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22K views 75 replies 20 participants last post by  kaerlighedsbamsen 
#1 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
 

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#2 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
Neat.
I love to watch someone play. Prototypes are where it's at. I would personally prefer something natural like cane for the seat, but this is kind of fun.

I think less angle is a good change for the legs.

Steve.
 

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#3 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
Thank you steve!
Prototypes are always fun. Want to share some of yours?
 

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#4 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
I absolutely love mid-century Danish. I think people like Wegner and Vodder showed definitively that simple and functional is not necessarily the opposite of homely and warm. It's a pity that teak is so expensive, but then again, the essence of the style is not any particular species of wood so much as not letting the design get in the way of the material's natural beauty.

The pallet strapping for the seat is an interesting idea. It certainly looks nice. How stretchy is it? Does it turn out comfortable to sit on? I just checked, and here in the US, McMaster-Carr (a big industrial supplier) has this stuff in a whole bunch of varieties, and they sell it in smaller quantities ("mini coils" on the right of the linked page). I know that in Europe, industrial suppliers like that tend to be a little bit harder to approach for an outsider…
 

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#5 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
Yearh that was a great time! Teak would be nice but if you look thorugh this site for instance: http://www.pp.dk/ you'll see that there are lots of beech, ash, oak, some birch and other light colored woods that looks great as well.

The strapping i used is not much stretchy. Only a slight bit and not nearly as much as paper yarn or sisal or any if the more common materials. McMaster-Carr looks like the perfect place to pick up stuff. Ill recommend giving it a try!
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
You have to change your avatar text now: "Do or Do not, but try first." - Youda…
I love the idea of the plastic wrap seat, is it fine to sit at? Have you tried naked? Laughs.
Your drill gun are nothing less than really cool.
The four degrees a little too much agree.
Lovely blog I feel inspired.
Best thoughts my friend,
Mads
 

Attachments

#7 ·
Getting inspired & first test

I have always admired wegners furniture. Especially his chairs. They are so "final" designs. Nothing to improve, nothing to remove. Just right.

For a long time a have known that one day i wanted to build something in his style. But as simple they look his furniture is nothing but simple to make. And i felt that i needed a certain level of skill to give it a try. The past two years i have built a lot of projects and tried to raise the difficult level a little each time.

Last week i went to see this exhibion on Wegners designs and his chairs especially. Wow. A must-see if you like mid-century Danish!

Walked away filled by inspiration and decided that now was the time to go to work. Need two side chais for my small apartment and thought that would be a good place to start.

First some research: What have others built like that? Found Derek Cohen´s site where he desciribes in great detail (scroll down, 19 posts so far) his attempts to build a copy of "The Chair" with handtools only. A huge undertaking. And a bit strange considering that this chair is specifically designed to make heavy use of shapers to do both the complex roundings and the special finger joints that hold the back together. Well worth a read none the less!

Now, in my opinion, just copying a design is cheating a little bit. And as much i like Wegner his things are 40-70 years old. So i am looking for a design that is in his style and also looks forward to our time. And i want it to be some of MY design as well.

During a sarch i stumbled on South African designer John Vogel who did this chair:

Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Rectangle


Now that is something! Classic, Wegner'esque and yet new. There are some parts that does not work so well but overall i like it a lot. That will do as a guideline.

On to the drawing table and do some sketches:

Font Art Material property Art book Handwriting


One part that ill change is the seat. The thin strings is too busy for my taste and i have long wanted to experiment with using those flat plastic strips that come wrapped around pallets and crates for mailing. Dont know the name but fund it locally and bought the smallest amount possible, 1km(!):
Automotive tire Rim Gas Wood Cameras & optics


The Vogel chair has legs that splay out about 5 degrees. I like that feature but find this it is perhaps a littel too much.
It is time to do a first mockup/test. Decided to go quick'n dirty and do a stool with splayed legs at 4 degrees and a test on the seat with the plastic strips.

Went to the lumber yard and bought their best qality pine and milled up some boards. The final chair will have round legs- this is just to test the angles:
Wood Rectangle Automotive exterior Composite material Metal


Lacking a drill press, in order to get the angles right, i devised this contraption out of scraps, a drawer guide and strips. Looks like a new type of Nerf Gun but works like a charm:
Wood Gas Flooring Tints and shades Machine


Think i need to make a depth stop. Other than that is fine:
Saw Wood Machine tool Milling Drill


And late yesterday evening it wast time for a glue up:
Table Outdoor furniture Plant Wood Outdoor table


And suddenly the sky looked like this. Love having an outside shop in the summer!
Cloud Sky Atmosphere Plant Azure


This morning i spent a lot of time experimenting on the seat. Forgot to take pictures - sorry. Ended up with a simle weaved pattern that is weaved on the underside as well:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Pattern


The plastic straps come withe these clips that i think suits perfect. Industrial, simple - and if the seat get loose you just thighten it up:
Automotive tire Textile Wood Mesh Grey


I was a bit worried that placing the two dowels that hold the seat at different levels would create a weak spot in the corners where the straps meet. So far it looks fine but time will tell:
Wood Rectangle Table Font Grass


Overall i am quite satisfied. 4 degrees is perhaps i little bit too much angle on the legs:
Furniture Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Grass


Thought this would be just a throw-away but ended up liking it and took the time to sand it down and apply a soap finish that i tested in this blog and used on my shop stool #2.

Next will be another test with round legs and trying to find the shape for the back rest.

Let me know what you guys think so far- comments on style, method etc are more that welcome!
The plastic wrap seat works realy well and i think i am going to use that solution on the final chairs. It is firm and has only a slight, comfortable 'give' when you sit on ot (and yes, i have tested naked - the things you do for art…)
My only concern is that i have no idear how it will age. Time will tell.

Only glad if it can be inspiring!
 

Attachments

#8 ·
More testing and narrowing in + some toolmaking

This summer i have succeeded in having a whole week with only me, my summer house and woodwork. No work, no children, no nothing. Oh bliss!

This week i intend to get as far as possible on my wegner project and also share the progress here on LJ in order to pay back a little on all the great inspiration i get here.

