Don’t let an unfamiliarity with chairmaking keep you building a chair. This Irish-y armchair, with a curved back rest and lightly saddled seat, is a gateway chair into building a full-on Kentucky stick chair (or Welsh stick chair, or Scottish stick chair, or Insertplacenamehere stick chair). And the plan for this chair is free. Click here to download the chapter. No, you don’t have to register, or send us a gland. Click the link and the pdf will be downloaded to your machine.
This chair is among the simpler designs I make. The legs are straight – not tapered. There are no stretchers. There are only nine sticks, and they are made easily with handplanes (a jack and a block plane).
This chair is remarkably comfortable (no, the middle stick does not rub your spine). The curved backrest (cut from solid – not steambent), cradles your shoulders. And though its backward lean looks extreme (wait, am I at the dentist?) that’s an illusion. The chair is very comfortable for reading, watching TV or good conversation.
The only slightly tricky part of the chair is the saddle. You can skip it if you want (few Irish chairs were saddled). But it’s the simplest saddle possible. There’s no pommel. It’s just a flat dish – easy.
— Christopher Schwarz
