Chippendale Corner Chair Building Process

We are making two reproduction Newport corner chairs or roundabout chairs. One chair will have ball and claw feet while one will have pad feet. Every part of these chairs are curved or carved by hand. These chairs are based on an original chair made by John Goddard of Newport Rhode Island circa 1760, this original chairs each sold at auction for 1.58 million dollars in 2005. We will be updating the building process on this page.

First, the mahogany blanks are cut to rough size for the legs/arms., then patterns are made for the legs and arms. A ball and claw foot is roughly carved to help work out the proper dimensions and to have a visual for any small changes.

Next the legs and arms are cut to size. All the joinery is cut in the legs/arms before they are shaped.

The pad feet are turned on the legs/arms for one chair.

Next, the patterns are shaped onto the leg/arm blanks and they are sawn on the bandsaw. From here the legs are completely shaped with hand tools.

The legs are cleaned up before the ball and claw feet are carved. The ball and claw feet are then laid out before the carving begins.

Next, the carving begins by shaping the ball with chisels and carving tools. After the ball is roughly shaped the rest of the foot is carved. The hole foot is then fine tuned to even out and match all the feet.

The ball and claw feet are now finished. It is time to shape the legs/arms to there final shape.

The legs/arms are shaped to there desired shape with hand tools. The arm section ends in an almost completely round shape at the top where it meets the back support.

With the feet carved and the legs shaped the rails are milled to size and laid out for mortise and tenon joinery. The joinery is cut and then fit by hand. The front rails get shaped once the joinery is completely fit.

Next, a pattern is shaped to the desired profile for the serpentine shaped aprons. The aprons are then marked and rough cut out on the bandsaw. The final shaping os done with a variety of hand tools.

After the aprons are shaped they are rabbited on the inside for the slip seat and a profile is shaped on the outside edge. The shoes are also made and hand shaped, these will be glued onto the back aprons and will join the back splat to the chair.

After the aprons are shaped the chair is glued up.

With the chair glued, the front leg is now shaped using a variety of hand tools. The leg curves to conform with the curved profile of the chair.

Next, The arms. A pattern is made to the desired profile. The lower arm is made of three separate pieces half lapped together. Once glued the shape is rough cut on the band saw then glued to the crest rail.

After the arm and crest rail are glued the pieces are flushed up and smoothed. The chairs are then set on the arms to mark exact locations for the mortises. The round mortises are then drilled out and the arms are fit.

The arms are completely shaped by hand with a variety of different tools. The crest rail is rounded on the front and has a profile on the back.

The knuckles and arm are carved on the arms for the chair with ball and claw feet.

After the arms are completely shaped and carved the back splats are cut and fit. The back splats have angled mortise and tenon joinery and a serpentine profile. Next the pattern is drafted and the traced onto the splats.

The pierced splat profile is rough cut on with a scroll saw then cleaned up with hand tools. Relief carving is done to give the splat a three dimensional profile.

The chairs are now ready for knee blocks and a final sanding before finishing. A slip seat will be made for the traditional upholstered seat. Check back soon for the finished chairs.