some more ladderbacks

 we delivered this table to the clients in december of 2016,

and they recently ordered 6 of our ladderback chairs to go with it ... 

fortunately, we made 6 of these recently in novemeber of 2020, 

and we still remembered how

essentially, you start with a bunch of walnut,

make some parts, fire up the cnc and have at it.

over the  years we have made several hundred of these

and we recently converted the files from our old cad/cam

to our new program ... tricky, but, manageable

at some point in the past, we decided to make the mdf seat blanks

which are way faster and way stronger than individual glue blocks

in the corners .. dominoed, glued, pocket screwed, and added

as the front legs and stretchers are glued to the back leg assemblies.

male up some seat blanks for the leather and drop them off at

bespoke upholstery in manchester, vermont. and 

we're all set ... off to see the wizard ... 

an american walnut table

we finished a couple of projects last week and I am just getting time to write about them now ...

this project consisted of am 8 foot walnut table with a steel base

and 8 of our contemporary ladderbacks ..

nice walnut from irion lumber, our usual source

cad drawing .. 44 x 96

the 8/4 boards

three steel bases at the same time .. that doesn't happen often ..

the unfinished table with the polished steel, ready for the 'bronze' patina ..

in the spray booth ... we are using a new custom tinted m l Campbell

envirovar conversion varnish .. closest yet to an oil finish look ...

these, below, have 3 coats of m l Campbell magna lac, in the 'dull rubbed' sheen ..

three other small tables with this project .. 18 x 30 x 21 high above

32 x 32 x 21 here .. all steel bases by sam

and a 54" round coffee table .. no picture yet as the stone was picked up on the way to the delivery .

ditto on the soapstone top for this 42 x 66" steel based kitchen table

and the 18 x 60 bench with the white leather top below ..
apologies for the photos here .. we were in a hurry and the light was tough ..

the three steel table bases below, ready for paint .. 

The Real Ladderback Prototype

It's actually astonishing to me how much time and effort it takes to get a (sort of) new chair design into the production mode ... I have made more than a thousand chairs, probably more like 1500, over the last 30 years and if they're not Windsors (one of my bread and butter items starting out) they're not easy. I've said it before and I'll say it again ... Chairs are sculptures. They have to be comfortable, they have to stay together over time, people have to be able to lean back in them, stand on them, throw them .... the whole deal ... Anyway ... This is I think the 4th edition of this 'new' design and it's the real thing ... We're pleased with it .. it's light, it's comfortable, it's relatively straightforward to build and it passes the 'looks good from all directions test'. Click the pictures to enlarge them ... I really need to put it at a table rather than up on a workbench ...

Hopefully I'll get some finish on it this weekend and get it to New York City

The black one is one of my first 'square' chairs from the late 80's..definitely not a comfortable as the new ladderback

rear silhouette

side view

comparison view

We did a little work on the ladderback prototype (see previous post) at the very end of the day today ... made four rough new smaller, thinner spindles and we think they can be just a shade more delicate yet ... The prototype is definitely more comfortable with the splats closer together ... We're considering lowering the whole chair back from 40" where it is now to maybe 38.5", taller than the "windsor" metal chair at 36.5". Lowering all four as a group will make the negative space between the top of the seat and the bottom of the bottom slat just a bit less empty looking ... It's just a thought and we'll await client input. I'll photograph it this weekend at a table too ... One of us actually likes the 'tallness' of it.... We'll see ... happy halloween .. !!

Updating the Ladderback Chair

Above a French ladder back with wooden seat from the 1800's and a Danish Modern 60's? version by Hans Wegner

Ladderback chairs have been made for over three centuries, in hundreds of forms and sizes by people in many different areas of the world .. I have been asked by a potential client to make a contemporary version of the style, to go with a table they have commissioned. I started with some photos they sent me and one of my own contemporary chairs, the black one shown below ... Since, generally speaking, one can't tell much about a chair from a drawing, we start right in at full size, creating a sketch like prototype which can be refined from there ... We found our first version (top below) a little clunky and leaned back too far ... Our second version is closer and perfectly sittable, but at this point I think I could use some client feedback. I can then quickly explore various slat layouts and sizes in drawings based on the prototype. I think the chair could possibly be a little more comfortable if the splats were closer together but that will change the look ... We'll see where it goes from here ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...

Angles are too leaned back for a ladderback ... The black chair is fine with the solid splat.

Front view of and existing chair desing and the screwed together prototype

Second prototype ... closer, but still feels a little heavy .. This has taken on the feeling of an excercise in how minimal the parts can be and still hold together over time ...

Side view ... a little more like a straightleg ladderback than the top prototype

I'm starting to really like the form and am looking forward to refining it more ...
10/20/09

Chair cad drawing with different cross slat layouts
All the same height, different feel to each one ...