Instead of buying an ugly plastic medical style shower seat, I thought, what a unique idea it would be for a Christmas gift for my father, if I would build a warm wood seat for his shower instead. So I searched the Internet for ideas and especially for some instructions/plans for building shower seats. I was disappointed with the lack of project plans for this idea, as though this has not ever been an idea for a project before. There are plenty of pictures from manufacturers who sell these kinds of seats at unaffordable prices for most people. Nor are there any project plans available from other woodworkers having built a seat that I could find. I then realized how truly unique this idea really was.
I didn’t mind going through the design phase, since it helped me focus on the details and the building processes. Building the jigs for the tapered legs and the groves for the splines were new challenges for me.
The chair is made solely of white oak and the seat top is attached with screws for seasonal movement. All the apron joints are Mortise and Tenon joinery and the wedges and front curved piece is joined with a spline at the front and back of the wedges. I tried to keep with the “Handcrafted By” idea by using hand tools as much as possible.
Everyone who watched this project being developed couldn’t wait to see it finished. I am so pleased how it turned out and am hopeful this idea gives other woodworkers a new challenging project to try.
– Martin J. Heuer
St. Petersburg, Florida
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