Contemporary Lounge Chair

[Joel Thomas Runyan]

Cross-posted from the ol' Woodnet, because there's always much fruitful discussion here. I normally don't post my work because I'm lazy about documentation and photography.



The design drawing. Some of you might have seen my previous posts about this style of design. I can talk through it if anyone is interested.







The finished product. (Client had just moved in, requests pardon on the clothing.) Solid cherry throughout, poplar used in the seat boards. Satin varnish over Sealcoat, then a little bit of wax. Upholstery was done locally. Didn't come out exactly how I wanted, but I blame that on my not knowing anything about upholstery before the project.









Shop shots:









Joinery detail. I sometimes use different metals as wedges, but opted for soft maple.







Leg in the rough. They were laminated out of 6/4 material, each half of the larger mortises cut before glue-up of the massive lap joints.

[Brian Holcombe]

Looks nice, very nicely detailed. It took me a few looks before I realized the reason for the stopped grooves....those are double wegdes. Very interesting and a unique way to keep the wedges.

[Christopher Charles]

Hello Joel,

Nice looking piece indeed. I'd be interested in hearing more about you design process or where I could read previous posts..

Thanks for taking time to post.

[Tom Giles]

Lovely work

[James Pallas]

Joel The joinery on your chair is very nicely done. The tenons and wedging is interesting way to deal with the angles.
Jim

[Rob Luter]

Nice work. Is it comfy?

[Pat Barry]

Nice chair. Can you tell us what's under the cushions?

[Joel Thomas Runyan]

Hello Joel,

Nice looking piece indeed. I'd be interested in hearing more about you design process or where I could read previous posts..

Thanks for taking time to post.

Here's a post I made soaking wet on Woodnet a few months ago about a shelf: https://forums.woodnet.net/archive/i...d-7264228.html. And from time to time, I'll take other folks' work and adapt it to my method of drafting to see how well it fits. I did this most recently with a Derek Cohen piece in a certain locked thread about things I should be learning.

My design process is always more or less this: I gather as many physical constraints as I can; being spaces a piece needs to fit, sizes of the people to be using it, &c. I order these according to priority, and parameters of deviation--that is, seldom does anything need to be *exactly* a certain size. Amongs the ratio of the highest priority numbers, I determine the closest simple geometric constants. (There is a relatively small list of these that I think any designer should be intimately familiar with, mathematically, and in approximation.) I draw the shapes for which these ratios fit, and then I simply play with other shapes and lines--always striving for simplicity, and the connection of significant points--until I have all the parts I want. I find that this method, given a decent "eye", tends more than any other to produce pieces of interest and visual harmony. It's hard to hit a dead end when it's so easy to doodle.

[Joel Thomas Runyan]

Nice work. Is it comfy?

It is super comfy. I attribute this mostly to the quality of foam used in the upholstery. The angle of the back (120 degrees) feels pretty loungey, as it were. I had intended it to be otherwise, but for reasons of time and cost, we went with flat cushions.

[Joel Thomas Runyan]

Nice chair. Can you tell us what's under the cushions?

There is a substantial cleat edge-jointed to the primary stretchers, and 3/4 poplar boards for the seat. They're rabbeted to 1/2 inch on the ends, and also tongue and grooved.

[John Kananis]

Very elegant design.