Reply To: Dining chair

My few pennies:

Working on 4 sets at a time of each of the sub-assemblies (back frame -posts, front frame, and side rails) allows for maximising the use of wood, simplifies dimensioning, and should – hopefully – keep the parts sufficiently stable. This approach should also reduce “creep” in dimensions, as one piece can serve as reference for its copies, and gauges can be kept set. As there will be repetitions of each operation, there can advantages from using guides, fixtures, and templates. Then – possibly – repetitions might improve outcomes. Finally, the risk of running out of clamps should be gone. [b]{Drawback}[/b]: At times it might feel like no progress at all is being made (having just completed 8 more or less congruent web frames.

Preparing every item for one Grande Finale gluing up does not work for me. The precision isn’t there, and available wood will mostly not stay stable after dimensioning.

Preparing and presenting one chair at a time is likely to provoke more or less polite questions from the customer on when remaining chairs will be delivered. The approach of sub assemblies not only deflect such, potentially unpleasant, inquiries; but also allows for pointing out that the importance of all four chairs looking the same, as to why “this will take some time” …