This is great. I love watching someone try an idea, come up with a great way to execute it, and then be totally honest about the outcome to top it all off.
Matthias' willingness to do crazy stuff with a table saw is both awe-inspiring and frightening = P I would never think to use mine like this, nor would I really want to for fear it would go flying - into me!
I sculpted similar chairs using a grinder with a wood carving wheel. They looked great but found the same results when it comes to butt comfort. All my work is now covered with cushions.
Our dining room chairs were made to be fitted with cushions. However, we rarely sit in the dining room; mostly sit on stools at the kitchen island. The wife sits on a cushion, but I prefer the flat wooden seat bottom
Reminds me of, as a programmer, automating a task. Starts with "This'll be easy, an hour tops" and ends up "It's been 2 days, the original project has been abandoned, and it still doesn't work"
“That’s what trying it out is all about.” Great video. You have one of the most creative channels. Always love watching your process, and seeing your wheels turning.
I studied how to make a comfortable chair for a while, wanting to try making some. I discovered at school, near the woodworking department was a simple bench they had made with no curves at all, just a flat bottom and back, and it was surprisingly comfortable to sit on. What I learned after a bunch of reading was that 1. the angle between the bottom and back should be around 100 - 105 degrees. 2. the bottom can be either completely level, or tilt back up to about 5 degrees. 3. curves don't matter for comfort and 4. seat height around 18"
i really appreciate that you went to all this effort and were still okay abandoning the idea. many people get too attached to an idea and never let it go... or maybe thats just me sometimes. :-)
It's funny that you made this video. I was looking at making dining table chairs and saw this cut done on other videos. Your video is helpful because you say honestly you don't feel a difference in comfort. So I know it more for asthetics than comfort. Thanks for the videos and your constant test.
Yeah, that's why full-size carving disks for table saws were invented: proper cutting (with nice chips forming), less dust, no kickbacks and, most importantly, no risk of the "wobble of death" when a regular (thin) blade gets into violent lateral oscillations... usally makes the blade explode if don't manage to crawl to the emergency switch in, say, under 2 seconds or so...
I used to have a great wooden chair from 50s or so. It had just round indentation in the middle of the seat like a big ball had been pressed on it. Actually that's how it was probably made as the seat was (partly) made from quite thin plywood. Seat's edges were made from straight boards leaving square hole in the middle and plywood was glued on top of it. It was very nice to sit on.
Most important thing for seat comfort is having some sort of roll off at the front edge to stop it digging in. And a cushion. Would also be interesting to replicate in wood the reverse curve used in Herman Miller Aero chairs. They sit highest in the middle of the leg and curve down towards the front and back. Creates a super long term comfortable support for the legs that spreads the load and eliminates any pinch points.
Since the test piece looked like softwood, I'd have used a handsaw to cut between those slots made on the table-saw. Of course a 40" home-made bandsaw would be something to behold!
Thank you once again for trying something so we don't have to. I also agree with your outcome, I don't think it is necessary in the end. My current kitchen chairs have a little bit of sculpting, and I really don't think there is any other benefit other than it "looks like a seat."
There is this little moment, just before Matthias cut the slot in the 2x4 on the bandsaw where he knew he was going to make a permanent cut in a good 2x4 that would limit its future uses. He doesn't show it in the video, but he looked around the workshop for a 1x4 to try to add some scraps to but he knew in his heart that it would blow his rhythm, he bit the bullet and sacrificed what could have been. And for a part of an experimental jig!
This video reminded me of making a v groove pulley on the table saw. I enjoyed this video very much. I like the thinking that went into the problem solving
This video makes me feel so much better after trying to make my first chair. Went through almost the exact same sculpting process, arrived at nearly the exact same conclusion. The sides are high, the bump in the middle is almost gone, and I lost a lot of material on an originally thick slab trying to figure it out.
