The Custom-Sized Chair
Owning one's own chair is one of life's great pleasures. The fitting of the chair to the individual is a process that I've evolved and refined for 30 years. As many as twelve adjustments may be made to the basic design of a chair. These range from the obvious--such as the position of the headboard and the length of the arm--to the subtle, the angle between the seat and the back. The result is a personal chair of exceptional comfort.
The Floating Back
I made my first chair with a "floating back" in 1974. Elam Sharpe, a wagonmaker from Susanville, California, showed me how to insert loose, flexible slats into mortices routed into the headboard and seat of the chair. Over the years, I've refined the process. Now I use bow-making techniques and triple lamination to shape the slats to conform to the human back. Because each slat has the flexibility, resilience and strength of a traditional longbow, when you sit in one of these chairs, the contoured support you'll feel on the curves of your back has a massage-like flexibility.
The Process
Because each of us has a particular style of sitting, fitting a chair is best done in person. I encourage people who order chairs to visit my workshop or one of the six or seven craft exhibits around the country where I show my work each year. (See Shows.) This gives me the chance to see you sitting in a chair similar to the design you are thinking about ordering. Then I use a few simple techniques to show you how the chair would feel if I were to alter various dimensions. I've found that this fitting process takes about ten to twenty minutes.
If we can't meet in person, I'll send you a "measurement card" with a couple of simple sketches of the body measurements I need to custom size a chair. It's best if you can find someone who can take your measurements for you--much like the dimensions a tailor makes before starting on a suit.
What if more than one person is going to use the chair?
There are many ways to size a chair that will be used by two people. I do this most commonly with the rocking chairs I make. Apart from the way the back of a chair conforms to the sitter (see above), the two measurements that most affect the comfort of a chair are usually the height and depth of the seat. If you've ever sat in a chair that is so high your feet can't be planted firmly on the floor, or with a seat so deep that when you scoot back your legs stick straight out, you'll understand the importance of these dimensions. Usually I can balance these and other measurements to suit both sitters.
The "standard size" chair
If you visit my booth at a craft fair, you'll find a dozen or so chairs, each sized in a way that I've found works best for the greatest number of people. These are what I call the "standard size" for each of the chairs. I've discovered that many chairs that I custom size for people of average height-- between about 5'4" and 5'11"--need only minor changes from this standard size. If you'd like to buy a chair that will be used by several people, a dining chair, for example, the standard size chair will be perfect.
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