( ) Chair
Birthing-chair study in pine
A study after the African birthing chair, which holds the body upright during labor. I kept that job and softened the angles into a low rounded seat in pine, dowel joinery cut at compound angles, every edge rounded by hand. The parentheses in the name are the shape of the seat.
Sketching and references
Traditional African birthing chairs sit low and angled, stable while weight shifts. My variants tested how far I could soften that before the chair stopped doing its job. I kept the wide stance that makes the original feel planted.
Milling and joinery
Table-sawed the pine, planed it flat, rounded every exposed edge by hand. Dowel joints at compound angles for the splayed legs. I dry-fitted with clamps before any glue, because pine forgives you while you work it and then shows stress at the joints.
Assembly and finishing
Glued the dowels, sanded coarse through fine, stained it to even the pine's colour. A last pass by hand evened the edge radius everywhere, which is what gives the chair its softness.
Specifications
W40 × D38 × H45 cm · pine with hand-rounded edges · dowel joinery at compound angles · stained finish · Taichung, Taiwan · 2023
Gallery
- Challenges1/2
Early prototypes rocked and tipped forward when weight moved. I adjusted the leg angles and reinforced the joints until the geometry held. A seat this low amplifies any imbalance.
- Insights2/2
It stopped rocking when I got the leg angles right, not when I made anything heavier. Round the forms, cut compound angles, and pine tells you where it is straining.
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