It is now time to do a full scale prototype with turned legs and hopefully get some uncertainties cleared away and narrow the difficult parts down to a few. Lets rock:

Pulled out my UCCL (Ultra Cheap Chinese Lathe) and sharpened the chisels (are they called that..?) Despite being of questionable quality it works fine for turning between centers. Did most of the work with a skew chisel in order to cut the pine reasonable clean. For some reason i find pine really difficult to turn nicely.
Wood Gas Engineering Automotive exterior Composite material


Inspired by several others here i tried my hand at making story sticks for the measurements. Worked well and gave a pleasant relief from all the measuring and numbers often involved in prototyping. Will certainly be using more story sticks in the future.
Ruler Wood Office ruler Font Rectangle


Then on to drilling. The drill-nerf-gun described in my last post worked ok but was a bit rackety so souped it up with doubble drawer guides and a steady base:
Wood Gas Asphalt Machine Road surface


Made a center jig for the round legs and drilled away. Just eyeballed the center of the legs and that worked fine. But had trouble determining the not-quite-90-degrees angle to the other holes. For the final chairs i need to devise a manner to control that angle perfectly. Any ideas are welcome!
Wood Plant Gas Composite material Engineering


For the first prototype i just used dowels from the lumber yard and they are nice and just the right size (22mm). But I want to make this project out of elm and it is not possible to buy elm dowels and also i want to make them myself! So time to make a dowel making machine. For this project i made a woodgears inspired dowelmaker. But things are a lot different at 22mm and i had to do a lot of fiddling to get it right. In order to get a perfect cone shaped hole there was, as so often before, help to find at our own MaFe:
Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plank Plywood


Tried at first to use the lathe to turn the wood and hold the cutter by hand. But this did not work so well and the cutter had a tendency to wobble and cut to rough (notice how worn down the plane blade is):
Wood Track Lumber Gas Composite material


Much better luck holding the cutter in the vise and use the drill to turn the wood. Used a socket wrench as a driver:
Wood Gas Flooring Engineering Machine


This produced lovely pencil shavings by the bucketfull:
Plant Ingredient Wood Staple food Finger


The result is much better but not super fine. After a sanding in the lathe they looked ok. Hope that elm cuts nicer than pine!
Brown Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Hardwood


Then a testfit and a glueup. Looking good so far:
Plant Botany Outdoor furniture Table Outdoor table


And weaving another seat. Getting considerably faster at it:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Outdoor bench


Status and lessons learned so far:
- Use story sticks!
- Got the angles of the legs right
- Think the legs need to be about 2 cm longer. And the back rest 3 cm lower than anticipated
- Still like the seat and material. But are uncertain if 22mm dowels are strong enough. Might need to go for 24mm and make yet another dowelmaker. Perhaps only thicker dowels in the top rails..?
- Prototyping is fun!

Think i'll end this part here. Next part is about getting the most difficult part right; the back rest.

Hope you enjoyed reading!
 

Attachments

#9 ·
More testing and narrowing in + some toolmaking

This summer i have succeeded in having a whole week with only me, my summer house and woodwork. No work, no children, no nothing. Oh bliss!

This week i intend to get as far as possible on my wegner project and also share the progress here on LJ in order to pay back a little on all the great inspiration i get here.

It is now time to do a full scale prototype with turned legs and hopefully get some uncertainties cleared away and narrow the difficult parts down to a few. Lets rock:

Pulled out my UCCL (Ultra Cheap Chinese Lathe) and sharpened the chisels (are they called that..?) Despite being of questionable quality it works fine for turning between centers. Did most of the work with a skew chisel in order to cut the pine reasonable clean. For some reason i find pine really difficult to turn nicely.
Wood Gas Engineering Automotive exterior Composite material


Inspired by several others here i tried my hand at making story sticks for the measurements. Worked well and gave a pleasant relief from all the measuring and numbers often involved in prototyping. Will certainly be using more story sticks in the future.
Ruler Wood Office ruler Font Rectangle


Then on to drilling. The drill-nerf-gun described in my last post worked ok but was a bit rackety so souped it up with doubble drawer guides and a steady base:
Wood Gas Asphalt Machine Road surface


Made a center jig for the round legs and drilled away. Just eyeballed the center of the legs and that worked fine. But had trouble determining the not-quite-90-degrees angle to the other holes. For the final chairs i need to devise a manner to control that angle perfectly. Any ideas are welcome!
Wood Plant Gas Composite material Engineering


For the first prototype i just used dowels from the lumber yard and they are nice and just the right size (22mm). But I want to make this project out of elm and it is not possible to buy elm dowels and also i want to make them myself! So time to make a dowel making machine. For this project i made a woodgears inspired dowelmaker. But things are a lot different at 22mm and i had to do a lot of fiddling to get it right. In order to get a perfect cone shaped hole there was, as so often before, help to find at our own MaFe:
Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plank Plywood


Tried at first to use the lathe to turn the wood and hold the cutter by hand. But this did not work so well and the cutter had a tendency to wobble and cut to rough (notice how worn down the plane blade is):
Wood Track Lumber Gas Composite material


Much better luck holding the cutter in the vise and use the drill to turn the wood. Used a socket wrench as a driver:
Wood Gas Flooring Engineering Machine


This produced lovely pencil shavings by the bucketfull:
Plant Ingredient Wood Staple food Finger


The result is much better but not super fine. After a sanding in the lathe they looked ok. Hope that elm cuts nicer than pine!
Brown Wood Rectangle Tints and shades Hardwood


Then a testfit and a glueup. Looking good so far:
Plant Botany Outdoor furniture Table Outdoor table


And weaving another seat. Getting considerably faster at it:
Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Gas Outdoor bench


Status and lessons learned so far:
- Use story sticks!
- Got the angles of the legs right
- Think the legs need to be about 2 cm longer. And the back rest 3 cm lower than anticipated
- Still like the seat and material. But are uncertain if 22mm dowels are strong enough. Might need to go for 24mm and make yet another dowelmaker. Perhaps only thicker dowels in the top rails..?
- Prototyping is fun!

Think i'll end this part here. Next part is about getting the most difficult part right; the back rest.

Hope you enjoyed reading!
Very nice description of the process.Tthanks Jim
 

Attachments

#17 ·
Shaping the back seat

Feeling that a lot of uncertainties have been cleared away in my last post it is now time to take on the most challenging part of the project: shaping the back rest.

This is where tings are getting a bit complicated. Shapes in 3d is difficult to visualize and shaping takes a long time.

