First Chair

[Ken Massingale]

The Missus placed an order for a dining table and chairs. The table didn't bother me much, but honestly, I've been dreading that first chair for years.
We found a plan that we both liked and of course it couldn't be a nice simple straight back chair, it had to have curves everywhere!
I made this prototype out of White Pine, I think the table and chair set will be White Oak, maybe Red Oak. The chair has 22 mortise and tenons, 12 of those are in curved areas.
The back legs are sawn from 1 3/4 thick by 3 1/2" wide stock, the back slats are sawn from 1 3/4" square stock.
The prototype is finished with 2 coats of Zinnser Sealcoat followed by 5 coats of wipe-on Ploy.
I did the seat with material and foam from Walmart.
Thanks for looking,
ken

[ChrisD]

Very nice for a first, Ken. The curves are very pleasing to the eye and look comfortable, too.

Are you changing anything from the prototype to the final piece, other than the material?

I have always considered chairmaking a different discipline from the rest of 'conventional' woodworking, so hats off to you!

[jackellis]

That's a pretty nice looking chair.

[Wood_workur]

That is a beautiful chair. The curves are very nice.

So what are you gonna do with the prototype when you finish the other chairs?

[tlt]

First or not, that's a great looking chair Ken!

For the curvy parts like the long piece on the back legs, do you steam/bend the wood or cut out the curve from a wide piece of wood?

[footprintsinconc]

Wow!

ken,

it doesnt look anything like 'first chair'. i could have sworn that you were an expert! the curve looks great, and most of looks comfortable.

nice job! any changes you plan on making after you made your 'trial' chair?

Edit: are the horizontal strips for the back curved aswell?

[SARGE..g-47]

Very nicely done, Ken. Co-incidentally, after 35 years of stabbing wood I just did my first chairs to match a country kitchen table I'm currently finishing. I also was hesitant as chair makers are chair makers and I ain't a chair maker for sure. The first challenge I ever tackled that made my knee's shake before execution as you mentioned.

I also kept the design simple to match my skills. The worst scenario was I would "blow it", but the good news is if I did the chairs are made from Indonesian rubber tree (parawood) I recovered from pallets we get at my work. So.. at least the price of failure would have been low.

But all worked out in the wash and after the prototype, the others were a piece of cake much to my astonishment. The chairs turned out fine but I still haven't gotten over the PITA of finishing with slats.. nooks and crannies everywhere you turn. It seemed a never ending battle with 8 coats of wipe on.

Maybe you and I should quit our day jobs, form a partner-ship and rent a building about half way tween Liberty and Atlanta. Just go "pro" as chair-makers and maybe sell pit-cooked bar-be-que on the side to supplement cash in-take when business is slow.

Sounds like a plan even though our wives might not necessarily be in agreement with that from a financial security stand-point. You know how women are. BTW.. comfortable or not, my family has been told they're sitting in those 4 chairs and there better not be one complaint after all that work regardless of whether they're comfortable or not.. the alternative is one of the 3 exits clearly marked in my house! ha.. ha... :>)

Regards...

[Sam Conder]

Hey Ken,

From the subject line, I thought you had joined your local philharmonic orchestra!

[TheRic]

Ken looks great!!! Can't believe it's your first chair. If I ever do a chair I will be happy if my second chair looks that good.

[onedash]

I have a set of chairs somewhere in my future. I know that easy=uncomfortable and comfortable=hard. So I have been procrastinating. When I run out of other projects then those chairs will probably get built. Or at least I'll try.

Good job.

[warrenp]

Nice looking chair...and it looks great in pine.

[Popeye]

Great looking chair Ken. I still haven't gotten brave enough to try a chair. Can't wait to see the set done in oak. Pat

[crokett]

Ken

That is a great looking chair. I can't wait to see the set done either.

[Ryan G]

Ken

Great job on the chair!

[cybrshrk]

****, Ken, that is the sweetest 'first' chair I've ever seen...and it's just a prototype! Sweet!

In looking at that chair as a larger American (6'+ and 250lbs+) I can see where that chair may hurt me after a nice sit down dinner...where the front legs sit proud of the top of the seat rails. My current dining table chairs have almost the same design where the legs sit slightly higher and even with the seat cushion I get to feeling it after a long sit.

This ain't a bashing...that is a fine piece of work!!!