This is a third outdoor chair that I built using scraps of pressure treated SYP decking that were left over from a deck skirting project last year. The first two chairs were replicas of Hans Wegner's GE-375, and this one is a replica of a Ib Kofod-Larsen chair. I could find only two websites with photos of this chair (here's one), which does make me question its attribution to Kofod-Larsen. Regardless, I liked the lines of the chair, and thought that the design would suit the stack of narrow scraps I had available.
The original chair supported the seat and back cushions with a set of parallel Pirelli webbing straps. For this outdoor chair, I opted for laced paracord. The full build is chronicled here, but below are a few photos of the chair coming together.
The biggest challenge was getting the lengths, positions, and angles right for the side assemblies to come together as designed. There were no right angles at any of the 3 butt joints and 1 miter joint to serve as a reference. While the angles all work out on the drawings, once the pieces were cut by a flawed human, they required some fine-tuning to get everything to fit together. Once I had a matching set of side assemblies, the remainder of the build went smoothly. All around, it was a satisfying project.
Pottz commented about 20 hours ago beautiful chair ross. you did a great job working only from a photograph. i wish i had a place to put a couple, looks very comfy !
Thanks, Pottz. I have a similar problem - I don't have any more room for chairs inside the house, so I have to build them for outside. 😁
That's the $64,000 question. I find it comfortable, but my wife does not. In the end, my daughter claimed it as her personal chair, so that puts it in the successful project category.
Thanks, Pottz. I have a similar problem - I don't have any more room for chairs inside the house, so I have to build them for outside. 😁
Have you thought about trying to sell some of these chairs (locally—I would think that shipping would be cost-prohibitive)? You have all of the handy jigs, and you can obviously route the cording quickly. If you live in an artsy area, I can see people being willing to pay good money for your unique chairs. I think you’d quickly build a reputation as the guy who makes those really cool chairs.
Ron Stewart commented about 14 hours ago Have you thought about trying to sell some of these chairs (locally—I would think that shipping would be cost-prohibitive)? You have all of the handy jigs, and you can obviously route the cording quickly. If you live in an artsy area, I can see people being willing to pay good money for your unique chairs. I think you’d quickly build a reputation as the guy who makes those really cool chairs.
Hi Ron. I have thought about it, but haven't spent the time to do much research on where I could sell locally. I did reach out to a local furniture store that carries Amish-made products, but they were not interested. I'm not interested in commissions, but I'm okay selling one-offs. That'll limit my options. But I've not abandoned the idea.
I'm not interested in commissions, but I'm okay selling one-offs. That'll limit my options. But I've not abandoned the idea.
I’be joined, and am keeping an eye on artisans.coop, which hopefully turns into an artisan-owned alternative to Etsy. I don’t know if that would be best for selling something as bulky as a chair, but if it works out, it would be a nice market for smaller things, for sure.
It was that concept that finally convinced me on my Domino decision. Have you considered it?
Are you referring to the Domino connectors? I do have a set of those and did consider using them for a moment for this project. But, they're not nearly as strong as a glued joint, plus, I didn't want the extra holes in the chair frame that are required for set-screw access.
It was that concept that finally convinced me on my Domino decision. Have you considered it?
Are you referring to the Domino connectors?
Yes, that's what I was thinking of. I haven't really put them through their paces except for a few trial joins, so I wasn't sure of their holding strength other than cabinets... and even they were a "what if".
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
I've not used them much either - just on some stationary cabinetry where they are hidden. In that application they work just fine. However, my impression was that when there are racking forces on the joint (like chairs would have) that they allow too much movement. Again, that's just my impression with limited experience with the connectors.