Having done a series of sketches i had a semi vague idea where i wanted to end:
Handwriting Font Material property Office supplies Art book


In order to work fast i decided to start using mdf for the first tests. Shaping in a combination of freehand and using dividers to get the curves right. Cut out the resulting shapes with a jig saw:
Sundial Wood Circle Gas Composite material


Glued up and rough shaped wit a rasp this is what came out:
Plant Grass Rectangle Outdoor furniture Shade


And seen from the top:
Plant Tree Grass Hood Chair


Hmm… A bit too wide, too low at the back and those "horns" are not quite right. Next attempt:
Plant Furniture Chair Rectangle Grass


And from the top:
Plant Chair Bag Grass Musical instrument


Definitely better! Bit still not quite sure about the "horns". Are they too much? How about just a flat end?
Plant Grass Gas Grass family Rectangle


And closer up:
Wood Grass Terrestrial plant Natural material Trunk


A sharp chisel and a rasp makes super quick work of shaping that mdf. Those japanese saw-files are great and probably the best cost/quality ratio i have ever seen:
Wood Scaled reptile Soil Fashion accessory Natural material


These tests have clearly showed some parts that works and some that dont. After some more thinking, more sketches, more coffe it was time to do a test in real wood. Sketching up the shape:
Wood Ruler Hand tool Office ruler Tool


The stock of elm i have is 45 mm thick and that does put some limitations on the construction. Would have prefered to make the back part of only one piece of wood in order to avoid a joint in the middle. Well- not an option. Fiddled wit a suitable solution for a while and settled for a 4 part back jointed with finger joints. Gluing that shape together can be a challenge but found that the work bench vice was a great help:
Wood Road surface Gas Composite material Art


Lotsa glue…
Wood Hardwood Font Wood stain Plywood


The back shape is a perfect semi-circle and not having a shaper the TS will have to work. Made this simple jig and took about 3 mm thick cuts:
Motor vehicle Wood Automotive design Automotive exterior Asphalt


This left this surprisingly fine surface:
Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Natural material


For the inside it is hand tools only:
Wood Water Building Composite material Art


The narrow parts are easily done with the frame saw:
Wood Engineering Natural material Lumber Hardwood


And after almost 2 hours of chiseling, rasping, spokeshaving, card-scraping and sanding this is what emerged. Now we are talking! A lot better. Nicer curves and "tighter" shape overall. :
Wood Yellow Automotive tire Automotive exterior Motor vehicle


Here the whole process in steps:
Plant Automotive tire Wood Road surface Bumper


Another rubberband test:
Botany Grass Grass family Lawn Grassland


Was so pleased that i went ahead drilled mounting holes. The legs needed to be shortened a little and realized that the dowel-cutter could be used (same diameter):
Blue Wood Security Door Gas


And the finished product so far. Now we are talking! A lot better. Nicer curves and "thighter" shape overall. Really comfortable to sit on and those short horns give a nice rest to the elbows while not being in the way while eating/writing:
Plant Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Rectangle


And from the side:
Plant Furniture Outdoor bench Outdoor furniture Rectangle


The finger joints are not super tight and i either need to get access to a real shaper or find another method for making them at the TS. Starting to realize why Wegners furniture makes so heavy use of shapers..:
Plant Terrestrial plant Wood Natural landscape Grass


Thats it for now. I got SO much closer in this step. Not quite there yet but i am starting to feel confident that this will end in some ok nice chairs. I'm a happy woodworker today!

I am still not absolutely sure on the shape and would love to hear you opinion: How about the general shape? Is the back rest too short? Should the chair be narrower at the back overall? Are there better suited (or better looking) joints for the back rest than finger joints? Could it perhaps be steam bent? Let me know what you think!
 

Attachments

#18 ·
Shaping the back seat

Feeling that a lot of uncertainties have been cleared away in my last post it is now time to take on the most challenging part of the project: shaping the back rest.

This is where tings are getting a bit complicated. Shapes in 3d is difficult to visualize and shaping takes a long time.

Having done a series of sketches i had a semi vague idea where i wanted to end:
Handwriting Font Material property Office supplies Art book


In order to work fast i decided to start using mdf for the first tests. Shaping in a combination of freehand and using dividers to get the curves right. Cut out the resulting shapes with a jig saw:
Sundial Wood Circle Gas Composite material


Glued up and rough shaped wit a rasp this is what came out:
Plant Grass Rectangle Outdoor furniture Shade


And seen from the top:
Plant Tree Grass Hood Chair


Hmm… A bit too wide, too low at the back and those "horns" are not quite right. Next attempt:
Plant Furniture Chair Rectangle Grass


And from the top:
Plant Chair Bag Grass Musical instrument


Definitely better! Bit still not quite sure about the "horns". Are they too much? How about just a flat end?
Plant Grass Gas Grass family Rectangle


And closer up:
Wood Grass Terrestrial plant Natural material Trunk


A sharp chisel and a rasp makes super quick work of shaping that mdf. Those japanese saw-files are great and probably the best cost/quality ratio i have ever seen:
Wood Scaled reptile Soil Fashion accessory Natural material


These tests have clearly showed some parts that works and some that dont. After some more thinking, more sketches, more coffe it was time to do a test in real wood. Sketching up the shape:
Wood Ruler Hand tool Office ruler Tool


The stock of elm i have is 45 mm thick and that does put some limitations on the construction. Would have prefered to make the back part of only one piece of wood in order to avoid a joint in the middle. Well- not an option. Fiddled wit a suitable solution for a while and settled for a 4 part back jointed with finger joints. Gluing that shape together can be a challenge but found that the work bench vice was a great help:
Wood Road surface Gas Composite material Art


Lotsa glue…
Wood Hardwood Font Wood stain Plywood


The back shape is a perfect semi-circle and not having a shaper the TS will have to work. Made this simple jig and took about 3 mm thick cuts:
Motor vehicle Wood Automotive design Automotive exterior Asphalt


This left this surprisingly fine surface:
Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Natural material


For the inside it is hand tools only:
Wood Water Building Composite material Art


The narrow parts are easily done with the frame saw:
Wood Engineering Natural material Lumber Hardwood


And after almost 2 hours of chiseling, rasping, spokeshaving, card-scraping and sanding this is what emerged. Now we are talking! A lot better. Nicer curves and "tighter" shape overall. :
Wood Yellow Automotive tire Automotive exterior Motor vehicle


Here the whole process in steps:
Plant Automotive tire Wood Road surface Bumper


Another rubberband test:
Botany Grass Grass family Lawn Grassland


Was so pleased that i went ahead drilled mounting holes. The legs needed to be shortened a little and realized that the dowel-cutter could be used (same diameter):
Blue Wood Security Door Gas


And the finished product so far. Now we are talking! A lot better. Nicer curves and "thighter" shape overall. Really comfortable to sit on and those short horns give a nice rest to the elbows while not being in the way while eating/writing:
Plant Furniture Chair Outdoor furniture Rectangle


And from the side:
Plant Furniture Outdoor bench Outdoor furniture Rectangle


The finger joints are not super tight and i either need to get access to a real shaper or find another method for making them at the TS. Starting to realize why Wegners furniture makes so heavy use of shapers..:
Plant Terrestrial plant Wood Natural landscape Grass


Thats it for now. I got SO much closer in this step. Not quite there yet but i am starting to feel confident that this will end in some ok nice chairs. I'm a happy woodworker today!