I would, respectfully, disagree that sculpted seats make any difference. However, I will make a distinction between flat & level seats versus flat and tilted seats. There is a Mexican restaurant near us that has chairs that have flat and level (to the floor) seat bottoms. Because of different body types, I notice that some people have a problem with them in that your butt tends to slide forward because they are smooth, flat and level to the floor. That gets to be a pain to have to reposition by sliding your butt back into the chair periodically. So a flat seat chair that is higher in the front than the rear, might perform better in this regard. But for me personally, a contoured seat is just more comfortable. It seems to me I see chairs with contoured seats, in varying degrees, than I do ones with flat seats.
That was entertaining, but it's a lot of work! My suggestion: buy chair seat cushions - that's what I have on my kitchen and they are very comfortable! And there's the added bonus that the missus gets to choose the cushions and will be very happy with that :-)
One of my crappy jobs post high school was to make but prints in chair seats. The owner made a sled to hold the seat and it slid back and forth under a belt sander. On the back of the belt was a form and it had two handles on it applying pressure to the left and right sides. You operated the handles and slid the sled in and out. He had a carver with a planer head on it to start the carve but I think it was unnecessary because of major chip out causing you to sand more leading to inconsistency that the eye can easily see. I agree it is a useless operation for cosmetic reasons. If you want more comfort pad and upholstery or a cushion is a way better option.
I have been watching this great video on a wooden chair with spherical depression in the middle or how to say it. It is good that the wooden bridge over the saw and jig pin provided decent safety.
Wouldn't the sides flaring up on a plastic chair help with strength, more than it would for comfort? It would help prevent the chair from folding or bending. I imagine that's why they also flare downwards in the front as well.
I think there's also a comfort aspect to the downward flare at the front for those with shorter legs. It would feel more comfortable if your legs are dangling.
I came here from the Diresta Old School Dog House video after seeing his wild dance moves in the first minutes, and I am not disappointed! You accomplished nothing in terms of upgrading your kitchen furniture (well, I suppose, finding out it's not worth the effort is a lot more than nothing), but nevertheless, thanks for uploading, I am amazed and will have awesome woodworking dreams tonight! :D
I have some 1950s chairs with a three-ply moulded plywood seat glued to a bent wood base. You could do that with a steam box and veneers or maybe a waterproof ply. Make a mould steam the panel and use a vacuum bag. My hand made chairs with bent back frame and turned legs would just look wrong without the backside shape.
My memory, which may at this point be incorrect, is that wooden library and office chairs with that sort of cut, the cut was a little deeper toward the back. But I can't really recall seeing that on anything but library and office chairs from the first half of the 20th century or so.
Try this: make a low frame the size of the seat. Put a thin plywood as the bottom. Fill it with plaster of paris, cover it with plastic, sit on it, and wait for it to dry. You now have a perfect imprint which you can use as a master for your router pantograph.
I have a manufactured wood rocker with a scooped seat. It is comfortable but it has a 4"- 5" thick seat which makes it look massive. Not a look you would likely want for a chair as simple yet elegant as yours.
I am a chair maker by trade. I must admit that we carved out our seats (mostly on captain's chairs) in a similar way. However, the "oopsie" at the beginning of the video didn't surprise me at all and was expecting to see some blood or a more violent kick-back. Accidents with such a set-up are very common and that's why full-size carving disks for table saws DO exist. They have a substantially thicker blade that can take lateral force w/o flexing. Also, the saw tooth geometry is such, that they cut much better with less friction, less dust and a much nicer surface. Normal blades are absolutely NOT designed for lateral forces and thus can get into violent rotating oscillations in miliseconds when used for carving! When this happens, an exploding blade is what happens next. We had that incident in our shop and it's about as fun as exploding a live hand grenade in your living room. Don't do that. Get a proper carving disk.
Thank you for doing all the trial and erro for us., very interesting. Have you considered to use a router an a kind of pendulum to get the cutout like in the plastic chairs?
