The Ladderbacks

Ok, I admit, this chair design took a long time to get together ... There were several posts along the choice, originally starting back in October !?. For one reason or another, there was no hurry, and now that we have finally finished 16 of them, Im really liking them for a number of reasons ... Clickl the photos to enlarge them ...
1. They will look good with a lot of different table styles.
2. We can actually do most of the joinery work on our cnc ... I know, I know, thats cheating but I have yet to EVER make a profit on a new chair design. There is some small hope for this one.
3. They are incredibly light to move around and more comfortable than the look.
4. They dont take a lot of wood.
5. I feel like they will also be more durable than they look. (see leg test results below)
The photo at the top of the post is with my clientss Nakashima table which arrived the day before our chairs .. I think that was actually the no hurry part.
Parts for 10 chairs, ready to glue up ...
With my table for the SVAC show opening on May 8th ... more on that later
With our big Claro Walnut Slab Table ... They looked great with that ...
Ten of them lined up and ready to go ....
By themselves. The chair in the background is lacking its pierced plywood seat support which was a last minute brainstorm to add structural strength without laborious and weaker corner blocks. It also afforded good attachment for the slip seat ... gold star for engineering if I do say so myself.
The original first prototype from the first post back in October
Another post in the series showing a real cherry prototype. I was intending to make a set for a cherry table that I had on hand, but I sold it before I got the chance, which was good ...
I have a few more photos later

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State of Craft 2010 Goodwood Lane

I had sort of a revelation this morning. It was related to the show that opens Saturday at the Bennington Museum ... State of Craft 2010 ... 50 Years of Craft in Vermont. I realized I have been nosing around the crafts scene here for almost 40 of those years .... Kit and I lived in The Wall Family Gallery building in Manchester, starting in September 1971. The Wall Family Gallery was basically a pottery studio, run by husband and wife, Beriah Wall and Janice Farley... our age, more or less .... We still see them when they come to town ....Kit traded batches of chocolate chip cookies for pottery .... You get the idea ....
Starting in 1972, I worked for Beriahs brother who had a landscaping business and he introduced me to carpentry ... Time went on; we built a house, in our spare time, pretty much every nail and slate, in 1974; after that I worked for a (much) more professional carpenter; we started a furniture business in 1980. Talk about clueless.
The 1974 house ... The shop at the old house where we worked until 1999 ...
Now, 30 years later, what have we got and where are we???? Almost 40 years in the same geographic area, lots of regular friends, unbelievably interesting clients/friends, a great shop, a great place to live, fantastic gardens by Kit, two great and talented kids working with us, beautiful gardens, a little time for golf and tennis ... What more could a person ask for? Id say the State of Craft on Goodwood Lane is pretty good right now and I cant imagine where I would be if I had stuck with that sales job I took after college in 1970. I realized this morning I have to occasionally stop and appreciate how lucky Ive been to have been involved with the State of Craft ... Its been a good state for me ....
The boys working on the duck bed
This morning 7:00am

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