I am still not absolutely sure on the shape and would love to hear you opinion: How about the general shape? Is the back rest too short? Should the chair be narrower at the back overall? Are there better suited (or better looking) joints for the back rest than finger joints? Could it perhaps be steam bent? Let me know what you think!
Bravo.
Looks really fine from here. I like the back that you ended up with - the first one had to much of a point. The stubby version looks great. Of course I am not sitting in it, so it is kind of hard to judge the comfort.

Overall the design looks good to me. I have some concern over the tops of the front legs poking me, but only you can report if that seems to be a problem.

Nice job of the making of the back. I don't have any recommendations for an easier build, but I will think about it.

Take care and congrats,
Steve
 

Attachments

#31 ·
Much more prototyping

Summer is over and work, my business and life in gerneral have taken almost all my time. And my chair project have slowed down considerable. But in shorter periods i have had time in the workshop and done as much as possible. This is a compilation of 6 weeks:

Last time we left about here:
Plant Furniture Outdoor bench Outdoor furniture Street furniture


This looked cool but i was not totally satisfied. Things i wanted to improve was:
- The back rest. It is too low and somehow just not´right´
- The general feel of the chair. Is it a little too static?
- The seat is somehow missing something
- There is some issues regarding the seating comfort. Not much but when making a chair from scratch can as well make it perfect for me to sit on!
- It is just gennerealy a bit too ´normal´and is lacking a some edge

Wood Plant Font Road surface Slope

Went back to make another template for the back. This time carefully measuring out the different curves to make them repeateable

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Column Cylinder

Making another set of legs. I desided to try to make the legs indifferent angles so that the chair would "lean forward" a little and have a sense of direction. This gave 3 different angles to drill and keeping track of those became an issue

Wood Hardwood Table Plank Composite material

Made a series of wedges for the different angles

Wood Automotive tire Trunk Hardwood Wood stain

Despite all the marking and planning i mannaged to drill a hole to the wrong angle anyway. This was quickly fixed with a plug and some glue

Wood Plant Gas Bumper Automotive exterior


Here gluing up the one side of the chair. In the earlier prototype getting the angles prezice was an issue. Thought about how to solve this without having to make a full scale glue jig i realized that my tablesaw has a sliding table extension that is perfect for the purpose. Just clamped on two boards at the right angles and adding few wedges to keep the end of the tapered legs at the right height. Worked perfect!

Table Hood Plant Wood Outdoor furniture

Made another back rest. Wanted something that was taller at the back and had more curves on the top. Here compared to the last one. The curve is not totally right but getting closer..

Natural material Wood Art Tints and shades Symmetry

Here from the top. Much nicer curves on the inside and i like how it is thinner at the back

Table Wood Wood stain Natural material Terrestrial plant

The narrower shape gave a new challenge: The back legs was too fat to fit.

Wood Hardwood Plant Lumber Plank

Decided to make two flat sides on the top part of the legs and make a mortice in the back rest insead of a round hole. A whole chair is not easy to clamp in the workbench..

Textile Wood Grass Human leg Nail

For the inside of the leg the japanese plane worked best. Nice. After learning how to top tune my old European planes i have not used it that much.

Wood Grass Natural material Art Metal

Tennons like so

Plant Furniture Chair Botany Outdoor furniture

And the finished new prototype beside the old one.

Plant Furniture Chair Tree Outdoor furniture

Definitely an improvement! Much, much more ´drive´ in the side view and a nice curve on the back rest.

Plant Building Table Wood House

This day the summer ended and i had to clean out the shop and pack up and go to town for work, school and other booring stuff. Realy didnt want to leave my garden that day!

Used the chair for some time and it was nice but just not ´right´. The top of the back rest lacked elegancy, the seat was boring and there was something about the front legs.
At this point i had a bit of artist's crisis and could not solve what was wrong. Searched the web for other chairs for inspiration witout result. Then it dawned om me: When making something Wegner inspired you got to ask yourself "what would Wegner have done?"

Of course! How could i have missed it? Back to the museum for more drawings and inspiration. Had a great afternoon there and the nice staff allowed me to take measurements of some of the chairs. Not so much to copy the work but to get the proportions right.

While i sat there with all my gear a lot of people came to chat and a lot of them were architects, designers, cabitetmakers etc that used wegner as an inspiration in their work. Had a lot of interesting talks and left filled with a sense of being back on track again.

Fun how the way you look at things can change. Last time i was there i thought that i got all that i needed with me and had taken with me what was possible. And then, this second time i was there, there was 1000 things and details i had overseen or simply was not aware could be important. Guess i had a zen moment there…

Came home with a lot of sketches and usefull stuff. Allso inspiration for at least 2 more chairs, a cabinet and a table.

Wood Leisure Shorts Grass Soil

Next time i was in the workshop my son Viggo came along and built a boat. He is slowly getting used to chisels and, despite insisting on using oak for the hull, made a quite nice boat. And was quite proud afterwards.
Did not get much work done that weekend but had a great time.

Wood Tool Hardwood Metal Lumber

Then this week i had a few days off and finally made som serious progress. One part i wanted to improve was the rails. In the last prototype i had used double tapering rails. This looked ok but was a bit clumsy and did not have the sideways strength i hoped. Allso i wanted the sides of the seat to curve outwards slightly. So turned much fatter double tapers (or, more correctly, a curve) and flattened with a plane

Water Wood Automotive tire Asphalt Tints and shades

Then rounded over at the router table

Wood Composite material Hardwood Art Rectangle

The back rest had some issues and the first was the finger joints. Too large and too unprezice. So spent a day doing something i wanted to do a long time: built my own, slightly simplifyed, version of Matthias Wandel box joint jig. I wanted rather narrow joints fort his project and have a 2,5mm saw blade. With a 6mm threaded rod this gives 1mm per turn and so exactly 5 turns per joint. Perfect. So did not bother to make all the gears and stuff.

Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood

This gives crisp and prezice joints. And they are easily repeatable. Cool!

Wood Hardwood Composite material Flooring Wood stain

For the center part of the back rest i need rather wide joints that, sinse it is a end-to-end joint, need to have super accurate depth. Used sandpaper as a shim for allignment

Wood Plant Automotive tire Outdoor furniture Flooring

The side parts is even wider. No problem!

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Table

And a test before glueing on the side parts

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Natural material Plank

Turned a new set of legs as well

Wood Gas Machine Metal Roof

The Nerf gun drill described earlier in the blog was fun to make but newer worked as accurate as i wanted. Despite having a realy small shop i gave in and bought an (old) real drill pres and a forstner bit (they are super expensive in this part of the world - but wow they makes a nice cut)

Plant Chair Outdoor furniture Wood Armrest

Wanted the angles of the front legs to be less pronounced. Here a test to compare to the old prototype

Wood Outdoor furniture Hardwood Flooring Wood stain

So far the seat has been 90 degrees in the corners. I wanted it to be wider at the front and this meant double angled holes to be drilled. Made this angle guide for accuracy

Plant Wood Grass Rectangle Outdoor table

A quick dry assemble before glueup. Looking good!

Wood Natural material Grass Creative arts Human leg

Nicer legs as well

Wood Terrestrial plant Natural landscape Plant Grass

Mannaged to get the grain to flow on the back rest.

Rectangle Wood Outdoor furniture Grass Chair

And glued together. The back rest is just placed on top for a test. This is how it looked this afternoon with the glue still wet.

This is as far as i have gotten for now. Looks promising and i feel that these adjustments have made a great difference. Cant wait to see the whole thing assembled.

The introduction of an angled seat have made using the plastic strapping material a problem. One of the first steps is to try to make a diagonal weave of some kind in order to allow for the stiff material. Otherwise ill need to look around for other materials. Any ideas?

As always thanks for reading. Please share thoughts or questions!
 

Attachments

#32 ·
Much more prototyping

Summer is over and work, my business and life in gerneral have taken almost all my time. And my chair project have slowed down considerable. But in shorter periods i have had time in the workshop and done as much as possible. This is a compilation of 6 weeks:

Last time we left about here:


This looked cool but i was not totally satisfied. Things i wanted to improve was:
- The back rest. It is too low and somehow just not´right´
- The general feel of the chair. Is it a little too static?
- The seat is somehow missing something
- There is some issues regarding the seating comfort. Not much but when making a chair from scratch can as well make it perfect for me to sit on!
- It is just gennerealy a bit too ´normal´and is lacking a some edge

Wood Plant Font Road surface Slope

Went back to make another template for the back. This time carefully measuring out the different curves to make them repeateable

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Column Cylinder

Making another set of legs. I desided to try to make the legs indifferent angles so that the chair would "lean forward" a little and have a sense of direction. This gave 3 different angles to drill and keeping track of those became an issue

Wood Hardwood Table Plank Composite material

Made a series of wedges for the different angles

Wood Automotive tire Trunk Hardwood Wood stain

Despite all the marking and planning i mannaged to drill a hole to the wrong angle anyway. This was quickly fixed with a plug and some glue

Wood Plant Gas Bumper Automotive exterior


Here gluing up the one side of the chair. In the earlier prototype getting the angles prezice was an issue. Thought about how to solve this without having to make a full scale glue jig i realized that my tablesaw has a sliding table extension that is perfect for the purpose. Just clamped on two boards at the right angles and adding few wedges to keep the end of the tapered legs at the right height. Worked perfect!

Table Hood Plant Wood Outdoor furniture

Made another back rest. Wanted something that was taller at the back and had more curves on the top. Here compared to the last one. The curve is not totally right but getting closer..

Natural material Wood Art Tints and shades Symmetry

Here from the top. Much nicer curves on the inside and i like how it is thinner at the back

Table Wood Wood stain Natural material Terrestrial plant

The narrower shape gave a new challenge: The back legs was too fat to fit.

Wood Hardwood Plant Lumber Plank

Decided to make two flat sides on the top part of the legs and make a mortice in the back rest insead of a round hole. A whole chair is not easy to clamp in the workbench..


For the inside of the leg the japanese plane worked best. Nice. After learning how to top tune my old European planes i have not used it that much.


Tennons like so


And the finished new prototype beside the old one.


Definitely an improvement! Much, much more ´drive´ in the side view and a nice curve on the back rest.


This day the summer ended and i had to clean out the shop and pack up and go to town for work, school and other booring stuff. Realy didnt want to leave my garden that day!

Used the chair for some time and it was nice but just not ´right´. The top of the back rest lacked elegancy, the seat was boring and there was something about the front legs.
At this point i had a bit of artist's crisis and could not solve what was wrong. Searched the web for other chairs for inspiration witout result. Then it dawned om me: When making something Wegner inspired you got to ask yourself "what would Wegner have done?"

Of course! How could i have missed it? Back to the museum for more drawings and inspiration. Had a great afternoon there and the nice staff allowed me to take measurements of some of the chairs. Not so much to copy the work but to get the proportions right.

While i sat there with all my gear a lot of people came to chat and a lot of them were architects, designers, cabitetmakers etc that used wegner as an inspiration in their work. Had a lot of interesting talks and left filled with a sense of being back on track again.

Fun how the way you look at things can change. Last time i was there i thought that i got all that i needed with me and had taken with me what was possible. And then, this second time i was there, there was 1000 things and details i had overseen or simply was not aware could be important. Guess i had a zen moment there…

Came home with a lot of sketches and usefull stuff. Allso inspiration for at least 2 more chairs, a cabinet and a table.


Next time i was in the workshop my son Viggo came along and built a boat. He is slowly getting used to chisels and, despite insisting on using oak for the hull, made a quite nice boat. And was quite proud afterwards.
Did not get much work done that weekend but had a great time.


