Bentwood chair - part 2

In my last post I talked about the first day of the Bentwood chair making class I attended at Rural Antics.  Today I'll talk about the second day and finishing the chair.

Having finished the arms, it was time to start the back! We had several very long hazel sticks that we were using for the curved part of the back.  To start we only put one of these in place and fixed it.  Then was time to add the cross struts of the back, and time to get creative.  I really wanted forked and bent pieces so I had a good old search through the pile of hazel the tutor had brought with him.

The sticks were nailed into place at the curved piece and the base, but left long to add in additional curved pieces afterwards.

Sorry, blurry photo!  But I think you can see what I'm showing.  This was adding in the other curved pieces.  Each one had to be nailed at each and every joint so this took a while!  Several times I used a nail that was too long.  Because they were threaded nails, they were nigh-on impossible to remove, so instead they were riveted by placing a steel hammer on the pointed end that was sticking through and hammering the back to make a flat "plate" at the front.

Finally the seat was added - lengths of thickish wood all cut to the same length and nailed in place.  Then everything was rasped to neaten the edges.

I was worried about getting it home and thought I might have to send my dad with his big car, but this fit in the boot of a Ford Focus, I only had to remove the parcel shelf!  I never measured it, but I do know that the back legs are 24", the front legs 17" and the long piece at the back going from side to side is 24" so that should give you an idea of the size.

It is an outdoor chair but it's currently sitting in my dining room.  I will put it outside, but thought I'd wait until all these blizzards we keep having finish to give it a chance of surviving!  The tutor said the life-span will be about 5 years if we look after them.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to bring it in in winters, but I do intend to coat it in Danish oil to help it last longer.

Just thought I'd show you from all angles!

I thoroughly enjoyed this class and intend to sign up for the make a stool workshop at some point.  I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed sawing, drilling and nailing and the satisfaction of building a chair was immense!