Introduction: Making a Mid Century Modern Armchair

By My Youtube Channel
About: Hey, This is Alpaca Studio.

I spent the last two weeks inside my shop designed and built this mid-century modern armchair.

Warning: Video in Mandarin WITHOUT English subtitles

Step 1: Material: 50mm and 25mm Beech

I decided to use beech in this build since there's a ton in my shop (:

The first step I did was to dimension all the lumber. I used my miter saw to cut the wood to the length and flattened them on the jointer. By using the planer, I make sure that both sides are flat and smooth.

Step 2: Make the Backrest

The backrest of this armchair is made with 10 pieces of wood.

I started by cutting all the pieces on my table saw. I made sure every piece has the same width and length.

I used a router table to give the wood a smooth edge. The speed of the router is important here. Otherwise, you could burn the wood.

Step 3: Connecting All Pieces

I used dowels to connect all these pieces. first, I drilled several 8mm holes on the wood. The depth of the hole is slightly longer than half of the dowel so that there is a space for excess glue. I used a dowel jig to make sure every hole is straight.

Step 4: Cut the Legs of the Chair

All the legs are made by 50mm wood since they are thicker than the backrest. I used the band saw to cut the corner and used a table saw jig to cut the leg with an angle.

Step 5: Assemble All the Pieces

Finally, I assembled all the pieces. I glued them up and used a lot of clamps.

Step 6: Sanding

Next step is sanding the pieces. I tried to remove all the burn marks and unsmooth here with 200# sandpaper.

Step 7: Cleaning, Painting, Sanding and Repeat

Here I used the water-based polyurethane to finish the piece. It's quick and odorless.

Step 8: DONE

I ordered the cushion online. I don't make a cushion!!

HAHA

Step 9: Latest Update: Project Plan

I built this model in Solidworks and originally decided to release the plan after I reorganized everything. Since I slightly change the design when I built it because of the material. However, so many people are asking for plans and want to build this.

Anyway, here is the screenshot of the cutting plan and I guess you guys can figure it out. This plan covers all of the dimension you need to build this chair. But the parts are not labeled which makes it a little bit difficult to assemble. But with the help of perspective view, it's actually not that hard. The design is in metric units. (e.g. 500 means 500 mm) Just ignore the number after the decimal point. Not necessary to be that accurate.

Enjoy your build!