[HN Gopher] I made a chair
___________________________________________________________________
I made a chair
Author : surprisetalk
Score : 310 points
Date : 2025-05-31 06:24 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (milofultz.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (milofultz.com)
| wonger_ wrote:
| The instructions, I think: https://www.instructables.com/One-
| Board-Minimalist-Chair/
| kreelman wrote:
| Thanks for that! I like that hardware is getting covered on HN
| :-)
| verisimi wrote:
| With pleasing circularity, the original post for this
| discussion, is referenced on the instructables page as one of
| the 17 people confirmed to have made it.
| hcarvalhoalves wrote:
| This is the first chair one can make, it's a common pre-
| industrial chair design. Search for "tribal chair" or "2-piece
| chair" for examples.
|
| It gets even better with wood carving (rather than building out
| of straight planks):
|
| https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/chairs/african-sol...
| cgio wrote:
| And gets pricier too. The prices are absolutely eye watering!
| aziaziazi wrote:
| How do you carve solid wood board ?
|
| I've done ten's of carving by gluing thin layers in a mold to
| create carved plywood. Those are extra strong but required to
| use quite a lot of glue and get the right thickness wood
| veneers. Would love to learn the solid board way.
|
| edit: fined tuned my English today: seems carving means
| sculpting and not bending.
| Someone wrote:
| Bending solid wood is something you do while it grows. See
| for example https://fullgrown.co.uk/,
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espalier or
| https://www.core77.com/posts/27263/Polands-Forgotten-
| Crooked...
| phito wrote:
| I've seen people doing it with steam
| shaftway wrote:
| And you can bend surprisingly thick wood with steam. I
| attended a demonstration where someone bent a maple 2 by 4
| (1.5" x 3.5"). It took about 6 people and two tries (the
| first one splintered, probably not steamed enough).
| bradly wrote:
| In my chairs I just sculpt the back out of eight quarter with
| an angle grinder. More production focused wood workers are
| using multi-axis routers/cncs.
|
| The english term for what you are referring to in bent
| lamination which is done by taking a piece of wood, slicing
| it to sections with a thin kerf blade, soaking in water, and
| then clamping to a form and gluing back together. This is how
| Russ Filbeck creates his classic presidential rocker.
| hcarvalhoalves wrote:
| The traditional methods of "carving" I know about are using
| an adze [1] and controlled burning [2].
|
| [1] https://engineeringlearn.com/wp-
| content/uploads/2021/07/Adze...
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dwAu6RIQURo
| ortusdux wrote:
| Here is an ultralight carbon fiber backpacking version:
|
| https://youtu.be/-GEwwMbqU2o
| xnx wrote:
| Clear example of why people like TikTok. There's no reason that
| video should be 10 minutes.
| woleium wrote:
| There is a "ten minute rule" for youtube video to maximize
| reach / clout / whatever the kids are looking for.
| spencerflem wrote:
| Its ad revenue, I think. Yt pays out more for that length
| since it has midroll ads.
| jader201 wrote:
| I just watched the whole thing, and I didn't mind.
|
| I feel like people have just gotten so used to 10-second
| videos, and anything longer now feels like an eternity.
|
| I really hope people don't stop making longer form videos in
| favor of TikTok-sized videos.
| neilv wrote:
| But, clicking around randomly, it seems that this video has
| been dragged out in length for no reason other than to be
| longer, presumably for YouTube financial (perverse)
| incentives.
| jader201 wrote:
| For sure, I'm not advocating intentionally lengthening
| videos for financial incentives, either.
|
| I guess I didn't immediately get that impression when I
| watched it, but I wasn't watching it with that in mind.
|
| My point is I don't mind filler in videos, if it's true
| to what's naturally happening.
|
| But intentionally adding filler is, indeed, poor form.
| gherkinnn wrote:
| I don't watch any reels/shorts/etc and find this style of
| bloated YT video unbearable. I am all for long form videos,
| but have the decency to go beyond an empty vessel for ads.
| seszett wrote:
| Not sure about TikTok, but in this video and YouTube in
| general, you can just directly go to where most people go,
| and this way (I'm always a bit amazed that this actually
| works) you can generally see the actually important points of
| the video.
