First attempt at chair making...

[Hunter Wallace]

I felt that I needed an additional piece of furniture
for a jurying I was going to have with the League of
New Hampshire Craftsmen, so I thought to myself
"Self, why not make a chair?!?!"
And I must say that lunacy is a state I am becoming
all too familiar with
So, here it is. From design to completion was about
40 hours...mahogany with curly maple.
Let me know what you think and I look forward to any
questions you may have about design, construction, lack
of sleep, etc....

[glenn bradley]

I really like it. The flowing lines from the seat apron down the legs give it a very solid look even with the tapered legs. Very nice.

[Charles Jackson III]

Nice looking chair.

[Craig Zettle]

Very nice Hunter. Let me tell you, designing your own chair is definitely the way to go on your first. I made the BIG mistake of buying a very expensive pattern, and ended up walking away from it because it was printed in english, but when I read it (over and over again) it came out greek.

If they don't love it, they're nuts. It's a beaut.

[Jameel Abraham]

Fantastic for a first chair. Especially the bottom half. The legs are very elegant and refined.

One caveat, what the heck is the that thing in the upper right?

chair.JPG

[Hunter Wallace]

Good eyes Jameel!!!
I'm not quite sure...the gallery where
the jurying took place had a few
crafts on display, and I didn't dare move
it for the picture! It was an interesting
piece though

[Dan Oliphant]

Hunter, first off, I have never made a chair, but I do know they can be difficult. With that said, the style is not appealing to me because of the proportions of the back and base. The base seems "heavy" and the back seems too slight for the base.
The workmanship is outstanding, and I suspect you did very well with this piece, again well done.

[Ralph Dobbertin]

I like the proportions. Seems strong and sophisticated. Great design and great work

[jim gossage]

i'd be proud to have that as my tenth chair! the joints of the legs to the frame look especially interesting.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Nice work! It looks like it was difficult to build. I especially like how you attached the legs to the stretcher in keeping with the soft curves. Again, well done.

-Jeff

[Don Bullock]

While it's not the style I like, I applaud your craftsmanship. You have a good choice of woods. The contrast is excellent and well toought out. Chairs are not easy to make and if this is the first one I'd love to see more from you.

[Jim Becker]

That's really nice work, Hunter!

[Rich Torino]

Hunter,
that's just a great piece. I really like the shape of the fron legs.

[Hunter Wallace]

Thanks for the kind words and constructive input guys...
I know that stylistic appreciation varies greatly between
us all here and that's one of the things I really like about
SMC. Dan's comment about the base appearing heavy
and the top appearing slight are right on, and even though
I think his observation would be common for some people
I sort of approached the design with the thought that the
base should appear a little heavier...giving that sense of being
grounded I guess...and the back sort of looking lifted up. I don't
know how to better explain it but I think most of us who design
things in a style we're comfortable or familiar with may tend to
enjoy the observations but must remain, to a certain degree,
"unappologetic" when we have a conviction in what we do...
So, thanks Dan for making me think about what you said. It
will probably make me more aware of "seeing" things in different
ways!

[Brian Penning]

Overall I like the chair quite a bit. Don't like the back too much. If there were 3 backslats it would be more balanced and perfect to my eyes.