Sooner or later you'll want to build a chair--not because you need one, but just for the challenge. After all, chairs must do more than just about any other piece of furniture. Of course they need to be comfortable. But, they also need to be strong, yet light enough to be easily moved. And, the joinery in a wooden chair is rarely hidden, so it's a great opportunity to show off your skills.

Our Arts & Crafts-style armchair is based on a Gustav Stickley design from the early 1900s. With its large cushioned seat, it's sure to quickly become one of your favorite spots for reading, conversation or watching TV. And, for such an impressive piece of furniture, it's surprisingly simple to build. Most chair construction involves angled joinery and shaped back legs. Here, though, the rails are perpendicular to the legs, and the legs are vertical and have no taper. It's typical of this style of chair to have leather upholstery, and we had our cushions custom-made.

We built our chair of quartersawn white oak--the traditional choice for Arts & Crafts-period furniture. If the legs were cut from solid stock, the characteristic quartersawn figure would appear only on two faces. In order to provide the grain pattern on all four faces, we built our legs by gluing up four mitered slats around a filler strip. However, if you want to simplify your project, use solid 12/4 stock or laminate thinner wood for the legs.

MAKING THE LEGS

Cut stock for the outer leg slats to 2-3/4 in. wide and an inch longer than finished length. Then, use your table saw to rip 45° bevels on the edges of each slat (1). Use a pushstick at the end of each cut to keep your fingers away from the saw blade. It's important that the bevels be accurate, so make test cuts on scrap stock first.

Next, rip and crosscut the filler strips, leaving the pieces an inch longer than finished dimension. Spread glue on the mating surfaces for the first leg and assemble the slats around the center strip. Apply clamps to pull the joints tight (2). After 20 to 30 minutes, scrape the excess glue from the outside of the legs. After all the legs have been assembled, crosscut them to finished length.

Lay out the mortises on the legs with a square and marking gauge. Then, use a plunge router with a spiral up-cutting bit and edge guide to cut them (3), and square the ends with a sharp chisel.

Use a dado blade in the table saw to cut the tenons on the top ends of the front legs (4). Reinstall a standard blade and adjust it to cut a 15° bevel. Use the miter gauge to guide the rear legs as you cut the shallow chamfers on the top end (5).

SHAPING THE RAILS

Rip and crosscut 4/4 stock for the front, back and side rails to specified dimension, and use 12/4 stock to make blanks for the curved back rails. Make a template for the curved back rail shape from a piece of 1/4-in.-thick plywood or hardboard. Use a piece of scrap plywood or cardboard to make a trammel to generate the proper arcs, and cut out the shape on your band saw. File the edges of the template to a smooth, uniform curve.

Lay out the 1-3/16-in.-long tenons on the back-rail blanks, and trace the curved template on both the top and bottom edges of each piece of wood.

Install a dado blade in the table saw and cut the tenon cheeks on the flat rail ends (6), using the rip fence on the table saw as a stop to ensure uniform tenon lengths. Adjust the blade height, and hold the rails on edge to cut the shoulders at the top and bottom edges of each tenon (7), including those on the curved back rails.

Adjust the blade height again to make the shallow cheek cuts for the curved rails. Since the tenons on the back rails are offset in the blank, the second cheek cut is too deep for the dado blade. Instead, install a normal blade and make a series of parallel cuts to remove the waste for the remaining tenon cheeks (8).Test the fit of all mortise-and-tenon joints. If a joint is too tight, use sandpaper to remove excess stock. If the fit is too loose, glue a veneer shim to one of the cheeks.

Use a band saw to cut the inside curved surfaces of the back rails, keeping the kerf on the waste side of the line (9). Use a spokeshave to remove the saw marks and refine the curved surface (10). Then, go back to the band saw to cut the outer curved surface and use a block plane or spokeshave to smooth the outer curves.

ARM DETAILS

Rip 1-in.-thick stock to width for the chair arms and crosscut the blanks to rough length. Mark the outline of the mortise in each arm and then bore a 1-1/4-in.-dia. hole in each to remove most of the waste. Clamp one of the arms to the workbench with a piece of scrap plywood underneath and use a sharp chisel to finish chopping the mortise (11). Dry assemble each arm and front leg and use a knife to score the tenons where they intersect the tops of the arms (12). Disassemble the joints and use a sharp chisel or block plane to cut the small chamfers around the tenon ends. Lay out the finished shape of the arms, and use a band saw or sabre saw to make the necessary cuts.

Assembly

First sand all of the parts, beginning with 120-grit sandpaper and finishing with 220. Remove all sanding dust when changing grits.

Apply a light film of glue to the front-leg/front-rail mortise-and-tenon joints. It's hard to clean the inside corners on these joints, so you don't want excessive glue squeeze-out. Join the rails to the legs and apply clamps to pull the joints tight. Compare opposite diagonals to make sure the assembly is square, and set it aside to let the glue dry. After about 20 minutes, carefully chip off any glue that has squeezed from the joints.

Next, join the back rails to the rear chair legs. Use clamps to pull all rail/leg joints tight and, again, check that the assembly is square.

Apply glue and clamp the front and rear leg assemblies to the side rails. Stand the chair up on a flat work surface to check that it doesn't rock, and adjust the clamps as necessary.

Apply glue to the front-leg tenons and the top of the arm rails, and attach the arms. Bore 1/2-in.-dia. holes for oak dowel pins that lock the arms to the front and rear legs. Spread glue in the holes and on the surface of the pins, then tap the pins into place (13). Leave the pins about 1/2 in. long and trim them to within 1/16 in. of the surface after the glue dries. Pare the pins flush with a chisel, and then sand them smooth.

THE SEAT FRAME

While we had an upholsterer make the seat cushion, we constructed the webbed frame on which it sits.

To construct the frame, cut poplar stock to size as shown in the drawing. Lay out and cut the mortise joints using a plunge router and edge guide, and use a table saw to cut the tenons. Mark and cut the notches in the corners of the front and back rails, and assemble the frame. Use a 3/8-in. rounding-over bit in the router to ease the top inside edge of the frame.

Next, stretch upholstery webbing between two opposite rails. Nail one end of the webbing to the bottom side of one rail, then wrap it around the top outside edge and across the frame. Use a webbing stretcher to pull the webbing tight on the bottom side of the frame while you nail it (14). In the opposite direction, weave the webbing through the perpendicular strips. Because upholstery tacks are so short and sharp, a magnetic tack hammer makes this job much easier.

Rip and crosscut the seat support cleats to size, and screw the cleats to the seat rails. Then, bore pilot holes for securing the frame to the cleats, but don't install it until the chair is finished. Depending on the profile of your seat cushions, you might find that the support frame is visible at the edges of the cushion. If this is the case, glue 2-in.-wide strips of leather or matching material on the edges of the frame.

FINISHING

We stained our chair with Behlen Solar-Lux American Walnut stain. Because this product dries quickly, it's best to add Solar-Lux dye retarder to avoid lap marks. Apply the stain with a brush or rag, and allow it to dry for several hours before applying a finish.

We then applied four light coats of Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish to our chair. Coat all surfaces of the chair and allow it to soak in for about 20 minutes. Use a clean rag to wipe off all excess. Allow each coat to dry overnight before applying the next coat, and lightly sand between coats with 320-grit sandpaper. Let the final coat cure for at least 24 hours, then burnish the surface with 4/0 steel wool to remove any dust nibs and smooth the finish. Polish the surface with a soft cloth, or apply a light coat of wax and buff it to a warm shine.