| MangoToupe wrote:
| TikTok caps video length. Indeed, the #1 issue with youtube
| is the videos are way too long. (Also the ads, and
| comments, recommendations, search, etc,) but video length
| is certainly why I haven't bothered to watch anything on
| youtube for a long time (edit: logged in. I still watch
| clips people send me ofc in the group chat ofc). I'd delete
| my account if it weren't tied to my email for some
| inexplicable reason.
| odysseus wrote:
| How do you "directly go to where most people go"? Assuming
| you don't have timestamps in the comments or video
| description.
| itishappy wrote:
| The wave when you hover over the progress bar is a graph
| of popularity.
|
| https://i.imgur.com/XO6cUo5.png
|
| Edit: Wait... Does everybody see this? It's not on all
| videos, but it's on most for me, but my girlfriend says
| she never noticed it. I can't find any articles claiming
| it was ever fully rolled out, so maybe it's a premium
| feature? Here's the vid if anybody wants to check:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq_lJM1cKNQ
| GuB-42 wrote:
| I agree, but would be even worse as a TikTok video.
|
| Shorts are absolutely terrible as product reviews. The point
| of a product review is to explore different aspects and use
| cases, otherwise it is an ad. It doesn't mean that long
| videos can't be ads, but short videos can't be anything but
| ads (if positive).
|
| Shorts have a place, TikTok is great for silly dance moves,
| magic tricks, or people working really fast. You can even
| have short form educative content, though it usually doesn't
| go further than random trivia. But product reviews just don't
| work, unless they are ads. And in fact, ads don't even work
| that well as people tend to forget about them quickly.
| quantadev wrote:
| That carbon fiber seat is cool. Could be made to integrate
| right into the back of a backpack (like the rigid frame), to
| help the backpack stay rigid during use, so it's kind of dual
| purpose.
| pimlottc wrote:
| For those curious, the price is US$350
| jader201 wrote:
| Direct link to the chair:
|
| https://rovagear.com/products/rova-chair
|
| (Not an endorsement. Just if you're curious.)
| user_of_the_wek wrote:
| I find it weird that low weight is one of the main selling
| points of this product, but they don't say how much it is.
| unwind wrote:
| Yes, weird. I also liked this part:
|
| _Embers from a fire won't burn the surface (If removed
| quickly)._
|
| I think that is true for many surface materials, and that
| "quickly" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It also
| completely fails to communicate whether or not a carbon
| fiber chair is "safe enough" around an open fire. Annoying.
| scotty79 wrote:
| It's not made out of thermoplastic so probably you don't
| need to remove them that "quickly". Just not let them sit
| on there.
| pnut wrote:
| After digging around, the FAQ says "approximately 2 lb"
| gibibit wrote:
| Obviously they don't put the weight on the product main
| page, that is absolutely heavy.
|
| The Helinox Chair Zero is the standard by which all
| backpacking chairs are compared
| https://helinox.com/products/chair-zero - and it is 1 lb
| 1 oz.
|
| And then some people mod these chairs, like this similar
| one that was reduced to 13 oz.
| https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/chair-
| enlightening...
| roskelld wrote:
| When I heard that a friend had bought one of these for a
| week long canoe trip we were going on I thought it was
| absurd. The idea of taking such a home comfort on a
| camping trip went against everything I felt camping stood
| for. Then I tried it, then I bought one, now I take it on
| every camping trip I make.
|
| It's so light it adds basically nothing to your carry
| weight. It takes seconds to put together. It's insanely
| comfortable. Kicking back in it after a long day's hike
| or canoe whilst prodding at the camp fire is such a joy.
|
| I put it alongside my thermarest as a thing I never felt
| I'd ever buy and now use on every trip.
| beAbU wrote:
| The ultralight community never ceases to amaze me.
|
| I always thought it was all about _travel as light as possible_
|
| But I think it's more about _travel with as many things as
| possible_ - the lightness of the objects is just an emergent
| requirement in order to not break your back.
|
| I've done my fair share of hiking, longest being a 90km 5-day
| hike in the Namibian desert, with no facilities save for a
| river. Weight was a big factor, because you needed to pack food
| for at least 8 days to be safe and there is nowhere to get food
| once you start the hike. What equipment you pack and the weight
| of said equipment weight had to be kept at a minimum.
|
| Having said that...
