Unsure what to make at Westonbirt this year, Stephen was impressed with Aghi’s bench under construction, so decided on something similar. A nice slab of oak was found and shaped and planning began. I think we all had some input but the work is Stephen’s. It is very comfortable to sit on.
To bend the back, two single chair formers were attached to a board. Having decided to let the back slope down to one end and attached it with a middle and two outer sticks, a bit of head scratching was needed to make the steady reductions of stick spacing to either end. The hole drilling on such a narrow back stick was difficult, aiming at a relaxed angle. The bow is ash, the sticks are oak and each is fixed with a wedged through tenon. The spacing outside the back at each end allows two to sit and each to have a place to put a drink.
Paul Hayden having donated a couple of spare arm bows for the stretchers, all we had to do was work out how to fit them. Other than the basic idea, the detail was proving an impossibility of stick juggling, so we fitted one end and then worked out the best arrangement with the second, marked out the joint geometry and it worked out well.