Sculptured Seating Collection Instructions by Charles Brock

Working with Full- Size Paper Patterns 

Make a set of permanent patterns from the paper patterns. Do not try to use the paper patterns on your stock. Glue (a Glue Stick is a good adhesive for this) them to whatever material you want to use realizing some patterns need to bend and some can be rigid. Leave a little margin around the black line when cutting them apart. After gluing, use a bandsaw to cut on or slightly to the black line, then sand away the black line, leaving the correct size of the pattern for tracing your parts.

To use your permanent pattern set, trace the patterns on the candidate boards. Trace around the pattern carefully with a Sharpie. When deciding suitability for chair parts, look for clarity (knots, bark inclusions, voids), grain flow, and color. Each factor should weigh into the pattern placement decision. If you have doubts concerning an overall part measurement, trust the pattern size. Use the video instructions to lay out joint measurements.

Wood Choices

American hardwoods are best. I like Walnut, Maple and Cherry. Oak is too stringy for this project. Some exotics are good, especially Rosewood and Bocote’. Requires approximately 35 board feet

Buillder’s Notes:

• I prefer to make the seat 20×20” instead of the 22” deep by 20” wide seat given in the original video.  The Low Back offers two seat choices: The Original Coopered Seat or The Big Smile Seat (BSS). The BSS will teach you to make a generic coopered seat that is deeper than the original. Note: Making the BSS 20″deep for the low back requires changing the dimension for laying out the back of the dado (or front leg notch) on seat boards 1 and 5. Measuring from the back of the board, subtract two inches from the measurement provided for the 22″ seat board. It should be 16″ instead of 18″.
• Because of this sculptural project’s nature, a cut list is not practical. If possible, lay the patterns on the candidate stock to check not only size but also color and especially grain patterns to validate the stock’s usefulness.
• The full-size paper patterns we are shipping to you make a 20” deep seat. Do not make the 22” seat. Patterns will yield parts that provide ample stock to cut and fit joints, and shape the chair.