A good place to start....

[Mark Singer]

We are still working on furniture for the Guest House. On the list now is a wood frame sofa and matching chair. It should be a interesting project and the joinery should offer a challenge. Right now I am just makeing hand sketches which is a very good place to start. Once the design concept takes shape I can make CAD shop drawings...the loose pen style gives a feeling of the piece witout seeming rigid like many Cad drawings.

[David Wilson]

Mark

Drawings look good. Seems most of my origanal plans are on bar napkins. Your drawings look like they could be modified into a futon.

[Ted Shrader]

Mark -

Will there also be tables included in this project? Any thoughts on the upholstery material?

Initial sketches look good!

Ted

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for the reminder, Mark...I have lately been forgetting how valuable pencil sketches can be due to being so enamored by SketchUp!. Your start on this new project is a good example about why being free with just your hands as the drawing tool can be a good thing!

[Keith Christopher]

Oddly enough I draw everything first with a pencil and paper. I can't seem to go into design on the computer. I like the start Mark looks like it will be awesome.

[John Shuk]

Mark,
It looks like a good challenging project. My personal preference would be the 3rd profile down on the right. It leans towards what I see as more traditional and I think some creative sculpting on the arms and supports would lend itself nicely to bring a more contemporary flair. I know you will pull something wonderful out of your hat as seen in past projects.
John

[Mark Stutz]

Mark,
I like the left 3/4 view the best as the angular arms appeal to me more than the continuous curves. I'd be concerned about the comfort of the arms if one was sitting on the end. I like to rest my arms on the arm rest and I'm not sure that would work-- the extreme right view might work better.

[John Shuk]

Am I off base here or on the "Curved arm" rendition do I notice a similarity to the Toy Box pics we saw in General Woodworking last week? Looks like challenging joinery.

[Mark Singer]

Challenge is good! I like the idea of an arm and leg joining and becoming one element and then parting to each perform their designated tasks as it is required, It seem more gracious and flowing to me. More organic and anatomical. It is similar to other work I have built like my lamps and my one leg table..I will try to find those. I don't really like the idea of an arm and a leg just because they can be built seperatly and may be easier to join. A tree grows from its roots and seamlessly becomes the trunk and then the branches the joints don't exist the sculpture flows because it grew that way....this is natures inspiration...a lamp can be a base and a shaft joined or it can flow, effortlessly

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...tid=3560&stc=1

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ht=walnut+lamp


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ht=walnut+lamp

Am I off base here or on the "Curved arm" rendition do I notice a similarity to the Toy Box pics we saw in General Woodworking last week? Looks like challenging joinery.

[Dan Mages]

Those look nice. On the designs with the flowing arm/leg combo, do you plan on using several pieces glued together, or a one piece solution made by laminating several pieces together? The one at the far bottom and the one above it and to the left may pose an ergonomics problem. With the arm starting at the top of the couch and curving down, it will make it hard to use it as an arm rest.

Dan

[John Shuk]

Mark,
I like all of the pieces. In the case of the one legged table, I deem you triumphant over all challenges! Truly an amazing piece. It seems to pass my "beckons to be touched" test.

[Alan Turner]

Mark,
I am more in favor of the organic curves approach, but would want to mock it up a bit to confirm comfort. Furniture is the "functional art", or so says the Furniture Society. There is an article from the ealry 80's in FWW on building a period upholstered sofa, and were I tackling your project, I would want to re-read it for tips on building a frame to properly hold the upholstry.

I once bought tools and wood from a retiring fellow who had primarily made upholstered pieces. We discussed wood choices, and he always used soft maple for the understructure becuase of its ability to take and hold upholstry tacks. He did not do the upholstry work himself.

Were I tackling the curved version, I would be thinking in terms of bent lamination on a shop built form. MIght have to be laid up in several stages.
Alan

[Matt Meiser]

Seems most of my origanal plans are on bar napkins.

At one point a couple years ago, my company was thinking about giving out napkins at a trade show that were printed with our contact info, and large box labeled "Idea Space"

Personally, I like the whiteboard I have hanging in the shop. Unfortunately, so does my 2-1/2 y.o. daughter and once in a while she erases what I've drawn.

[Mark Singer]

Matt,
It just shows you that sketching is a natural way of comunicating with other people and with yourself....that is really the point of this thread. It is not so much about my sofa design...rather it is suggesting the importance of sorting out ideas before you start building. Loose sketches and refined sketches and finally shop drawing that show connections and sizes etc....it is where we should start.....kids figure it out right away and adults well...we like to talk....the better you learn to talk with your pencil the better you can realize the design...fluency through drawings...

At one point a couple years ago, my company was thinking about giving out napkins at a trade show that were printed with our contact info, and large box labeled "Idea Space"

Personally, I like the whiteboard I have hanging in the shop. Unfortunately, so does my 2-1/2 y.o. daughter and once in a while she erases what I've drawn.