Then this week i had a few days off and finally made som serious progress. One part i wanted to improve was the rails. In the last prototype i had used double tapering rails. This looked ok but was a bit clumsy and did not have the sideways strength i hoped. Allso i wanted the sides of the seat to curve outwards slightly. So turned much fatter double tapers (or, more correctly, a curve) and flattened with a plane


Then rounded over at the router table


The back rest had some issues and the first was the finger joints. Too large and too unprezice. So spent a day doing something i wanted to do a long time: built my own, slightly simplifyed, version of Matthias Wandel box joint jig. I wanted rather narrow joints fort his project and have a 2,5mm saw blade. With a 6mm threaded rod this gives 1mm per turn and so exactly 5 turns per joint. Perfect. So did not bother to make all the gears and stuff.


This gives crisp and prezice joints. And they are easily repeatable. Cool!


For the center part of the back rest i need rather wide joints that, sinse it is a end-to-end joint, need to have super accurate depth. Used sandpaper as a shim for allignment


The side parts is even wider. No problem!


And a test before glueing on the side parts


Turned a new set of legs as well


The Nerf gun drill described earlier in the blog was fun to make but newer worked as accurate as i wanted. Despite having a realy small shop i gave in and bought an (old) real drill pres and a forstner bit (they are super expensive in this part of the world - but wow they makes a nice cut)


Wanted the angles of the front legs to be less pronounced. Here a test to compare to the old prototype


So far the seat has been 90 degrees in the corners. I wanted it to be wider at the front and this meant double angled holes to be drilled. Made this angle guide for accuracy


A quick dry assemble before glueup. Looking good!


Nicer legs as well


Mannaged to get the grain to flow on the back rest.


And glued together. The back rest is just placed on top for a test. This is how it looked this afternoon with the glue still wet.

This is as far as i have gotten for now. Looks promising and i feel that these adjustments have made a great difference. Cant wait to see the whole thing assembled.

The introduction of an angled seat have made using the plastic strapping material a problem. One of the first steps is to try to make a diagonal weave of some kind in order to allow for the stiff material. Otherwise ill need to look around for other materials. Any ideas?

As always thanks for reading. Please share thoughts or questions!
Good blog, nice take on Wegner
 

Attachments

#44 ·
Seat weaving and finishing up

Last time we ended here:


In the mean time i have been busy researching on methods of weaving seats. Lots of designs to consider.. But first we need to finish the chair it self.

Natural material Gesture Wood Tool Art

Last time i just eyeballed the angle on the flat parts of the top of the back legs. Here i´m trying to get the angle right to make a jig for greater presizion and repeatability.

Table Wood Chair Cross Wood stain

Its simple but it works- both on the inside and outside.


Trying to get the angle right for the holes in the back rest


And drilling the mortices

This finished the woodwork and all that was left was the seat. After googling about 1000 chairs with woven seats i had this idear about a diagonal weave:

Plant Outdoor furniture Wood Grass Tree

But that did not work. It was not possible to get around the legs in a manner that would not leave an empty space in the middle of the seat. Bummer!


One of the reasons for the diagonal weave was that the seat tapers towards the back and if weaveing straight the straps might not bend nicely around the ends

Plant Botany Outdoor furniture Tree Grass

Fiddeled with different solutions for a whole week and then just decided to see if it could work anyway. It was a nice, sunny day and my apples (Red Pineapple-apples in danish) are ripe. Time to make applecider!

Plant Tree Grass Leisure Groundcover

The lengths of cord used are surprizingly long and i got to walk quite a bit. Dont know if it shows in the image but i walked quite a path in the lawn…

Outdoor bench Furniture Table Picnic table Outdoor table

Almost there. Getting thighter now

Hand Wood Gesture Table Flooring

A spray of water helps getting the straps through


And here the finished sides where i thought that the straps would ´bend out´. Not nearly as bad as feared.


And the assembled chair. Think it looks great and this will do as a template for my final chairs.


And the seat seen from above. Like the shape so much more that the previous prototype!
But the weaving is not quite tere yet. I dont like how the light wood shines through inbetween the straps and just looks sloppy overall. Lets do something about that:


The front

Building Outdoor table Wood Outdoor furniture Table

And adding additional strips to close the gaps


Took this kitchen knife to the grinder in order to make a sleek tool for prying the straps through narrow spots

Outerwear Automotive tire Sleeve Grey Wood

Like so. Here adding an extra strip on top of the stretchers

Hand Vertebrate Human Mammal Wood

My neighbour came by and grabbed the camera. Here a very consentrated woodworker…

Automotive tire Wood Grey Tints and shades Synthetic rubber

This finishes of the back much nicer

Plant Product Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture

And the overall impression.

There is a few details left to do better but this just works great. Now i feel confident that i can start on the final chairs and have most of the parts under control.
Great!

Lets finish of with the image of the assembled chair again:
Plant Furniture Outdoor furniture Rectangle Outdoor table

Writing this blog now i am sitting in this chair. It is comfortable, stiff and gives a nice back support. Looking at it i feel that this is something that i (with some help from Wegner) have made. And it is MY chair. Today i am a proud woodworker!

It seems that i can now announce that the next part of the blog will be on the actual chairs. Thank you for reading along this far.

As allways: Let me know what you think!
 

Attachments

#45 ·
Seat weaving and finishing up

Last time we ended here:
Plant Wood Grass Rectangle Outdoor table


In the mean time i have been busy researching on methods of weaving seats. Lots of designs to consider.. But first we need to finish the chair it self.

Natural material Gesture Wood Tool Art

Last time i just eyeballed the angle on the flat parts of the top of the back legs. Here i´m trying to get the angle right to make a jig for greater presizion and repeatability.

Table Wood Chair Cross Wood stain

Its simple but it works- both on the inside and outside.

Wood Outdoor furniture Wood stain Hardwood Gas

Trying to get the angle right for the holes in the back rest

Saw Wood Floor Flooring Abrasive saw

And drilling the mortices

This finished the woodwork and all that was left was the seat. After googling about 1000 chairs with woven seats i had this idear about a diagonal weave:

Plant Outdoor furniture Wood Grass Tree

But that did not work. It was not possible to get around the legs in a manner that would not leave an empty space in the middle of the seat. Bummer!

Hand Hand tool Wood Tool Finger

One of the reasons for the diagonal weave was that the seat tapers towards the back and if weaveing straight the straps might not bend nicely around the ends

Plant Botany Outdoor furniture Tree Grass

Fiddeled with different solutions for a whole week and then just decided to see if it could work anyway. It was a nice, sunny day and my apples (Red Pineapple-apples in danish) are ripe. Time to make applecider!

