Stick Chair Warm-Up (*Build a Chair from Bulls%$t*)

This warm-up has one job: let you complete the entire logic of a stick chair before the higher-stakes capstone. Christopher Schwarz designed the project around home-center material, ordinary portable tools, free full-size patterns, and a “sandwich drilling” method that aligns the arm and seat without a chairmaking jig ¹. Lost Art Press also publishes the book as a free PDF and an official twelve-part build series ².

The free book and patterns are the controlling plan. This lesson is your build brief: it explains how to prepare, where errors compound, what to record, and when to stop. It deliberately does not transcribe the plan’s dimensions. Download the current files from the publisher so the drawings, cut list, and instructions remain together ¹.

Definition of done

The chair is complete when it:

• stands on four feet without a noticeable rock on a known-flat reference surface;
• passes the plan’s inspection steps and a weighted load test (below);
• has no sharp edges, protruding wedges, or splinters where hands and legs travel;
• carries the arm, sticks, and comb without visible strain or forced alignment; and
• has a finish that is cured enough for the use specified by its manufacturer.

Cosmetic perfection is not on the list. Sound joints and a completed learning loop are.

Before build day: make a project packet

Print or save the book, full-size patterns, and cut list from the official project page. For any “full-size” print, select actual size/100%, never “fit to page,” then measure a labeled control dimension before transferring a shape. If that check fails, stop: a uniformly distorted pattern can still look convincing.

Create one notebook page with four blocks:

1. Parts: seat, arm, comb, legs, long sticks, short sticks, wedges, and pegs as the plan defines them.
2. References: face, front, left/right, and each pattern’s centerline.
3. Risk marks: knots, short grain, checks, glue lines, and mortise zones.
4. Decisions: date, material, drill setup, glue, finish, and every departure from the plan.

Label patterns with the chair name and version. Label parts before their silhouettes become similar. A pencil arrow reading “front” prevents more errors than an elaborate jig.

Material rule: straight where slender

Inspect legs and sticks along all four faces. Grain that runs noticeably out of a slender part can shorten the continuous fibers that resist bending. Reject cracks, deep checks, loose knots, and severe grain runout from legs and long sticks. In wider seat or arm stock, place defects away from mortises and narrow bridges of wood. “Home-center material” means accessible, not that every board is suitable.

Let material reach a reasonably stable shop condition before joinery. The useful test is not an arbitrary waiting period: repeated width or moisture readings should stop changing enough to threaten a glue-up. Keep parts supported and stickered so air reaches both faces.

The build sequence, with stop gates

1. Patterns and square blanks

Make durable patterns and transfer every centerline and mortise center while the seat and arm blanks are still square. The sandwich method relies on those clean references. Before sawing curves, lay the arm pattern over the seat layout and confirm left/right orientation, front edge, and all intended hole pairs.

Stop gate: each mortise center appears once, paired holes agree, and the pattern print has passed its scale check.

2. Glue the seat blank

Joint mating edges according to the book, dry-clamp them, and inspect the seam from both faces. Mark a cabinetmaker’s triangle across the boards so their order cannot rotate during glue application. Use enough clamps to close the joint without bowing the panel; check flatness rather than assuming more pressure is better.

After cure, remove squeeze-out and re-establish the pattern’s centerline. Do not shape the seat yet: square edges and broad faces are valuable registration surfaces.

Stop gate: the panel is sound and flat enough to register the arm blank and drilling guides without rocking.

3. Sandwich-drill the aligned mortises

This is the project’s transferable idea. The arm blank is clamped in its specified position on the seat blank. For the back sticks, the drill passes through the arm and continues into or through the seat in one setup, so the paired holes share an axis. The plan supplies the locations and tilt; the clamped “sandwich” preserves their alignment ¹.

Use this checklist:

• Put sacrificial backing under exit holes where the plan calls for it.
• Clamp both parts so they cannot creep, and keep clamps clear of the drill body.
• Draw the sightline long enough to see while standing in a comfortable position.
• Set the bevel to the book’s stated angle and confirm whether it is read from the work surface or vertical.
• Start the bit perpendicular to the local entry surface long enough to establish it, then hold the specified direction.
• Clear chips without levering the bit against the hole.
• Do not unclamp the sandwich until every hole in that setup is complete and checked.

