When I travel overseas, I sometimes take melatonin to help my body adjust to a new time zone. The good news: I think it works. The weird news: I have the strangest dreams when I take it.
This month, I’m in the U.K. to teach a few classes, take in some sights and do some serious chair research in High Wycombe, Wales and Ireland. Right now, I’m in London teaching a couple classes organized by Derek Jones at the school where he works, London Design & Engineering UTC.
On the night after my plane arrived, I was tossing about in the hotel bed, worried about the details of the chair class that was to begin the next morning. I took a tablet of melatonin and dreamt of chairs.
In the dream, I made a stick chair using plywood. The plywood arm was only one piece (and it had a doubler laminated on top). Here was the weird part – I was totally calm about the one-piece arm because there is no short grain in plywood.
Then I saddled the plywood seat and was fascinated by revealing the plies below with a travisher. It was like making a topographic map. The legs and crest were also plywood. The sticks were solid wood (I think).
When I woke up, I took a long hot shower to calm my pre-teaching jitters and realized that my dream wasn’t entirely stupid. In fact, by the time I had dried myself off, I had resolved to build a plywood stick chair.
Yes, I know you don’t like it. Please file your complaints with our Complaint Office.
Heck, I don’t even know if I like it, but I do know that I have to build it. When an idea gets under my skin – even a stupid idea – the only way to exorcise it is to construct it. So I’m going to pick up some Baltic birch ply when I get home and give it a go.
— Christopher Schwarz
Curtis Buchanan uses plywood to make the topographic seat maps for his plans, so it looks like you are in good company!
Sounds like a good idea to me. Should be interesting and would make a good project or article.
While I don’t think it would work in my house, I think it could actually be a pretty neat piece for some homes; perhaps mid-century modern. Do it, and then post the results on here, because I think it sounds interesting!
Go for it… sounds great. Can’t wait to see the outcome. Sounds like a good substrate to ply your trade…..
Chris, I have been taking the same sleep aid for 3 years, I have not had any plywood chair dreams, but have been chased by a huge tiger in a very old house. Been shot at by ex-wife.
So you got off easy. Ralph
Ralph, you may have got off easy too, depending how you feel about tigers with guns and ex-wives chasing you through a very old house. Just saying.
Shouldn’t ignore the source of inspiration. Conceptionally, it has a lot of potential. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
Dream on!
I’ve heard that a “side effect” of melatonin is stronger/more vivid dreams…..but it is a completely safe and natural sleep aid…..sweet dreams!
You may find it too crude, but I recently carved some Baltic ply using a Kutzall Extreme wheel on an angle grinder. It was really effective, with a surprising amount of control!
Chris,
I built a sculptured rocking chair a few years back. It get’s more comments from visitors to our home than my other hand made furniture
It ‘s in a special way attractive.
Patrick
When in Ireland, if you get down to Dingle remember to visit Foxy John’s. You have probably heard of it, it’s both a pub and hardware store. So there’s really no reason to ever leave 😉
I have not. But now I have.
This would go well with Paul Sellers’ laminated plywood workbench.
I’ve built many plywood workbenches – no need to dream of those.
Just curious Chris, it looks like that chair above is not using through tenons for the legs? Or is that just my eyes can’t see them? If so, do you feel you are loosing any strength this way? Assume these are tapered tenons? Beautiful looking chair, you are really honing your craft and it shows.
Rick,
Thanks! The leg joints go through the seat and are wedged from above. It’s just the resolution of the phone camera.
Enjoy the autumn Beech Wood landscapes, a natural resource for the furniture industry when your travelling to High Wycombe.
If you have time to wander through central London down St Martins Lane, have a look at No’s 60-62, the former workshops of Thomas Chippendale, who ended buried in a paupers grave just down the road under what is now the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. His client”s didn’t pay the bills!
As a furniture historian have you ever considered Chippendale? He created the first international lifestyle brand with the publication of the “Director” catalogue. Was he the greatest Woodworker?
Is there anything more to say about his work, and does he have any relevance for todays woodworkers? And I wonder just how good are his chairs to sit on?
Happy creative dreaming in London.
I have three BBC / V&A documentaries: “The Genius of British Woodworking” if you have not seen them?
Please post pictures of the completed project. I think it has great potential,
It’s an excellent idea. But it could be excellent-er if you used some shop-made plywood from colorful contrasting species. Imagine the swirly saddle!