|
| A chair or other seating arrangement was by a large margin the
| lowest priority item on my list. There is one giant chair under
| our feet the whole time: the ground. And if that is not
| suitable, finding a stump or a rock or whatever to sit on is
| really not that hard and it's infinitely more environmentally
| friendly.
| cinntaile wrote:
| No sane hiker brings a chair along on a 4+ hiking trip.
| CrimsonCape wrote:
| Glass half empty: No sane hiker brings a chair along on a
| 4+ hiking trip.
|
| Glass half full: If I cut 14 oz of weight out of this pack
| by removing zipper pulls, straps, cords, carrying cases,
| and switch everything to 10x cost titanium, the chair is
| practically free.
| bradly wrote:
| > The ultralight community never ceases to amaze me.
|
| The ultralight community doesn't typically touch this stuff.
| This is sold to traditional backpackers that are drawn to the
| allure of ultralight.
| yboris wrote:
| Soon I'll be making a 2-piece footrest (imagine a T shape up-
| side-down leaning towards you - giving lower leg and foot sole
| complete support). A friend said it was a very comfortable (and
| instantly customizable due to tilt angle) design.
|
| I've been a web dev for 8 years but my heart is in woodworking
| for the next many years :)
| marzetti wrote:
| Some ideas here!
| https://www.martinogamper.com/project/a-100-chairs-in-a-100-...
| california-og wrote:
| I can also highly recommend Enzio Mari's Autoprogettazione
| furniture. Although slightly more involved in construction, all
| you need is standard planks, hand saw, a hammer and some nails.
| The instruction PDF can be found online (chairs in the latter
| half):
|
| https://syllabus.pirate.care/library/Enzo%20Mari/Autoprogett...
| globalnode wrote:
| Very nice! thanks for that. I really like basic agricultural do
| it yourself furniture. We should reclaim our furniture and be
| less dependent on IKEA et al. I'm defo going to try the
| adjustable table at the top of the pdf, thats a work of art.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| Ironically, companies like Ikea have started selling products
| aimed at people making their own furniture; the "outdoor
| bench made from pallets" is pretty popular, and ikea & co
| sell cushions just for those.
|
| I never understood those tbh, used pallets are splintery. I
| wouldn't be surprised if you can buy pallets specifically
| made for use in upcycle projects.
|
| fake edit after a quick search: yup, you can buy readymade
| pallet benches or benches "inspired by" pallet projects.
|
| https://www.online-pallets.nl/products/pallet-bank-2-hoog-
| me...
|
| https://www.karwei.nl/assortiment/wakefield-palletbank-
| lina-...
| datadrivenangel wrote:
| Like Amazon continuing the DIY door desk long after it
| became more expensive than just buying desks. For some
| reason, people will pay a premium for the refurbished
| industrial look.
| grogenaut wrote:
| My understanding is that Amazon continues it for 2
| reasons: it's similar priced, but more importantly they
| can get the doors at massive scale and they're the same.
| Styles, colors, materials with desks change over time.
| They have to source sometimes ~10k desktops in a quarter
| with little lead time. You can't do this with desks but
| you can with doors.
|
| Or this is why they told us we wouldn't get white desks
| in Seattle when we had em in sfo. Even though we got the
| same legs.
| GuinansEyebrows wrote:
| > I wouldn't be surprised if you can buy pallets
| specifically made for use in upcycle projects.
|
| thanks, i hate it ("it" being the recuperation of DIY)
| aredox wrote:
| What is interesting also in Enzo Mari's concept is that there
| is no instructions, you have to figure out the best order of
| operations and how to offset some planks with others.
|
| For those of you who start from really zero and have no idea
| how to start, here is a step-by-step for a couple of pieces:
| https://lieu-subjectif.com/documents/caue-22-rietveld-mari.p...
|
| If really you want a "cheat sheet", there's whole book to help:
| https://filmandfurniture.com/product/hammer-nail-making-and-...
|
| But try not to use it too much, because it really defeats the
| purpose of Mari, which it is to get people to "think with their
| hands".
|
| Digging through the legacy and follow-ups of Autoprogettazione
| is also interesting:
|
| https://lieu-subjectif.com/documents/autoprogettazione-revis...
|
| https://greg.org/archive/mari-x-ikea.pdf
|
| The "Harz IV" (Germany's working poors) furniture project:
| https://www.guggenheim.org/articles/lablog/hartz-iv-mobel-it...