I have some thoughts on this but choosing the right anatomy words would be difficult. 🤔 I guess in the end he came to the right decision anyway. Good video👍
Perhaps on an anniversary date, I'd love to see you revisit your screw advance box joint jig, doing an update, incorporating any new and improved features (incl. some from the countless fans who've built it -requesting submissions would help you stockpile ideas), re-thought dimensions etc.
@@matthiaswandel it is a impressive amazing jig, but with your mind I'm sure at the 10th or 15th or 20th anniversary you and users could come up with some tweaks, additional features or slight improvements.
I agree with your assessment on the butt profile. You should consider a more rounded edge on the front to reduce the point load on the back of the legs... which could lead to sciatic nerve pain from prolonged or repeated use.
I agree with you it is dangerous this way. Two options for doing it: 1. CNC (I make it on my own) 2. Use a router with a guide/pattern. Both are more secure.
Fun to watch the "let's give a try" process. Also, this why tool manufacturers have to plaster all those "Do not do silly things!" warning stickers on their products.
A good experiment! You never would have known about the ergonomics if you hadn’t tried. That table saw setup looked pretty scary to me though. I was not at all surprised to see the kickback happen.
7:49 I feel bevel should be deeper at the back than front and that might be the only intention. I think instead of bevel, only adding a slight backward angle would helps more to stay on chair and don't slip out. loved the jig btw, I might make that in smaller scale to curve something else.
OK, a lot of work with minimal benefit. But many people, including myself, have a condition of painful tailbone (Coccydynia). For a wooden chair as you have shown, I'd only be able to tolerate the pain for a few minutes. A typical cushion to eliminate the pain includes a gap in the foam making up the cushion just under the tail bone. But this also requires taking the cushion where ever I go. Perhaps a wooden chair with a relief about 4" in diameter and 1/2 to 1" deep would allow people, with this condition, to seat at a table longer to enjoy a meal with friends and family. It may also have a similar, but most likely less significant, benefit for people without this condition.
What about making the seat a lid for a storage compartment? Slap a bottom on the underside of the runners, cut the seat into two piece just forward of the back support and put a piano hinge in there, and you've got a shallow storage area in the seat. Better yet, enclose more of the leg area and make it a bigger box enclosure. I've seen similar things done in restaurants so people have a place to put their jacket or bag or whatever without having to worry about someone walking off with it. In a home it could be used to store table linens, condiments, etc.
I acknowledge the phenomenon of once bitten, twice shy. However, as a naive teenager I attempted to make a bowl on a table saw by spinning a board over the top of the blade. While guiding the board with my left hand behind the blade the board was pulled toward the front of the saw and I lost the tip of my left middle finger and did serious damage to my left index finger. Admittedly, I wasn't using a guide of any sort and that was another critical mistake. However, since then I shudder at the sight of anyone's hand on the back side of the blade. It simply isn't worth the risk.
Sculpted front to back seems more important that sculpted side to side. Mainly focusing on the front radius, might make it more comfortable for people with shorter legs.
What if you used separate thin strips of wood, bent in a specific shape, and then just braced them from below? That could get you an 'ideal' shape without wasting a bunch of wood
@@matthiaswandel so....maybe a head to head challenge like the impact drivers.... You could flip a table saw upside down and raise each blade to the point where they teeth start chattering. Ultimate blade strength test? They would have to be in opposite direction to each other of course... Boarderline stupid idea...you think? I would not do this at all...but I'm sure there may be someone wanting to see what would happen...but maybe to make things fair...the table would have to be sideways so there would not be a weight factor....
Interesting experiment. Guess the way I would try if I wanted a form fit chair might be to cut a somewhat thin u shape to just glue on top of the flat peice then sand it to a smooth transition. Certainly creative use of the table saw though.
IKEA already figured out that chair bottoms are just fine as plain flat slabs, so I figure if they sell so many, it's probably fine for the home woodworker unless you really want to spend the time making something more ergonomic.