The video is useful for body position and clamping order, but it is optional. The essential reasoning is: one clamping, one axis, two matched holes. If the parts shift, stop and re-establish the pattern references rather than “averaging” the error into the next hole.

Stop gate: test dowels or sticks pass through the paired holes without forcing the arm out of position.

4. Legs, tenons, and wedges

Make the leg tenons to the plan’s joint system and test each one in its assigned mortise. Number leg and mortise together. A tenon that drops through is not a dry fit; one that requires damaging force gives no room for glue and assembly. Follow the book for the target fit and wedge kerf.

Orient a wedge so its expansion does not encourage a split along the seat’s weakest grain path. Before glue, rehearse the full undercarriage with wedges, mallet, glue, and cleanup tools placed in order. Glue time is a poor moment to decide which leg is front-left.

Stop gate: all legs seat to their reference marks during a dry run, wedges are fitted and labeled, and the assembly can be completed inside the adhesive’s open time.

5. Level the undercarriage

Place the cured chair on a verified flat surface. Shim the chair until the seat is at the intended attitude—do not merely press one high foot down. Use a scribe block set from the highest floor gap to transfer one common plane to all four legs. Saw or trim outside the line first, then creep up on it.

Test in at least two orientations on the same reference surface. If the apparent high foot follows the chair when you rotate it, the chair needs work. If the high spot stays on the floor, the surface is the suspect.

Mnemonic: level the seat, scribe the floor, trim the feet.

6. Arm, sticks, and comb

Dry-assemble all sticks through the arm and into the seat. Check the arm’s height, symmetry, and freedom from twist before glue. Do not use the comb to drag misaligned sticks into a pleasing row; find the tight or misdirected hole first. Add the comb and pegs in the sequence the plan specifies.

Stop gate: the complete dry assembly closes with hand pressure or controlled mallet work and does not depend on a clamp to hide a geometric error.

7. Paint, wax, and cure

Break sharp edges, remove glue that would interfere with the selected finish, and test the entire schedule on offcuts from the same materials. Mixed woods and plywood edges can absorb finish differently. Follow the finish maker’s ventilation, recoat, and cure instructions. “Dry to touch” is not always ready for a sitter.

A realistic personal schedule

Treat this as a planning range, not a promise from the author:

• Session 1: source material; print, verify, and make patterns.
• Session 2: prepare and glue the seat blank; lay out the arm and comb.
• Session 3: drill the sandwich and leg mortises; make and fit tenons.
• Session 4: glue and level the undercarriage.
• Session 5: dry-fit and glue arm, sticks, and comb.
• Session 6: surface preparation and finish, followed by the required cure time.

The calendar may span several weekends because glue and finish need unattended time. Keep active shop hours separate from waiting time in your notes; that makes the next chair easier to estimate.

Load-test before use

Before anyone sits on a new chair, inspect every joint, then load the seat with sandbags or weights in steps, standing clear. Unload and look after each step; stop and diagnose if anything moves, cracks, ticks, or stays bent. A first chair that passes is fine to use and watch; an experimental one-off deserves a second look after some months of use.

Common mistakes worth catching early

• Scaling a pattern silently: verify one printed dimension before cutting anything.
• Shaping too soon: preserve square blanks until all operations that use their edges and faces are complete.
• Treating every dowel or handle as structural stock: inspect grain and defects; cull aggressively from slender parts.
• Drilling paired holes in separate setups: that throws away sandwich drilling’s alignment advantage.
• Skipping the dry glue-up: wedges and many sticks create a fixed sequence under time pressure.
• Leveling by shortening the apparent long leg alone: establish the desired seat attitude, then scribe all feet from one floor plane.
• Testing by sitting on it first: load-test with weights before the first sitter.

When the chair is done, add one final notebook page: one operation that went as planned, one correction you made, one dimension or setup you would record more clearly, and one tool you now know you do—or do not—need. That reflection is the bridge from a warm-up chair to the capstone, and it is more valuable than disguising every first-build mark.