|
| Simple Japanese Furniture by Monomono / KAK Design Group:
| https://woodworkersinstitute.com/simple-japanese-furniture-c...
|
| https://www.core77.com/posts/42562/Nomadic-Furniture-DIY-Des...
|
| And and and last but not least, the great Christopher Schwarz
| and team at Last Art Press just got out a whole video serie and
| book on how to make a highly respectable chair design from very
| basic materials and tools:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pWLHAJr5zI
|
| Note also that _Lost Art Press_ makes their books free after
| some time after first publication, and have a very interesting
| blog:
|
| https://blog.lostartpress.com/2024/12/27/download-ingenious-...
|
| https://blog.lostartpress.com/
| gk1 wrote:
| And if you love the look but don't want to build it and have
| a spare $18k laying around, just buy one:
| https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/dining-room-
| tables/...
| frereubu wrote:
| This reminds me of the Segal Method of housebuilding:
| https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Segal_Method
|
| Two of the core ideas are that the majority of the work can be
| undertaken by a single person with basic carpentry skills,
| using readily-available materials in standard sizes so there is
| minimal cutting and waste.
| regularfry wrote:
| I'm always intrigued by the Segal method, but it's so closely
| tied to the sizes of construction materials available at the
| time and I can't help wondering if anything has changed
| since.
| frereubu wrote:
| I'm sure it requires a bit of rethinking here or there, but
| there's a group of houses in Brighton, UK, that did it in
| the late 90s, a long time after Segal's original ideas:
| https://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/grand-designs-
| houses/he...
|
| I've been thinking about doing this, and my main thought is
| that the insulation standards were probably effectively
| non-existent at the time, beyond "as few draughts as
| possible"!
|
| Edit: not sure if these will be geo-blocked, but there are
| a couple of programmes about that project here:
|
| Build: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-
| designs/on-demand/...
|
| Revisit 10+ years later:
| https://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/on-
| demand/...
| turtlebits wrote:
| Having built a couple of smaller structures, I don't see why
| these can't be done today. Ignoring the current trend of
| building for curb appeal instead of practicality, you can
| build a house using standard size materials (8/10/12/16
| foot). Even studs come in 92 5/8" to accomodate for
| top/bottom plates in 8 foot walls.
| bArray wrote:
| Just looking through that PDF, unlike the chair in the blog,
| some of that furniture is not as robust. Pages 46 & 47 the load
| rests on the corner of the wood, and pages 46, 47 & 52 add
| almost all load onto the screws.
|
| The chair in the blog benefits from essentially having all load
| bearing done by the wood, any screws or nails would be
| superficial only. We have several good hard wood chairs here
| with dove tail joints and spring based cushions - and they are
| excellent.
| sandworm101 wrote:
| The chair in the blog is not robust. It is simple, but not
| robust. It contains a hinge with an extreem amount of force
| placed on a small area of wood. It will deform very quickly,
| changing the angle of the recline. Similarly, the sharp
| points in contact with the ground will wear/weather quickly,
| putting it out of level. Rustic and utilitarian, but not
| meant to last. Imho.
| aredox wrote:
| I think you should check your own knowledge before double-
| guessing Enzo Mari - a designer who did the work and had
| extensive knowledge of form and materials spanning decades.
|
| This is not an ""argument from authority" but "Chesterton's
| Fence".
| tshaddox wrote:
| Both of those types of arguments are false.
| soperj wrote:
| It's like brutalism furniture design. woof.
| aredox wrote:
| Can it be brutalist when you have the richness of wood in
| full diplay, veins, shimmer and knots all apparent?
|
| And nothing stops you to paint them or engrave them.
|
| Is a wooden box "brutalist" too? It is a box. It is square.
| Is the the same as a square windowless concrete building?
| WillEngler wrote:
| > Can it be brutalist when you have the richness of wood in
| full display, veins, shimmer and knots all apparent?
|
| Insofar as brutalism is about showcasing the raw building
| materials, yes, I think this is precisely what brutalism is
| about. Brutalism often uses concrete, but the big idea is
| to showcase the underlying material. (And if wood is more
| beautiful than concrete, great!)
| peter422 wrote:
| This chair is made from pressure treated wood. Technically
| speaking, it is safe to sit on, but personally I'd like to avoid
| those chemicals against my skin if I could. Regular lumber
| probably would be preferable, especially when it would take $10
| and 20 minutes to replace it after 5 years when it has rotted (or
| you could spring for redwood or cedar for an extra $10 and double
| or triple the life of your chair).
