report that I decided that it was, and that I have some cool chairs to show for it.
Ok, that is certainly too much set up. Notes on the pieces and design follow forthwith:
Lessons learned:
- I’ve come to appreciate contemporary opinions that ¾” stock is too thick to be fine and too thin to be thick.
- Future iterations (should they come) will have more subtle flourishes. Despite my instinct, a little less NorCal funk and a little more Scandinavian austerity may be called for in this instance.
- Substituting more traditional joinery for dowels and screws seemed like it would be sturdier in theory, but in the case of attaching the side rails to the back (with the lack of lower stretchers), I think I missed the mark because these chairs “flex” a bit when you sit down hard.
- As primary dining chairs, I might make the backs a bit taller
- Exposing the through tenons at the top of the backrest seemed like a cool idea, but requires a level of precision that I don’t yet have access to. Plus no one would notice if the joint were more traditionally presented.
- I’d probably use a router over hand chopping mortises for a few reasons, but COVID-angst-relief had real value back in Q3 of 2020.
Upside:
- Building a chair (let alone two that match) is hard. I’m glad I did it, and took my time doing so, as it taught me a great deal.
- These sturdy little work-horses will be with my and my family for a long time. I was apprehansive about popping these in the kitchen as soon as the wax had half-cured and putting the old chairs on the curb the next day, but was pleased when our new seats were warmly received by family and friends. The shrewdest of critics – my kids – were quick to call them cool. One frequently subs one of these out for her white, pleather & chrome swivel chair from Ikea to be “more comfortable” at her desk.
- I love how the austere finish (simply blonde shellac and paste wax) presents the Oak. I’m also grateful for the time spent on surface prep.
- They offer a delightful amount of eye-candy without being an overbearing part of the kitchen-corner aesthetic.
I had an itch to dye these a funky color vis-a-vis hearing Rollie Johnson lament that too much furniture is “tan and brown”, but that faded after user acceptance testing of red, green, yellow, and orange failed unanimously with my wife & kids. I think that Oak pre-finished with a wash coat of 1/2# shellac cut that effort off at the knees. I considered fuming with concentrated ammonia so they would match the table more closely, but abandoned that too for the same reason – and a chronic lack of patience. I pledge to spend more time and energy exploring coloring wood in the future, but this was not the project.
Ok, I’m glad to have these done, dusted and out for “public” display. I’m anxious to get back to thinking about my latest project(s). Feedback (good, bad, ugly, or gramaticarical) is always welcome.
Almost forgot – I’m down to 51 slack days – life has been full of distractions lately.
[1] The Minimalist Maker did not respond to a request for permission to reference her design in this blog post or otherwise.
[2] JF WoodCraft and Design has no affiliation with The Minimalist Maker, Amazon, Home Depot, or Narex at the time of this writing