It is often said that chairmaking is the ultimate challenge for a woodworker.  It combines complex joinery, visual design, and ergonomic considerations.  Rand Richards begins this class with a simple chair which can be built in a day.  The “Chair Designer” is a chair which allows the student to quickly modify a profile to fit various needs.  At the end of that first day, the student has learned a great deal about chair design.  In addition, they have a project which can be used over-and-over in the future.

The profile the student creates is then utilized to construct a simple dowel chair.  The student learns how to dry the dowels so that when they regain lost moisture, they fit snuggly into the holes created.  This creates a sturdy chair, which reflects the result of the chair profile they created in the first project.

After the student has had a chance to discover how small changes in shape can infinitely affect the comfort and usability of a chair, the class begins investigating the complex joinery requirements of chair construction.  This is done through the construction of a seemingly simple chair, which utilizes the compound angles and complex joinery found in chair design.

We added a new element to the class in the semester. Our goal is to infuse a sense of the history of chair making as well as to challenge to break away from the common conceptions of a chair.

The last project is a chair of the student’s choice.  Some students in the past have chosen to create chairs modeled after such famous woodworkers/designers as Windsor, Maloof, Wright, and Morris.  This allows the students to focus on the type of construction which he or she feel best suits the type of building they will do in the future.

Spring 2008 Class

• FIW 206
• CRN# 30920
• Friday 10 - 2pm
• Advanced
• Instructor: Rand Richards