Chair Horse Intro

I’ve had several requests for a video demonstrating how to make John Nyquist‘s “Chair Horse.” It’s an adjustable height work support that John used in the making of his chairs. We had several at Cerritos College and I have two in my shop. The first I made with John around 2000; the second I made as a demo for a summer class I taught a few years after that. Two is probably one too many for a garage shop, but they really come in handy at times.

At school they were typically used as infeed and/or outfeed tables at a bandsaw. They were also used as project supports, which is primarily how John used them. The top is narrow enough for a chair to straddle, positioning it at a nice height for detail work. Because of its bulk, it’s very stable.

I stopped by Bohnhoff Lumber in Los Angeles on January 2nd to purchase the requisite lumber, soft maple. We were on our way home from viewing the Rose Parade floats (amazing the details you see that aren’t apparent when watching on TV). John recommend soft maple; it is easy to work, relatively inexpensive, and not too heavy or too light. Unfortunately, they only had long boards in stock, so I ended up buying much more than I needed. With all the lumber I have in my inventory, you’d think I could find something that worked, but the project works best with 5/4 and 6/4 stock. Most of what I have is 4/4 and 8/4, and anything in the 5/4 and 6/4 range is too good for a fixture. More lumber to add to my inventory…

I certainly don’t need a third chair horse, so I’ll be selling this one when complete. I’ll let you know how that will work; probably a raffle or silent auction.

I haven’t started yet, so watch for the multi-part video soon.