If anyone is making this sort of seat I did a old cast iron tractor sort of pattern in wood with a 4" angle grinder and a course flap sanding disk, it only took about 15 minutes to go quite deep. Far better than using a table saw IMHO, Matthias is normally a genius.
I thought you were going to scrap this idea half way and add a beveled rim around the edge to act as if it was carved. You could do the same in the middle. I imagine it might look good awful or fairly decent and useful. Another option might be to slant the seat back like an Adirondack chair. I think it's the most comfortable wooden chair(I am from the Adirondacks)
In my experience with flat vs contoured, it's not so evident that contoured is more comfortable until you have been sitting for a longer period of time. The flat seat begins to cause discomfort much sooner than a smoothly contoured one. Try it for yourself.
The way maloof would save on thickness was gluing and doweling up the seats out of 8/4 lumber at 2* angles like this \/\/. And then he had his helpers do all the tedious carving !
This is great. I love watching someone try an idea, come up with a great way to execute it, and then be totally honest about the outcome to top it all off.
I know, and I'm so grateful that he tried it out so I don't have to waste my time doing it!
Matthias' willingness to do crazy stuff with a table saw is both awe-inspiring and frightening = P I would never think to use mine like this, nor would I really want to for fear it would go flying - into me!
I came to the comment section to say the exact same thing. This is a very valuable video -- and a very valuable approach for videos.
That's way to complicated, just wear sandpaper pants and sit on the chair for a few months, perfect results!
A few days for a toddler chair
Don’t forget to set your phone on vibrate to speed the process!
I'd love to see Mathias set up his raspberry pi camera and do a time lapse of this!
Despite the fact that it wouldn't work, I still think you're a genius.
Genius level 100!😊
I sculpted similar chairs using a grinder with a wood carving wheel. They looked great but found the same results when it comes to butt comfort. All my work is now covered with cushions.
Our dining room chairs were made to be fitted with cushions. However, we rarely sit in the dining room; mostly sit on stools at the kitchen island. The wife sits on a cushion, but I prefer the flat wooden seat bottom
😅🤣😜🤪
☺
@@neilf4128 ☺☺
Reminds me of, as a programmer, automating a task. Starts with "This'll be easy, an hour tops" and ends up "It's been 2 days, the original project has been abandoned, and it still doesn't work"
"Ugh, this task will take, like, 6 hours manually. I'd better automate it."
*8 hours later...*
@@ReverendTed More like 18 hours later
This is what my boss said. project came back live a year later, my tool saved me 3 days, but not for my boss ;)
“That’s what trying it out is all about.” Great video. You have one of the most creative channels. Always love watching your process, and seeing your wheels turning.
Holy crap.
This one reminds me why you're the GOAT of woodworking videos. No style, all substance. Keep it up!
... also? You are utterly MAD
Despite not being better feeling, I thought that cutting mechanism was absolutely beautiful. Really great video. Love your work.
You’ve got a beautiful mind Matthias, it’s a privilege to watch how it works in your videos.
I studied how to make a comfortable chair for a while, wanting to try making some. I discovered at school, near the woodworking department was a simple bench they had made with no curves at all, just a flat bottom and back, and it was surprisingly comfortable to sit on. What I learned after a bunch of reading was that 1. the angle between the bottom and back should be around 100 - 105 degrees. 2. the bottom can be either completely level, or tilt back up to about 5 degrees. 3. curves don't matter for comfort and 4. seat height around 18"
i really appreciate that you went to all this effort and were still okay abandoning the idea. many people get too attached to an idea and never let it go... or maybe thats just me sometimes. :-)
Great experiment, and an ingenious way of shaping the seat with the table saw.
I love these experimental videos and seeing how you think through prototyping something. Great stuff.
This is one of your best videos ever, Matthias. This is exactly why I love your channel. :D
Your ingenuity NEVER ceases to amaze me!