| asdefghyk wrote:
| RE ...pressure treated wood.... In my country such timber is
| banned in certain situations - for example children's
| playgrounds ...
| mbrock wrote:
| I'd rather have my kids play on pressure treated timber than
| rotting timber...
| adrianN wrote:
| Fortunately those are not the only two options.
| foobarian wrote:
| Right, just look at our local playgrounds: no more wood
| anywhere in sight, just faux-wood plastic that never rots
| but just slowly sheds microplastics into the environment
| dingdingdang wrote:
| So true.. plus all the "plush" plastic pellet "landings"
| rather than simply dirt cause oh no: someone may get into
| contact with some microbes.. gotta keep those allergy
| numbers rolling. /s
| sgt wrote:
| As a parent you just spend a minute or two inspecting a
| playground. It's easy to spot something that is rotting.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| That's a false dichotomy and I'm sure you can do better.
| keyle wrote:
| I'm not familiar with this. What are the dangers?
| steamrolled wrote:
| Back in the olden days, pressure-treated wood contained
| compounds of arsenic and chromium. This made it pretty
| terrible to cut, sand, burn, etc.
|
| The warnings persist in part because older wood still has
| that problem, so "reclaimed wood" projects can be risky. That
| said, since mid-2000s, wood in the US and the EU is treated
| primarily with much safer copper compounds. Copper isn't
| hugely toxic to humans at the levels you're likely to be
| exposed to from wood.
|
| To be fair, the treatment often also includes an organic
| fungicide (the "azole" part in "copper azole"), which is
| probably not understood as well as copper.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| That puts me in mind of old railway sleepers being used for
| garden projects like raised beds and low walls. They were
| treated with ??? something, in summer the black tar would
| leech out of them.
| dugmartin wrote:
| The are treated with creosote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosote
| motorest wrote:
| > I'm not familiar with this. What are the dangers?
|
| Wood is typically treated with nasty chemicals. For example,
| formaldehyde is extensively used in these applications, and
| it's linked with cancer.
|
| https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-
| prevention/chemicals/form...
| jdhendrickson wrote:
| Most pressure treated lumber eschews the old arsenic method.
| Most only have copper and an anti fungal (Tebuconazole) in it.
| Perfectly safe for an outdoor chair.
| Bluestrike2 wrote:
| The problem with using modern pressure treated wood for
| outdoor furniture is less any cancer risks like with the old
| CCA treatments, and more that it's just a bad choice for a
| bunch of different reasons.
|
| Modern copper-based treatments--e.g. ACQ or CA--still cause
| skin and eye irritation. If you try to sand it so that people
| sitting in your new chair don't get a nasty splinter
| somewhere best avoided, you can compromise the effectiveness
| of the treatment (even when the treatment gets full
| penetration, it's still most effective on the outer layers
| you're now sanding away). Plus, while the dust you create
| when working with it might not include arsenic, it's still
| nasty to breathe in and can cause respiratory problems.
| Staining P/T wood can be a whole ordeal in itself, and
| because interact much more closely with furniture than say a
| deck, any imperfections will be more noticeable.
|
| Even then, it's not like P/T furniture isn't going to require
| ongoing maintenance in the future. At which point, you're
| better off with something like cedar or white oak. Hell, with
| a decent outdoor grade finish and proper care, even untreated
| pine is going to last for years without rotting away
| underneath you.
| bbarnett wrote:
| You can buy normal wood, then apply treatments afterwards,
| then stain or what not.
|
| Still trouble when the chair is at end of life, and you
| burn or bury it.
| foobarian wrote:
| With a product this simple to make and prices of wood and
| finishing chemicals what they are I don't know if I'd
| even bother with finishing, but just remake.
| dcrazy wrote:
| In many parts of the world, an untreated wood outdoor
| chair would only survive a season or two before
| atmospheric moisture ruined it.
| euroderf wrote:
| Basic weatherproofing treatments for basic lumber ? There's
| tar, which nobody does at home. There's wood oil. What else
| is there ? Do I have other options ?
| harrall wrote:
| Varnish like polyutherane.
|
| Here's what I use for furniture that I build:
|
| - My planters use red cedar, often bare.
