My last post focussed on getting set up for steam bending so I could produce the arm rails that John Brown used for his cardigan chairs. One piece of stock bent in a “C” shape, rather than the more common 3-piece arm. The result is a lighter, narrower arm.

The steam bending process went smoothly and the rest of the chair came together without drama. I used the scorp and recently built travishers to shape the seat. That was an enjoyable process.

Chair number 7 is the most relaxed chair that I’ve built so far. It has a 1 1/2” drop from front of seat to the back, and the back sticks are set at 110 degrees relative to the seat.

I find the chair to be really comfortable, but Kim does not like the fit at all. I was inclined (hehe) to explain that simply as a matter of personal taste. But last night, as luck would have it, I was re-reading Galen Cranz’s excellent book The Chair. And I came across a section about the complicated world of chairs power and gender. Seems like chairs that recline are particularly contentious. Cranz writes about early Rome where wives could not recline to eat with their husbands, and brings us to the present world of La-Z-Boy chairs. Later on in the book Cranz goes into great detail on the ways that chairs work against health and comfort.

I knew that chairs were complicated, but I had no idea how complicated.

Elm (from the VIWG wood rescue program), aniline dye, shellac, osmo