The humble chair, seen in all corners of the world, and throughout time itself. Coming in all shapes and sizes, and in most materials, from cardboard to steel.

As a woodworker, making a chair is a right of passage, as much as making a workbench, or a tool chest is.

You could say that there is a science to chair making, and many considerations are needed to be taken into account, for an individual, to make the chair as comfortable as possible.

The above chair is a democratic chair, and one of the best colours contrasts I've seen. Originally conceived by Curtis Buchanan, another outstanding chair maker, which you can follow here on instagram, and see a master at work.

The brown, and sycamore seat (above) is a match made in heaven, built by Nick at studio critical, click on the picture to see more, and give him a follow.

I think after you make 2-3 chairs, you start to realise, theres a lot more to a chair, other than how it looks.

What the chair is going to be used for?

A full saddle in the seat, or a slight dip?

The angle and height of the seat, and backrest?

Add an armrest, and at what height?

The list goes on, and all these considerations will make or break a chair, in terms of comfort.

I do plan to make many more chairs in my lifetime, with a Jenny chair, continuous arm Windsor chair and, democratic chair at the top of the list.

I did make a YouTube video of the last staked chair i made, which is available here (no narration on this video).

A good resource for chair making is Chris Schwartz at The lost art press. He has a lot of good information, knowledge and practice in chair making, he also offers his book (the anarchists design book), for free via a pdf download, or you could buy the physical copy (highly recommend).

Have you built a chair, and what style was it?

Roxon M2 Multi tool

Recently i purchased the ROXON M2 14 in 1 EDC, and was pleasantly surprised.

I've only ever owned 3 (including this one) EDC multi tools. The other two (an original leatherman, and a ROXON S802) are lovely multi tools, but are slightly a bit to big, and weighty to carry around, especially the S802, and the knife blades are just to big, sadly, for uk law, not that this stops people carrying around machetes, but thats a whole other story!

The M2 (I feel) is a good size (72.6mm when closed), its a lot smaller than the S802, but it’s functional, and fits well in the hand.

It feels very stout, and i have no worries about breaking it, unlike others.

The scissors are very tough and well made, along with the pliers. The scissors cut through cable ties like nothing, and the other tools are pretty robust too. The knife is small, but works well. I also quite like the box opener as well.

Ive used this multiple times, every single day, in and out of the work shop, and i’ve also started to carry it everywhere, in my small jeans pocket.

Highly recommend for the tool addicts (like myself) available here (Amazon affiliate link).

Wood porn

This week’s visual candy is some beautiful kumiko, built by Matthew Kennedy.

Kumiko is definitely an eye stopper, with its geometric shapes and symmetry, it grabs a hold of you, and pulls you in.

Kumiko will look beautiful in most settings, doors, windows, furniture, boxes, and so on.

Don't forget to check out his other beautiful furniture on Instagram! (Click the picture)

What impressed me

This joint was cut by Rob Prentice, who specialises in Japanese joinery. Im always very impressed by Japanese joinery, and highly respect people like Rob who cut such joints, as I know first hand how much patience, and time can be needed to cut some of the joints.

Check out his instagram for more beautiful joinery (click the picture).

Woodwork ponder

Today, and many Fridays before today, i have strolled through south shields flee market, to see if i can pick up some hand tools.

Mostly, it is fruitless (in recent years), but occasionally, there is a week with plenty of riches!

Only within the last couple of years it has dawned on me, when the tools are plentiful, someone has died.

What will become of my tools, when im no longer in the land of the living?

Will they go to family?

Will they end up on a flee market, with someone buying them to make a profit? Or to someone bright eyed, passionate, giving another lifetime to the tool, that has served me well, for so long?

A morbid thought i know, but one which crosses my mind, from time to time.

Podcast #131

In case you missed it, the new podcast is available to those who are interested.

In this episode I talk about the current chair I'm making, and all the mistakes that are present, before I've even finished the chair.

You can also listen on Spotify here, and Apple Podcasts  here.

Think someone else will like the news letter? Share it!

Thats it for this one guys, see you next week!

Regards 

David