bbaude Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Hey folks, Every time I think about building chairs, I get creeped out and intimidated. Do you guys have a recommendation on a chair design that would be a good starter? Maybe with less curves or complex joinery. Or even plans? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catco Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Something as a confidence builder I'd say possibly something that is mission styled, mostly straight lines, pretty simple. Browse the following link for ideas and inspiration. Google Search for mission style chair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 My first was a pair of childrens chairs, all square and stragihtforward. Little kids don't sit still long enough for comfort to be a consideration. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Another thing you can do is look around in the furniture stores and find a simple design that you like and buy just one chair. Most chairs at most stores can be purchased individually and a lot of them are made over seas out of rubber wood or para wood so they aren't very expensive. Then you can disassemble it and see how it was made and use some of the parts as templets. Reverse engineering or reverse woodworking as the case may be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 I really hate to be "that" guy but Marc's guild build on chairs was very informative. It covered how to design the chair as much as how to build the chair. Floating tenons for chairs is your friend was my major take away. With a couple simple techniques angles become a non-issue. Otherwise take a tape measure and head to a furniture store, if they ask questions just say that your trying to match chairs to a table. I always want to tell the furniture store employees that i buy more when i don't have a sales person following me around like a puppy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedinblue Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 What kind of chair? Outdoor chairs, kid's chairs, dining chairs, all very different. I've made Adirondack chairs and kid's chairs, but if I were to decide to punish myself and build dining chairs, I'd get the guild project for guidance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbaude Posted March 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 looking at dinning room chairs frankly...and simple is even better. Most of the designs I have seen would be tough for me as I haven't made the splash for a bandsaw in part because I want to start with a decent one out of the gate. Will check the guild project. I'm comfy with floating tenons too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 19 minutes ago, bbaude said: looking at dinning room chairs frankly...and simple is even better. Most of the designs I have seen would be tough for me as I haven't made the splash for a bandsaw in part because I want to start with a decent one out of the gate. Will check the guild project. I'm comfy with floating tenons too. There is always a way around a band saw and your going to need it for the dining room chairs. Strait rear leg chairs are not comfortable, i learned this the hard way. Making rear legs and back rest from separate pieces is not easy either. For a band saw workaround a jigsaw and template routing is your best bet. Hand saw is another option but i think it's obvious why that's a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 27 minutes ago, bbaude said: looking at dinning room chairs frankly...and simple is even better. Most of the designs I have seen would be tough for me as I haven't made the splash for a bandsaw in part because I want to start with a decent one out of the gate. Will check the guild project. I'm comfy with floating tenons too. It sounds to me, that your looking for a chair design like a Shaker ladderback chair. Try Goggleing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedinblue Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 It can be done, so don't get me wrong here...but I'd say your intimidation is very warranted. Chairs are advanced projects and I personally wouldn't even think about dining chairs without a bandsaw. I don't have the 50k shop that some guys here have, but my tooling is "complete." Last year I bought dining chairs from Wayfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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