Introducing ... "Musical" Chairs
Last fall, we found out that Cary Visual Art would be sponsoring a community arts project called "Take a Seat" -- an art exhibition and auction based around "artworks designed to accommodate seating." As we mulled over the possibilities, we thought of doing the chair pictured on this page: a chair shaped like a violin. We hope it will be the first of many.
We made the chair from poplar and oak, and joined it together with glue, dowels, and wooden biscuits -- the only screws are the four holding the leg assembly to the bottom. It's 19-3/4 inches wide and stands 57 inches tall.
The first shape we cut out, to check on the proportions, was a guitar; however, we went back to the violin because it was more visually interesting. Next we cut out and cobbled together a trial version made of MDF (medium density fiberboard), but the back was too small compared to the seat. At that point, we almost dropped the entire project.
Instead, we stretched the proportions a little -- made the chair a bit longer and narrower -- and moved the intersection of the back and seat down, closer to where the bridge would be on the instrument. Over the course of several weeks (this was, after all, a part-time project) we assembled, stained, painted, and varnished the chair -- and turned it in on time!
This project turned out, like so many projects do, to be more involved than we first anticipated. Part of that was trying to make do with the tools on hand: we used every single power tool and most of the hand tools in the garage -- plus we borrowed a compound miter saw from the neighbors -- but oh how nice it would've been to have a band saw. And a jointer. And a drill press.
We encountered another difficulty with this project on Easter Sunday afternoon, when a slip of a tool landed us in the Emergency Room at WakeMed Hospital. Eight stitches later, the pad of our left index finger was tacked back down where it belonged -- and we were able to get back to work.
Most of the challenge, however, came from trying so many new woodworking techniques at once. The joinery on the base of the chair, the dovetail joints between the bracing and the seat and back, the carving on the scroll -- all those were things we knew how to do "in theory" but had never put into practice. Still, the end result turned out pretty well ... and the next one should be even better!
In fact, if we had the time we would construct an entire series of "Musical" Chairs, from violin-, cello-, and guitar-modeled chairs to a double bass love seat and a piano "bench." If we could make them well enough and find enough customers willing to pay for them, this could be a dream job.