Do I smell a hint of a new book? The Plywood Anarchist maybe?
I think that smell is the formaldehyde dust coming from the carving of plywood seats.
Breathe deeply, embrace the embalming.
Funny, I was looking through the book “1000 Chairs” last night and some pretty cool plywood chair designs were done in the 50’s. Curious to see what you will come up with.
Was always a fan of the (bent) plywood and steel chairs my highschool had. The steel bits were painted a sparkling sky blue and they ply was clear varnished birch. Found a pair being thrown out at the dump 5 or so years back. Besides them being made in 1953 and still serviceable, the amazing thing is how comfortable they are, even if they are a bit short. I hadn’t thought of plywood for a stick chair but that might push me to build the 3 leg adb chair as Ive got some 1 1/4 ply laying around.
Cockroaches will be sitting in them when they inherit the earth.
Boy when I travel the Army makes me take Malaria pills. You want to talk about some crazy dreams, think Roy Underhill with a CNC driven transitional plane buzzing thru dovetails.
Make sense? Woke up screaming No! And what the H E double hockey sticks did I just watch.
I’d love to see that chair.
I envy your ability to live, eat and, literally, sleep woodworking. Although I also dream about things woodworking, I usually wake and soberly head to work. This article demonstrates that you definitely ARE living the ‘dream’. Remember that next time your in a hotel room somewhere fretting about the next class that most of us would line up to attend if we could.
Do it! I want to see pictures!
Most of my strange dreams involve some sort of sword-fighting which is both disturbing and exhilarating. I should probably start taking more melatonin to have some woodworking-related dreams (and to give my wife a peaceful sleep; apparently it’s not pleasant to sleep next to someone having a sword-fighting dream).
Nice one Mr Schwartz , a good dream
Well, hallucinations-inducing drugs aside, plywood is actually an excellent material for chairs, and in many cases it is the last part that fails – especially curved backs, which can be quite strong. Ragged edges are bit of a problem, though.
That said, I am not too sure about digging topographic maps in the saddle, it doesn’t feel right. But do go on, please. 🙂
Make a chair from a dream
What does UTC stand for? It sounds like something for which one would need to visit the groinacologist and get antibiotics.
I’ve never seen a Nicholson bench with square and flush Roubo legs, and a built-in German style cabinet. Interesting.
University Technical College – a somewhat newer concept in the UK, I think. Our education system has been working hard to shut them down in the US! Just so backwards and stupid… Hopefully they keep it up, though. Good to see someone moving in the right direction.
University Technical College
https://www.ldeutc.co.uk
UTC is also the abbreviation for Coordinated Universal Time even though the letters are suggesting it is “Universal Time Coordinated”.
I blame the French.
Interesting: should be an attractive seat. Plywood legs?
Chris,
That’s not a crazy idea at all. A couple of years ago I was fascinated by an article I read about a member who made incredibly beautiful furniture, including chairs, out of carved blocks of laminated Baltic birch plywood. Using a combination of hand tools and (I think) a multi tool and grinder. The results were fantastic, with the layers of the plywood revealed to present graceful swirls of contrasting color. His work was sanded to a high polish before being finished with a clear varnish. I’m sorry but I don’t remember the makers name or the magazine, but it made me want to go out and try it myself. So…..go for it!
What’s the story on those benches in your post photo? They look interesting, like a combo of a couple of different styles.
What he said. I’d love to see some shots of the other sides of those benches!
You might enjoy looking at the chairs of Charles Eames if you haven’t already.
Is case you’ve forgot, there is more than 1 complaint dept. out there. 🙂
Feel free to complain there as well.
Lol
It is certainly more practical than a model of Devil’s Tower made of mashed potatoes.
My first though is it might look pretty good. My second thought is that it might be a slightly less expensive way to build a practice chair before attempting on solid wood.
Jane Austin says go to to Bath. Great wood and mechanics preserved shop and you can use your driver’s license for collateral and paddle a beautiful wooden boat up the river. Then go Kew Gardens.
Seeing Itchy & Scratchy makes me think of the Simpsons which leads my brain to this quote from Homer about a dream. “He (or in this case, Plywood chairs) appeared to me in a dream and I knew that was special because I normally dream about naked…Marge.”
This is clearly a sign from God. Run with it.
Looking forward to seeing that Chris.
I was in that dream seeing you built it.