It's funny that you made this video. I was looking at making dining table chairs and saw this cut done on other videos. Your video is helpful because you say honestly you don't feel a difference in comfort. So I know it more for asthetics than comfort. Thanks for the videos and your constant test.
This was mesmerizing! It takes a lot to keep my attention through an entire video, and you provided it all!! Well done and analyzed!!!
I understand your conclusion and as you get older ;) a chair cushion "may" come in to play which would negate the sculpting anyway! :)
Instruction manuals everywhere: never attempt to cut wood in this way.
Matthias: hold my maple syrup.
Yeah, that's why full-size carving disks for table saws were invented: proper cutting (with nice chips forming), less dust, no kickbacks and, most importantly, no risk of the "wobble of death" when a regular (thin) blade gets into violent lateral oscillations... usally makes the blade explode if don't manage to crawl to the emergency switch in, say, under 2 seconds or so...
😂😂😂😂
@@f.d.6667 any product links for this type of disk? I'm interested!
1:55 I think this is the woodworker equivalent to 'oops, that should be i + 1, not i - 1' 😅
I used to have a great wooden chair from 50s or so. It had just round indentation in the middle of the seat like a big ball had been pressed on it. Actually that's how it was probably made as the seat was (partly) made from quite thin plywood. Seat's edges were made from straight boards leaving square hole in the middle and plywood was glued on top of it. It was very nice to sit on.
Most important thing for seat comfort is having some sort of roll off at the front edge to stop it digging in. And a cushion. Would also be interesting to replicate in wood the reverse curve used in Herman Miller Aero chairs. They sit highest in the middle of the leg and curve down towards the front and back. Creates a super long term comfortable support for the legs that spreads the load and eliminates any pinch points.
But I presume it wouldn't work in wood because wood doesn't have the give that woven mesh does.
Perfect example of why Matthias needs to build a 40 inch bandsaw...that slab would have been cut in half in no time lol
Since the test piece looked like softwood, I'd have used a handsaw to cut between those slots made on the table-saw. Of course a 40" home-made bandsaw would be something to behold!
Thank you once again for trying something so we don't have to. I also agree with your outcome, I don't think it is necessary in the end. My current kitchen chairs have a little bit of sculpting, and I really don't think there is any other benefit other than it "looks like a seat."
There is this little moment, just before Matthias cut the slot in the 2x4 on the bandsaw where he knew he was going to make a permanent cut in a good 2x4 that would limit its future uses. He doesn't show it in the video, but he looked around the workshop for a 1x4 to try to add some scraps to but he knew in his heart that it would blow his rhythm, he bit the bullet and sacrificed what could have been. And for a part of an experimental jig!
This video reminded me of making a v groove pulley on the table saw. I enjoyed this video very much. I like the thinking that went into the problem solving
Your problem solving skills are amazing! If I was half as smart as you I'd be ten times smarter than I am now! :-)
One of the more amusing videos in the Matthias catalog.
This video makes me feel so much better after trying to make my first chair. Went through almost the exact same sculpting process, arrived at nearly the exact same conclusion. The sides are high, the bump in the middle is almost gone, and I lost a lot of material on an originally thick slab trying to figure it out.
I would, respectfully, disagree that sculpted seats make any difference. However, I will make a distinction between flat & level seats versus flat and tilted seats. There is a Mexican restaurant near us that has chairs that have flat and level (to the floor) seat bottoms. Because of different body types, I notice that some people have a problem with them in that your butt tends to slide forward because they are smooth, flat and level to the floor. That gets to be a pain to have to reposition by sliding your butt back into the chair periodically. So a flat seat chair that is higher in the front than the rear, might perform better in this regard. But for me personally, a contoured seat is just more comfortable. It seems to me I see chairs with contoured seats, in varying degrees, than I do ones with flat seats.
Matthias is master in making complex things so simple, and simple things so complex :D
He’s so incredibly inventive! Just imagine what he would do with a CNC mill!!