Plant Tree Grass Leisure Groundcover

The lengths of cord used are surprizingly long and i got to walk quite a bit. Dont know if it shows in the image but i walked quite a path in the lawn…

Outdoor bench Furniture Table Picnic table Outdoor table

Almost there. Getting thighter now

Hand Wood Gesture Table Flooring

A spray of water helps getting the straps through

Wood Grass Shade Tints and shades Mesh

And here the finished sides where i thought that the straps would ´bend out´. Not nearly as bad as feared.

Plant Furniture Outdoor furniture Rectangle Outdoor table

And the assembled chair. Think it looks great and this will do as a template for my final chairs.

Luggage and bags Plant Bag Rectangle Chair

And the seat seen from above. Like the shape so much more that the previous prototype!
But the weaving is not quite tere yet. I dont like how the light wood shines through inbetween the straps and just looks sloppy overall. Lets do something about that:


The front

Building Outdoor table Wood Outdoor furniture Table

And adding additional strips to close the gaps

Tool Font Composite material Office supplies Metal

Took this kitchen knife to the grinder in order to make a sleek tool for prying the straps through narrow spots

Outerwear Automotive tire Sleeve Grey Wood

Like so. Here adding an extra strip on top of the stretchers

Hand Vertebrate Human Mammal Wood

My neighbour came by and grabbed the camera. Here a very consentrated woodworker…

Automotive tire Wood Grey Tints and shades Synthetic rubber

This finishes of the back much nicer

Plant Product Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture

And the overall impression.

There is a few details left to do better but this just works great. Now i feel confident that i can start on the final chairs and have most of the parts under control.
Great!

Lets finish of with the image of the assembled chair again:

Writing this blog now i am sitting in this chair. It is comfortable, stiff and gives a nice back support. Looking at it i feel that this is something that i (with some help from Wegner) have made. And it is MY chair. Today i am a proud woodworker!

It seems that i can now announce that the next part of the blog will be on the actual chairs. Thank you for reading along this far.

As allways: Let me know what you think!
Congratulations!
The chair looks wonderful. Well done. The weaving looks great from here - much better than I thought it would. I am impressed.

Steve
 

Attachments

#63 ·
And then the final, real chairs

This whole series have all the time evolved around making a set of dining chairs out of two large slabs of European elm that was sawed at my mothers farm and stored, first in their barn, and then in my workshop.

Having gotten the design (nearly finished) in the previous posts this is about making the final chairs.
If you have not already, see the project post here

Table Plant Outdoor bench Outdoor table Wood

Cutting up the timber was quite a challenge. The trees had been felled because of an attack of Dutch Elm Disease and parts of it was rather soft du to the infection. Needed to cut around these parts, have enough materials left, and still get all the parts with parallel grain for strengthness. This stye of chair relies on straight grain in order to be light and strong at the same time.

Plant Wood Table Flooring Grass

More fiddling with where to place the different parts. The 4 back leg piezes needed to have the most straight grain and at the same time be rift or quarter sawn in order to have predictable grain pattern.

Wood Wood stain Flooring Floor Hardwood

All blanks cut

Wood Grass Tool Hand tool Lumber

Made myself a steadyrest. Works great and should have done this a long time ago

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread Motor vehicle

Even worked for turning the ends of the front legs that are much exposed and needs to look perfect

Wood Tints and shades Hardwood Pattern Plywood

Like so

Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Plank

And planed down the rails in order to be suited for weaving the seat

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood

Cut, finger tapped and glued up two back rests. Needed to be super carefull to get the grain running in the right direction, and making a nice pattern, as this glueup have 2 vertical and 2 horizontal piezes joined together.

Wood Automotive tire Flooring Art Bumper

Cut the backs on the table saw using my simple jig. Finished the shape using handsaws, rasps chisels etc but forgot to take pictures.

Here the story jumps forward nearly two years. I find challenging projects takes a lot of time and are best done in the summer vacation. Now last summer i got an new apartment badly in need of work. So my summer vacation was, in large parts, spent painting, installign new kitchen etc and almost no shop time.
The chair parts sat half finished in storage and waited for my return.

Wood Wood stain Cylinder Metal Art

Then one lovely spring day this year I got out the lathe and made the last parts, here the stretchers. This time I gave them a slight barrel shape in order to better fit the rails

Bandsaws Wood Valve Machine tool Gas

And started drilling holes. This step is super critical and needs to be spot on accurate. Got myself an new-old drill press that are super accurate and runs like a dream

Wood Composite material Gas Hardwood Metal

Tons of holes..
Wood Pattern Composite material Metal Cylinder

Looks neat

Furniture Wood Outdoor furniture Flooring Hardwood

Test fitting. Looks promising!

Table saws Wood Automotive exterior Gas Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

And glueing up

Plant Wood Tree Grass Gas

and the frame together.

Property Plant Wood Gas Cooking

Here the observant reader will notice a break in time again. Spring have turned to summer and a got a new-old table saw

Slope Font Rectangle Parallel Pattern

A critical step is attaching the back rest to the legs. On my prototype chair the back rest have loosened and needed to be repaired. Did not want this to happen so did a lot of reading and research and found that a stepped tennon would be a good method.

Table Table saws Motor vehicle Wood Machine tool

Cut up soem fibre board to make a few jigs. The joints need to be accurate and at the right angle - and do NOT want to mess up at this stage. The new table saw has a sliding table that makes cutting boards and panels a breeze

Outdoor furniture Wood Outdoor table Grass Rectangle

This works like so

Water Wood Cylinder Grass Gas

And, with the help of the saw rest and accurate marking, makes tennons like so. Now just repeat 3 times

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Tool

And another jig in use to hold the back rest. This drill press is sturdy enough to use with router bits that makes for accurate holes with a flat bottom. Nice when there is not a lot of materials left..

Wood Tool Tree Hardwood Naval architecture

And fitting the mortices with chisels

Wood Grass Plant Groundcover Shrub

A little glue and the chairs are together

Liquid Drinkware Tableware Fluid Plant

4 layers of linseed oil/turpentine/varnish blend

Wood Natural material Grass Plant Outdoor furniture

And we get this

Now onto something else. On the prototype the seat was made from pallet straps. This material is suoper strong and wear resistant so for the right design the perfect material. But there were some challenges getting it to work on my chairs and have desided to abandon it in favor for traditional Danish paper yarn. Here my skills were about zero but found super help in this video series by skilled Calb James. If you are into Mid Century Modern he shares a lot of interesting stuff on Instagram as well.

Wood Woolen Pattern Wire Wool

This comes wrapped in these lovely bundles and makes me want to order a whole lot more just to have the joy of opening the packages.

Wood Rectangle Ruler Office ruler Wood stain

Made myself some shuttles in maple

Nature Plant Outdoor furniture Outdoor table Wood

The Workmate came in handy

Light Wood Line Grass Metal

Getting the first rounds even is the most dificult part

Rectangle Textile Wood Grass Chair

And the final first seat. Not perfect but ok'ish for a first. The next one turned out better

Plant Property Wood Table Tree

And there you have it. Summer vacation ended and I am the happy owner of 2 special dining chairs - and a whole load of experience. Love my cozy worksop and look forward to more time here soon

Table Furniture Wood Chair Interior design

And there they are in the new apartment together with the table I made last summer, similar to this one: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/164674

Of course there are the tiny mistakes that only I see, but overall i could not be more pleased. A lot learned and feel ready for another challenging project.

Hope you anjoyed following along. Let me know if you have questions or coments!
 

Attachments

#64 ·
And then the final, real chairs

This whole series have all the time evolved around making a set of dining chairs out of two large slabs of European elm that was sawed at my mothers farm and stored, first in their barn, and then in my workshop.

Having gotten the design (nearly finished) in the previous posts this is about making the final chairs.
If you have not already, see the project post here

Table Plant Outdoor bench Outdoor table Wood

Cutting up the timber was quite a challenge. The trees had been felled because of an attack of Dutch Elm Disease and parts of it was rather soft du to the infection. Needed to cut around these parts, have enough materials left, and still get all the parts with parallel grain for strengthness. This stye of chair relies on straight grain in order to be light and strong at the same time.

Plant Wood Table Flooring Grass

More fiddling with where to place the different parts. The 4 back leg piezes needed to have the most straight grain and at the same time be rift or quarter sawn in order to have predictable grain pattern.

Wood Wood stain Flooring Floor Hardwood

All blanks cut

Wood Grass Tool Hand tool Lumber

Made myself a steadyrest. Works great and should have done this a long time ago

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread Motor vehicle

Even worked for turning the ends of the front legs that are much exposed and needs to look perfect

Wood Tints and shades Hardwood Pattern Plywood

Like so

Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Plank

And planed down the rails in order to be suited for weaving the seat

Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Hardwood

Cut, finger tapped and glued up two back rests. Needed to be super carefull to get the grain running in the right direction, and making a nice pattern, as this glueup have 2 vertical and 2 horizontal piezes joined together.

Wood Automotive tire Flooring Art Bumper

Cut the backs on the table saw using my simple jig. Finished the shape using handsaws, rasps chisels etc but forgot to take pictures.

Here the story jumps forward nearly two years. I find challenging projects takes a lot of time and are best done in the summer vacation. Now last summer i got an new apartment badly in need of work. So my summer vacation was, in large parts, spent painting, installign new kitchen etc and almost no shop time.
The chair parts sat half finished in storage and waited for my return.

Wood Wood stain Cylinder Metal Art

Then one lovely spring day this year I got out the lathe and made the last parts, here the stretchers. This time I gave them a slight barrel shape in order to better fit the rails

Bandsaws Wood Valve Machine tool Gas

And started drilling holes. This step is super critical and needs to be spot on accurate. Got myself an new-old drill press that are super accurate and runs like a dream

Wood Composite material Gas Hardwood Metal

Tons of holes..
Wood Pattern Composite material Metal Cylinder

Looks neat

Furniture Wood Outdoor furniture Flooring Hardwood

Test fitting. Looks promising!

Table saws Wood Automotive exterior Gas Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

And glueing up

Plant Wood Tree Grass Gas

and the frame together.

Property Plant Wood Gas Cooking

Here the observant reader will notice a break in time again. Spring have turned to summer and a got a new-old table saw

Slope Font Rectangle Parallel Pattern

A critical step is attaching the back rest to the legs. On my prototype chair the back rest have loosened and needed to be repaired. Did not want this to happen so did a lot of reading and research and found that a stepped tennon would be a good method.

Table Table saws Motor vehicle Wood Machine tool

Cut up soem fibre board to make a few jigs. The joints need to be accurate and at the right angle - and do NOT want to mess up at this stage. The new table saw has a sliding table that makes cutting boards and panels a breeze

Outdoor furniture Wood Outdoor table Grass Rectangle

This works like so

Water Wood Cylinder Grass Gas

And, with the help of the saw rest and accurate marking, makes tennons like so. Now just repeat 3 times

Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Tool

And another jig in use to hold the back rest. This drill press is sturdy enough to use with router bits that makes for accurate holes with a flat bottom. Nice when there is not a lot of materials left..

Wood Tool Tree Hardwood Naval architecture

And fitting the mortices with chisels

Wood Grass Plant Groundcover Shrub

A little glue and the chairs are together

Liquid Drinkware Tableware Fluid Plant

4 layers of linseed oil/turpentine/varnish blend

Wood Natural material Grass Plant Outdoor furniture

And we get this

Now onto something else. On the prototype the seat was made from pallet straps. This material is suoper strong and wear resistant so for the right design the perfect material. But there were some challenges getting it to work on my chairs and have desided to abandon it in favor for traditional Danish paper yarn. Here my skills were about zero but found super help in this video series by skilled Calb James. If you are into Mid Century Modern he shares a lot of interesting stuff on Instagram as well.

Wood Woolen Pattern Wire Wool

This comes wrapped in these lovely bundles and makes me want to order a whole lot more just to have the joy of opening the packages.

Wood Rectangle Ruler Office ruler Wood stain

Made myself some shuttles in maple

Nature Plant Outdoor furniture Outdoor table Wood

The Workmate came in handy

Light Wood Line Grass Metal

Getting the first rounds even is the most dificult part

Rectangle Textile Wood Grass Chair

And the final first seat. Not perfect but ok'ish for a first. The next one turned out better

Plant Property Wood Table Tree

And there you have it. Summer vacation ended and I am the happy owner of 2 special dining chairs - and a whole load of experience. Love my cozy worksop and look forward to more time here soon

Table Furniture Wood Chair Interior design

And there they are in the new apartment together with the table I made last summer, similar to this one: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/164674

Of course there are the tiny mistakes that only I see, but overall i could not be more pleased. A lot learned and feel ready for another challenging project.

Hope you anjoyed following along. Let me know if you have questions or coments!
Very well done…..nice chairs.
 

Attachments

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