Danish Cord Bench

I built this bench as a house-warming gift for some friends who are currently going through a major house renovation.  I started designing it at the beginning of January and just finished the build yesterday, so it took about a month of evenings and weekends to complete. 

It has a cherry frame, joined with floating tenons, finished with Rubio Monocoat Pure, and woven with Danish paper cord.  I wanted the woven seat to be uninterrupted along its length when viewed from the top.  I accomplished this by making slots in the rail in locations where wrapping the entire rail wasn't possible.  In those locations, the warp cords (front to back) wrap around the "mini rail" above the slot.

I don't know if the weaving technique has a name, but it's in the style of a Yugoslavian rope chair where no 'L' nails are used.  The cow hitch at the ends of each pair of warp cords is a hallmark of this technique.  The wide band of 8 warp cords in the center of the seat provides a place to hide knots behind as the lengths of the weft cord (side-to-side) are joined together as needed.  This is a bit of cleverness stolen from the Wegner CH-25, which uses that strategy on the chair back.

If I were doing it again, I would spend more time packing the wraps around the rails closer together.  There are a few small gaps that didn't need to be there.   But overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out and hope my friends get some good use out of it.

I took some photos out on the driveway where the overcast skies provided some good lighting.  I also did a test fit of the bench in my own entryway.   I think maybe I need a bench there.  Hmmm...

(The build is blogged here.)