|
| - My outdoor furniture use a wood oil plus polyutherane.
|
| - My indoor furniture use just wood oil.
|
| But that's only in general. There are other
| considerations like impact resistance and spills that can
| stain the wood so you have to decide what combination of
| wood type and treatments work for your goal.
| bArray wrote:
| We used to treat wood with oil (literally from kitchen oil to
| motor oil). Apparently the Japanese burn theirs to treat it
| [1]. I don't think you have to leave it to rot out.
|
| [1] https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Burn-Stain-Wood-Aka-
| Sho...
| harrall wrote:
| We still treat wood with oil. Your local home improvement
| store should stock a bunch and you'll find more at a
| woodworking store.
|
| You can also add a sealant on top like polyutherane if you
| want it to last even longer at the cost of imparting a
| different texture.
| 0_____0 wrote:
| A simple urethane or even latex paint would suffice to protect
| untreated wood from the elements
| mehulashah wrote:
| The best part about this chair is that its design is timeless.
| vojtechrichter wrote:
| I have one of these, the only issue is that you can't lean too
| much forward, otherwise you're going to fall :D
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| > I sealed up the ends using end cut sealer
|
| Oh. Just realized I have a lot of unsealed end cuts on my latest
| projet
| hereonout2 wrote:
| Been making things with wood for a while now, never used or
| heard of cut sealer! I usually put some type of finish on,
| maybe more on the ends as they absorb it better, but not just
| specifically on cuts.
| regularfry wrote:
| I usually put an extra couple of coats of whatever the finish
| is on end grain. It does soak right in.
| seblon wrote:
| I had never seen this type of chair before moving to Senegal as
| an expat. For several months, I didn't try them because I assumed
| they must be incredibly uncomfortable. To be honest, most are
| made from thinner wood (people here are really poor!), so they
| didn't look very sturdy either.
|
| But a few weeks ago, I visited a local woodworker and ordered one
| of these chairs. I had to let go of all my previous prejudices -
| this type of chair is surprisingly comfortable and stable. And
| it's even useful for certain "other" activities :-D
| world2vec wrote:
| OK, I'll bite: what "other" activities? Am I being too dense?
| :O
| quickthrowman wrote:
| Yes, you're being too dense ;)
|
| They're talking about the chair being useful during sex.
| tasuki wrote:
| I'd hazard a guess the other activities involve more than one
| person...
| y-curious wrote:
| Imo, it looks a bit uncomfortable for chess, but whatever
| floats your boat dude
| nomel wrote:
| If you tilt it up 90 degrees, you can use it like a see-
| saw.
| brador wrote:
| You're already there with the cutter, I would cut more holes to
| allow different sizing.
| denzil wrote:
| When it comes to woodworking, I quite enjoyed watching some of
| the videos of Granpa Amu on youtube. When I seen him make table
| from one piece of wood, it felt like magic.
|
| Link for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/@GrandpaAmu
| skeptrune wrote:
| Equivalent of vibe coding a mini tool to replace some SaaS
| product you might have paid for
| patapong wrote:
| Neat! I am jealous of people who make physical stuff with their
| hands, seems so satisfying. I grow some plants, which brings a
| feeling of joy compared to buying from the store, even though the
| latter is much easier.
|
| If anyone is interested in chairmaking, I can recommend the book
| "The Use of Weapons", by Iain M. Banks. (/s)
| silversmith wrote:
| I have the good fortune of working in an office, with easy
| access to never-ending physical labour options courtesy of
| relatives living in the countryside.
|
| Every now and then the issues of IT projects make me say "screw
| it all, I'm going to be a lumberjack". And then I go work the
| chainsaw for a weekend, and come back thankful for the office
| chair in a climate controlled room.
|
| Working with your hands is great meditation in small doses, but
| brutal when you need to do it enough to make a living.
| regularfry wrote:
| The FORTH of chairs.
| jmkd wrote:
| Fun little project but there's no way a circular saw is an
| incorrect tool, see for example
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3R856PUt1c
| regularfry wrote:
| Another "next step" to follow on from this is the Anarchist's
| Design Book: https://lostartpress.com/products/the-anarchists-
| design-book
|
| It starts out not much more complicated than this and builds to a
| surprising array of furniture projects with a very small number
| of techniques. Although the actual materials are a bit annoying:
| it leans heavily on cut nails and specifically not the more easy
| to buy wire nails you usually see in DIY shops.
