Wegner inspired dining chair series #5: Seat weaving and finishing up

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Last time we ended up here:


 
 In the mean time i have been busy researching on methods of weaving seats. Lots of designs to consider... But first we need to finish the chair it self.
 


 Last time i just eyeballed the angle on the flat parts of the top of the back legs. Here i´m trying to get the angle right to make a jig for greater presizion and repeatability.
 


 Its simple but it works- both on the inside and outside.
 


 Trying to get the angle right for the holes in the back rest
 


 And drilling the mortices
 
 This finished the woodwork and all that was left was the seat. After googling about 1000 chairs with woven seats i had this idear about a diagonal weave:
 


 But that did not work. It was not possible to get around the legs in a manner that would not leave an empty space in the middle of the seat. Bummer!
 


 One of the reasons for the diagonal weave was that the seat tapers towards the back and if weaving straight the straps might not bend nicely around the ends
 


 Fiddeled with different solutions for a whole week and then just decided to see if it could work anyway. It was a nice, sunny day and my apples (Red Pineapple-apples in danish) are ripe. Time to make applecider!
 


 The lengths of cord used are surprizingly long and i got to walk quite a bit. Dont know if it shows in the image but i walked quite a path in the lawn…
 


 Almost there. Getting thighter now
 


 A spray of water helps getting the straps through
 


 And here the finished sides where i thought that the straps would ´bend out´. Not nearly as bad as feared.
 


 And the assembled chair. Think it looks great and this will do as a template for my final chairs.
 


 And the seat seen from above. Like the shape so much more that the previous prototype!
 But the weaving is not quite tere yet. I dont like how the light wood shines through inbetween the straps and just looks sloppy overall. Lets do something about that:
 


 The front
 


 And adding additional strips to close the gaps
 


 Took this kitchen knife to the grinder in order to make a sleek tool for prying the straps through narrow spots
 


 Like so. Here adding an extra strip on top of the stretchers
 


 My neighbour came by and grabbed the camera. Here a very consentrated woodworker…
 


 This finishes of the back much nicer
 


 And the overall impression.
 
 There is a few details left to do better but this just works great. Now i feel confident that i can start on the final chairs and have most of the parts under control.
 Great!
 
 Lets finish of with the image of the assembled chair again:


 Writing this blog now i am sitting in this chair. It is comfortable, stiff and gives a nice back support. Looking at it i feel that this is something that i (with some help from Wegner) have made. And it is MY chair. Today i am a proud woodworker!
 
 It seems that i can now announce that the next part of the blog will be on the actual chairs. Thank you for reading along this far.
 
 As allways: Let me know what you think!

"The good chair is a task one is never completely done with" Hans Wegner