Cutting and shaping the seat

I usually start with the seat but like I mentioned earlier you can start cutting and shaping almost any of the parts. The seat size will vary depending on the size of the person you are making the chair for. My chair is a little more narrow than average because I wanted to make use of the heartwood in the center and the edges so I had to cut it smaller. It still works fine for even bigger people. That's something really nice about this style as the chairs can be fit to you but others will have no trouble using them. Unless you are in the "Biggest Loser" category. Now that would be a big chair.

I make my seats from four (4) pieces. Sam Maloof made his using 5 pcs with bevels on all the edges except for the outer edge. I didn't know this when I made my chair but the end result is the same. The rough seat should be about 23" x 23". This is roughly 1" over size. So you will need 4 pcs 23" long. The width of each piece can be different but keep in mind patterns, grain, heartwood and how each piece will fit together. Also remember that you will be "dishing out" the contour of the seat top. This will change some of the appearance when finished. So you may see something a little different when you finish the seat. I spend a great deal of time interchanging the pieces, using different pieces, flipping them around until I decide on how I want them to glue up and even then I keep my fingers crossed. I haven't been dissapointed yet as even the little surprises make for interesting visuals. That's what we are making. A functional piece of furniture that is also art. It's what gets me every time I see something made by the human hand that just makes you want to reach out and take ahold of it, touch it or keep looking at it. Did I mention that this chair will take about 160 to 180 hrs to complete? Tip: So what, keep going slowly, take your time. Step back and take another look, go get a cold beer, relax, errr wait aminute, get back to work picking out the seat material.

Grab your seat template. What? no template! Not to worry. Just make one. Here is what it should look like.

Doesn't look like a chair seat template to me. I just spent an hour going thru all my photos, disks, usb drives looking for the pic I wanted to post. I'll try again.