The Cockatoo Chair

I know, I know … there’s a METAL chair in here and this is a woodworking site. It’s actually our latest project, a collaboration between a potentail client, my son, and I. The client has had a picture of a similar chair, clipped from a magazine in the (believe it or not) 60’s, she informed me last night. My son is the metalworker, and I, by default am the assistant chair designer. The point here is to consider the chair and it’s design. I have designed a lot of different chairs over the last 30 years, maybe 20 or so, (few profitably), but they’re always interesting because of the nature of the process and the thrill you get when they go out the door finished. I posted the other chair pictures here to show the universalness (surely there’s a better word than that) of the process. Our current project is sort of a metal Windsor with front legs from my transitional chairs in the fifth picture above. Mix and match … I post below some of the rules I have devised over the years regarding chair design : #1. It’s a sculpture…. it has to look good from all five sides (including the top view) #2. It should look like a chair that maybe you’d want to sit in… some folks try to ignore this one #3. You have to be able to build it not once, but probably a bunch of times. KISS (keep it simple stupid) at every opportunity. #4. Every body is different … if you can, it’s always good to have someone about 6’4 and 250 pounds or so try out your prototype. Even if you can’t have that happen, think about it while you’re working … #5. Take on a project like this for the design and process challenge …. you might not go broke, but you’ll likely not be vacationing in Fiji after your next custom chair commission … #6. Enjoy the process ….
More info here … 'Sketching in Metal'
And here … 'Update on the Cockatoo Chairs'
Good luck with your next chair project …

-- dan,vermont,http://dorsetcustomfurniture.blogspot.com/