*chuckles in scorp*
but watching your thought processes in R&D is really the star here....
That was entertaining, but it's a lot of work! My suggestion: buy chair seat cushions - that's what I have on my kitchen and they are very comfortable! And there's the added bonus that the missus gets to choose the cushions and will be very happy with that :-)
One of my crappy jobs post high school was to make but prints in chair seats. The owner made a sled to hold the seat and it slid back and forth under a belt sander. On the back of the belt was a form and it had two handles on it applying pressure to the left and right sides. You operated the handles and slid the sled in and out. He had a carver with a planer head on it to start the carve but I think it was unnecessary because of major chip out causing you to sand more leading to inconsistency that the eye can easily see.
I agree it is a useless operation for cosmetic reasons. If you want more comfort pad and upholstery or a cushion is a way better option.
I have been watching this great video on a wooden chair with spherical depression in the middle or how to say it. It is good that the wooden bridge over the saw and jig pin provided decent safety.
Wouldn't the sides flaring up on a plastic chair help with strength, more than it would for comfort? It would help prevent the chair from folding or bending. I imagine that's why they also flare downwards in the front as well.
That, and it makes it easier to pin the seat out of the mold. Same reason for all of the draft to it.
And if the molding process is garbage, you don't notice that it's warped ;)
I think there's also a comfort aspect to the downward flare at the front for those with shorter legs. It would feel more comfortable if your legs are dangling.
I came here from the Diresta Old School Dog House video after seeing his wild dance moves in the first minutes, and I am not disappointed! You accomplished nothing in terms of upgrading your kitchen furniture (well, I suppose, finding out it's not worth the effort is a lot more than nothing), but nevertheless, thanks for uploading, I am amazed and will have awesome woodworking dreams tonight! :D
Smiled to see a bit of Roy Underhill creep in during the thickness reduction. The best part of your videos is watching your thought processes, though.
I have some 1950s chairs with a three-ply moulded plywood seat glued to a bent wood base.
You could do that with a steam box and veneers or maybe a waterproof ply. Make a mould steam the panel and use a vacuum bag.
My hand made chairs with bent back frame and turned legs would just look wrong without the backside shape.
Excelente Mathias, muy buen tip y buena guía para mis próximos proyectos. Lo voy a replicar!!!
My memory, which may at this point be incorrect, is that wooden library and office chairs with that sort of cut, the cut was a little deeper toward the back. But I can't really recall seeing that on anything but library and office chairs from the first half of the 20th century or so.
And THIS is why Matthias is the God Of Woodworking!
Try this: make a low frame the size of the seat. Put a thin plywood as the bottom. Fill it with plaster of paris, cover it with plastic, sit on it, and wait for it to dry. You now have a perfect imprint which you can use as a master for your router pantograph.
Starting to feel as though I have an answer to your question "Why would I need a CNC router?"
I have a manufactured wood rocker with a scooped seat. It is comfortable but it has a 4"- 5" thick seat which makes it look massive. Not a look you would likely want for a chair as simple yet elegant as yours.
Thanks for sharing your process. That is the best part of this!
I am a chair maker by trade. I must admit that we carved out our seats (mostly on captain's chairs) in a similar way. However, the "oopsie" at the beginning of the video didn't surprise me at all and was expecting to see some blood or a more violent kick-back. Accidents with such a set-up are very common and that's why full-size carving disks for table saws DO exist. They have a substantially thicker blade that can take lateral force w/o flexing. Also, the saw tooth geometry is such, that they cut much better with less friction, less dust and a much nicer surface. Normal blades are absolutely NOT designed for lateral forces and thus can get into violent rotating oscillations in miliseconds when used for carving! When this happens, an exploding blade is what happens next. We had that incident in our shop and it's about as fun as exploding a live hand grenade in your living room. Don't do that. Get a proper carving disk.
Thank you for doing all the trial and erro for us., very interesting. Have you considered to use a router an a kind of pendulum to get the cutout like in the plastic chairs?