|
| But also, the book is a physically gorgeous artefact in its own
| right. The illustrations are delicious.
| Aziell wrote:
| This chair looks really interesting. It's extremely simple, but
| also full of character. When you build something yourself, even
| if it's not perfect, it somehow feels more real than something
| you just buy.
| AlecSwanky wrote:
| This guy is the best for basic woodworking:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO6lATthAmE
| Semaphor wrote:
| Cool to see that, those are very common for medieval groups at
| German medieval markets and music festivals.
| ansgri wrote:
| It's _deceptively_ simple.
|
| I have a lot of lumber from previous construction projects, and
| all the basic woodworking tools. I also have some relevant
| skills. Would I be able to build it right now? No, need a wide
| and sturdy board, widest I have is 150x30mm pinewood. Would I
| make one if I had a proper piece of wood? Also no, I just don't
| want to accept the structural weakness here. And this joint
| actually requires some precision, which is not trivial (at least
| for me) with handheld circular saw!
|
| Haven't built a chair yet, but my go-to design would be something
| like Adirondack.
| alistairSH wrote:
| During peak COVID boredom, I made a pair of wine barrel chairs,
| using this design[1]. Old wine barrels can be found reasonably
| cheap and the pattern is easy - only a few cuts, a drill, and
| some screws.
|
| 1 - https://hungarianworkshop.com/wp-
| content/uploads/2014/11/EZ-...
| krunck wrote:
| Anybody wanting to get started making regular chairs using
| traditional methods I highly recommend Make a Chair from a Tree
| by Jennie Alexander:
|
| https://lostartpress.com/products/make-a-chair-from-a-tree
|
| In the book she starts with the basics and works up to assembly
| including woven seats. These are beautiful lightweight chairs.
| Even if you don't build the chair, it's a great lesson in
| wooworking.
| MaDeuce wrote:
| Thanks for reminding me that I haven't been to the Lost Art
| Press site in a while. I have a few of their books; they are
| fantastic. If you are interested in quality woodworking tools
| and high-quality woodworking books (both in terms of content as
| well as binding and paper), check them out.
|
| I hadn't seen their "Build a Chair from Bullshit" book before.
| I've always been a little intimidated at the thought of
| building a chair, but this one looks like it's easy to build
| and has nice lines. Definitely more involved than the OP's
| chair, but it still looks still approachable with basic tools
| and skills.
|
| https://blog.lostartpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BAC...
|
| Edit: As mentioned in dlbucci's comment below, I forgot to
| mention that it's available for free as a downloadable PDF book
| as well as for purchase as high quality bound book on their
| site. If you have any interest in an easy to build chair with
| an attractive design, it's worth a look.
| dlbucci wrote:
| It's a new book (and free!). There's also a YouTube series
| where they build it, so I'm very tempted to make my first
| chair now.
| parham wrote:
| Looks like a minimalist Rietveld chair! Nice job
| stronglikedan wrote:
| Even the most mundane posts are a learning opportunity. While I
| already knew about this style of chair, I didn't know "end cut
| sealer" existed. TIL!
| imetatroll wrote:
| With the long tail, maybe repeat the same slotted pattern forming
| a triangle (of sorts) so that the tail can be shorter (and will
| be elevated from the ground). Just be careful not to make it too
| narrow.
| bsoles wrote:
| This excellent and free (pdf) book "The Stick Chair Book" might
| be of interest: https://lostartpress.com/products/the-stick-
| chair-book
|
| Also there is the "Anarchist" wood working books that are also
| excellent and free on the same site.
| mhb wrote:
| Grandpa Amu also makes a chair:
|
| https://youtu.be/XWnC22NSk50?si=TSdYkqf1PZLLIkc3
| Eduard wrote:
| reverse image search shows this construction named "viking chair"
| odysseus wrote:
| With a lot of patience, you can also grow a chair. Check out the
| header image on https://www.pooktre.com
| ReflectedImage wrote:
| Minimal Viable Product obtained!
| jmhobbs wrote:
| I built some Leopold benches a few years ago, great bench and
| nearly as simple to build as this chair. Maybe simpler as there
| is no cutouts or narrowing like OP.
|
| https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/Woodworking-for-...
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