Morris Chair

Messages
57
Location
Hamilton, New Zealand
After moving into the new home I had a project that needed to be finished, as well as sorting out the shed.

I wanted a better lounge chair so decided to make a Morris Chair. A photo montage can be found here that shows most of the main procedure in building this chair.

http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c388/KiwiGremlin/Morris Chair/

The chair is made from Douglas Fir, New Zealand Kauri armrests and Jarrah arm inserts. The finish is Wattyl Kauri stain and 3 coats of gloss poly.

All timber has been recycled. The Douglas Fir is the same as I used for my workbench. Its Canadian and was used as beams for the army storage centre in Auckland N.Z. The stores were built in 1939 and demoed in 2004.
The douglas fir is approximately 300 to 400 years old. In one section of a beam we counted over a 170 growth rings and this was obviously only part of the tree.

The Kauri is around 1000 years old.
The Jarrah we dont have a clue about.

As a little bit of a side trip heres a link or two thats worth a good look.

http://www.kauricraft.co.nz/
http://www.daviesfurniture.co.nz/index.cfm/Timber
http://www.kauri.net/index.php


And if you are ever down our way this place is worth a visit, some amazing things here. http://www.kauri-museum.com/The_Kauri_Museum/Welcome_IDL=2_IDT=1161_ID=6656_.html

And then of course you will need to visit us a s well for some Kiwi food and drink :thumb:
 
Ralph, that's a great looking chair and wood! I'm thinking about building one using the same plans. I've never sat in one however. Before I spend probably a year building it (I'm really slow) how comfortable is a morris chair.

John
 
Comfy :)

I use a support cushion and a small head rest cushion. I made one little mistake. I used 5 inch high density foam for both the back and the seat.

The back is a bit too firm. I would put medium density in the back for the next chair. Should give me more of that "sink into" feeling.

I used plain black webbing for the seat rather than a solid base. After a month or so all the natural stretch should be gone from the webbing, and then you just tighten it up. It creates a nice "sit" feeling to the chair and the high density foam works well.

Another mistake I made was giving it 3 coats of gloss poly. This makes the armrests sticky in the humid weather. I would use a flat or satin finish next time.

I am also toying with the idea of having upholstered armrests. Not totally but a rebated panel about where the forearm rests on the chair.

These are just some personal touchs I have been contemplating for when I do the next chair for the wife.

I will also make her chair about 1 to 2 inches shorter in the sides to accomodate shorter leg lenghts. I'm 6'2" so the standard chair plan is right for me but a hair too large for the wife.

But all that aside its the chair we now all fight over when watching TV so that tells me its comfy :)
I will post a picy of the webbing frame if you like.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for posting this Ralph. I very much like the pictures with all the construction details and I am sure that folks will be fighting over who gets to use this chair for many years to come.
 
Top