You are too funny, I love your process, even if it results in zero improvement! lol
I have some thoughts on this but choosing the right anatomy words would be difficult. 🤔 I guess in the end he came to the right decision anyway. Good video👍
The only thing missing is how you worked out the form of the gadget up to the 40 seconds mark. Great videos for 10 years plus.
What I liked was that after all that effort you still admitted that a flat profile was actually better. Interesting.
Very clever use of the tablesaw
Glad you could compare and contrast flat and sculpted like that! Now I don’t have to bother XD
Perhaps on an anniversary date, I'd love to see you revisit your screw advance box joint jig, doing an update, incorporating any new and improved features (incl. some from the countless fans who've built it -requesting submissions would help you stockpile ideas), re-thought dimensions etc.
I haven't felt a need to revise it after all these years of using it. It is my second revision of it, so I got it right the second time.
@@matthiaswandel it is a impressive amazing jig, but with your mind I'm sure at the 10th or 15th or 20th anniversary you and users could come up with some tweaks, additional features or slight improvements.
Hope you've installed your saw stop!
There is some precedent in your initial double U shape -- in the US, Emeco makes a very popular chair made of Aluminum that has this seat profile.
Thank you this is a great video.
I`m glad to know that.
And surprised your idea!
Maybe vacuum forming is next chance or something.
I agree with your assessment on the butt profile. You should consider a more rounded edge on the front to reduce the point load on the back of the legs... which could lead to sciatic nerve pain from prolonged or repeated use.
Brilliant engineering Sir!
Thank you for doing this just about the most dangerous way possible, it was entertaining.
actually those angle grinder attachments are worse. Stumpy nubs recently badly injured himself with one of those.
I agree with you it is dangerous this way. Two options for doing it: 1. CNC (I make it on my own) 2. Use a router with a guide/pattern. Both are more secure.
Fun to watch the "let's give a try" process.
Also, this why tool manufacturers have to plaster all those "Do not do silly things!" warning stickers on their products.
A good experiment! You never would have known about the ergonomics if you hadn’t tried. That table saw setup looked pretty scary to me though. I was not at all surprised to see the kickback happen.
I was waiting for the kickback on the belt sander.
I think those were some good results. great experimentation
7:49 I feel bevel should be deeper at the back than front and that might be the only intention. I think instead of bevel, only adding a slight backward angle would helps more to stay on chair and don't slip out. loved the jig btw, I might make that in smaller scale to curve something else.
OK, a lot of work with minimal benefit. But many people, including myself, have a condition of painful tailbone (Coccydynia). For a wooden chair as you have shown, I'd only be able to tolerate the pain for a few minutes. A typical cushion to eliminate the pain includes a gap in the foam making up the cushion just under the tail bone. But this also requires taking the cushion where ever I go. Perhaps a wooden chair with a relief about 4" in diameter and 1/2 to 1" deep would allow people, with this condition, to seat at a table longer to enjoy a meal with friends and family. It may also have a similar, but most likely less significant, benefit for people without this condition.
What about making the seat a lid for a storage compartment? Slap a bottom on the underside of the runners, cut the seat into two piece just forward of the back support and put a piano hinge in there, and you've got a shallow storage area in the seat.
Better yet, enclose more of the leg area and make it a bigger box enclosure. I've seen similar things done in restaurants so people have a place to put their jacket or bag or whatever without having to worry about someone walking off with it. In a home it could be used to store table linens, condiments, etc.
If I tried this on my table saw there is a 100% chance of me maiming myself
I acknowledge the phenomenon of once bitten, twice shy. However, as a naive teenager I attempted to make a bowl on a table saw by spinning a board over the top of the blade. While guiding the board with my left hand behind the blade the board was pulled toward the front of the saw and I lost the tip of my left middle finger and did serious damage to my left index finger. Admittedly, I wasn't using a guide of any sort and that was another critical mistake. However, since then I shudder at the sight of anyone's hand on the back side of the blade. It simply isn't worth the risk.
