The inspiration for this chair came from an original built in Delaware in the 1700s. The design, a transition between elaborate carvings and simpler styles, was built unchanged for nearly a century.
Post-and-rung chairmaking, the discipline practiced in the construction of this chair, is a bit of a woodworking outlier. It involves some uncommon skills like bending wood, dealing with complicated (non-90°) geometry and weaving a seat. And, it doesn’t proceed from measured drawing directly to the fabrication of wood components. Instead, there are some critically important intermediate steps involving the construction of simple jigs, some bending forms and a variety of patterns and story sticks.
These devices make it possible to fabricate accurate components in relative ease — once you’ve got them in hand, you’ll be able to make as many copies of this chair as you like, without ever once taking out your rule or tape measure, or referring to the measured drawings. Plus, you can use the mortise jigs and bending forms for this chair in the construction of almost any postand-rung chair.
Click Here to Download Kerry Pierce’s Full Delaware Chair Plan Here.
