It was pretty easy skills-wise, but we did learn a few things along the way. The humidity in our house is fairly low; all the tenons got smaller between the time we sanded and test-fit all the pieces (the day we brought the kit home), and the day we glued everything. Next time, we won't test-fit until the kit has been in the house a few days. We used the "Shaker Oil" finish with beeswax; it contains turpentine and smells awful. Next time, we'll use just the beeswax and some mineral oil.
The biggest lesson was in the weaving. The directions say to warp the middle of the seat, weave about halfway toward the front, and then go back and add pieces of warp to fill in the triangles at the edges of the seat. I weave very tightly, so this is really hard. For us, it would have been better to add the additional warp pieces as we were weaving each row - much easier to tack the ends that way.
You'll notice I did say "next time". I think the plan is that we'll just keep making chairs until we have enough for eight (or more?) dinner guests. We're also thinking about a bench for the foot of the bed - that would be really easy weaving!
We're planning to put this chair in the bedroom for the time being, so Bryan has a place to sit when he puts on his socks.
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| From Other Crafts |
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| From Other Crafts |
