DIYbanter - View Single Post

(in
) said:

| Being relatively new to woodworking, and having never built a chair,
| I've decided to give one a try. Square parts, because I don't have
| a lathe, and I'd like to try something with a caned seat, because
| I've never done that either. This brings me to my question.
|
| What makes a dining chair a dining chair? Same thing with a vanity
| chair, a writing chair, a desk chair, a parlor chair, a porch chair
| and the like? Is it just stylistic elements? For instance, do
| dining chairs by definition have to have a (back) and a (seat) or
| certain geometry or (no) arms or be made of (wood) finished with
| (finish)?

If it rests on the floor/ground; if it supports both your butt and
your back while allowing you to rest your feet on the ground; and if
it does all these wonderful things for one person at a time - it's a
chair.

(I'm not going to argue about highchairs or barber chairs or dentist's
chairs.)

| Let's say I build a chair that I like, but isn't "suited" to my
| application? I don't have one in mind right now--in fact, I'll
| probably give the first one away if it doesn't go on the firewood
| pile. All other things being equal, if by extending this piece a
| few inches or finishing with shellac, I get an According-to-Hoyle
| (type) chair, why not do that? I know that there are lots of folks
| who say, "Build what you like, the hell with the rest of 'em." I,
| too, am one of those folks, but there are people out there who've
| spent a lot more time than me on this subject, and I'd like to
| think that a dining chair is a dining chair for a REASON. If the
| voices tell me that that reason makes sense, then I'll try to be
| faithful to it. If not, I'll "Build what I like, the hell with the
| rest of 'em."

Hmm. Do you have these kinds of converstaions frequently? ;-)

| Ladies and gentlemen, I await your discourse.

I'm neither - and I think you may be overthinking all this just a wee
bit. If you wanna build a chair, then just /do/ it! If you don't like
the result, call it "an experiment" and build a better one. Repeat as
necessary until you can say: "Damn I'm good!"

Take notes and pictures along the way and share what you learn.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto