Last October I promised my faience, now wife, a set of dining chairs for Christmas. It’s now July and Amber has just received her chairs. I guess the old adage holds true; “The carpenter's house always needs work.”

Many woodworkers consider a chair to be the hardest piece of furniture to design. It must be strong to endure constant use, easy to move and most importantly it must be conformable. When I started the design process I knew I wanted a chair that was practical and elegant.

Wooden pegs secure the back spindles and prevent the spindles from coming loose.

The chairs are comprised of three main components, the legs, the seat and the back. I used turned legs to reduce weight while maintaining structural integrity. I chose Ash for the legs because its long straight grain is strong, predictable and resistant to cracking. The legs extend through the seat and are secured with wooden wedges that add durability while accenting the joinery. The legs are splayed outwards which provides stability while visually balancing the chair with the sloping back. To add a delicate look, I used custom fabricated brackets embedded in the legs to eliminate the need for stretchers.

The seats are carved by hand. I start with an angle angle grinder with a chain saw attachment and finish with hand planes and sanding. Lots of sanding!.

My next focus was the seats, which were crafted from a slab of cherry and hand sculpted to perfection. The seats are widest at the front and taper to the back, drawing the eye to the gentle curves of the back. The back is formed from nine maple spindles, carefully attached under stress to add. Well-defined bevels run the length of the seat contrasting the incline of the legs and back. The sculpted seat provides a dynamic visual allowing the eyes to flow freely from the legs to the seat and up the back.

Although the design process took much longer then I intended, the design ties the whole dining room together. And Amber loves her chairs. All Is good.