I think that would have been a great job for those anglegrinder carving thingys....arbortech or so right?
I truly lol’d at “a bit bothersome”!
Null results are just as interesting as positive results. Those chairs do look very smart as they are.
Sculpted front to back seems more important that sculpted side to side.
Mainly focusing on the front radius, might make it more comfortable for people with shorter legs.
Great ride-along. Thanks.
i feel so relieved that it's not my brain trying to figure out how to do this
If you have found the optimal profile you could copy it with a router-jig.
What if you used separate thin strips of wood, bent in a specific shape, and then just braced them from below? That could get you an 'ideal' shape without wasting a bunch of wood
tks for sharing the method,and results ,,,
Carved seats are especially useful on short stools. (E.g. 3 legged stools, but not on bar-stools.)
What about a cushion with a non slip sheet between it and the seat to stop it sliding around ?
Like some of my good ideas that weren't. Possibly a but scoop all the way across the seat from left to right and rounding off the front edge?
i hope all goes well because if not:
so what did you do:
cutting with tablesaw from left to right with turning in the middle to make a u shapped cut!
an angle grinder with a scultping disc would have been easier to execute for testing but your jig is great for repeatable production runs
Plus, sculpting it only allows for a single sitting position, where you like to sit like this, or like this, or just shifting around
The first thing that came to mind was... "This is very Izzy Swanish" LOL!
Izzy hasn't done anything dangerous with a table saw in a long time.
@@matthiaswandel True, I have been subbed to his channel and yours for several years... : ) I remember him cutting a bowl on his table saw...lol
@@matthiaswandel
Do I hear a challenge?
@@matthiaswandel so....maybe a head to head challenge like the impact drivers.... You could flip a table saw upside down and raise each blade to the point where they teeth start chattering. Ultimate blade strength test?
They would have to be in opposite direction to each other of course...
Boarderline stupid idea...you think?
I would not do this at all...but I'm sure there may be someone wanting to see what would happen...but maybe to make things fair...the table would have to be sideways so there would not be a weight factor....
Are you planning on making chairs for sale?
no
Hi Matthias what was it you used to keep your table saw friction free
Interesting experiment. Guess the way I would try if I wanted a form fit chair might be to cut a somewhat thin u shape to just glue on top of the flat peice then sand it to a smooth transition.
Certainly creative use of the table saw though.
IKEA already figured out that chair bottoms are just fine as plain flat slabs, so I figure if they sell so many, it's probably fine for the home woodworker unless you really want to spend the time making something more ergonomic.
What a marvelous example of critical thinking! Any science teacher would give Mr. Wandel an A+ for demonstrating the steps of “The Scientific Method.”
If anyone is making this sort of seat I did a old cast iron tractor sort of pattern in wood with a 4" angle grinder and a course flap sanding disk, it only took about 15 minutes to go quite deep. Far better than using a table saw IMHO, Matthias is normally a genius.
Will it work? I'm on the edge of my seat!
You sir, are a genius
I thought you were going to scrap this idea half way and add a beveled rim around the edge to act as if it was carved. You could do the same in the middle.
I imagine it might look good awful or fairly decent and useful.
Another option might be to slant the seat back like an Adirondack chair. I think it's the most comfortable wooden chair(I am from the Adirondacks)
In my experience with flat vs contoured, it's not so evident that contoured is more comfortable until you have been sitting for a longer period of time. The flat seat begins to cause discomfort much sooner than a smoothly contoured one. Try it for yourself.
The way maloof would save on thickness was gluing and doweling up the seats out of 8/4 lumber at 2* angles like this \/\/. And then he had his helpers do all the tedious carving !
Fantastic video
Could this be an excuse to get a 50 inch blade table saw?
Why not fully open the inner seat for a mobile toilet?
Possibly the only instance where a CNC could beat your process, much more control too.