Zig Zag

Here in our studio, activity is getting to an all-time high. We've got several projects going right now, which I'll talk about over the next couple of days.

The first is the Zig Zag Chair replica. Jake and I learned about this chair in our history of design class. Its designed by Rietveld, and, as you can see it is a relatively simple form. So simple, in fact, that the first response when we saw it was- "Hey, we could make that. Easy."



The chair runs for as much as $600, which seems astronomical.

Plans are available online for the chair, and when you see how its built, you realize how foolish you were.

Skip the next paragraph if you just want to take my word for it.

The joints at the seat and at the rear of the foot are 45 degree angles along a long edge, meaning you need to cut a 67.5 degree angle out of a long edge on each piece. Table saws typically only have an angle tilt of 45 degrees so you need to make a jig. Then Each joint is secured with drilling and filled with dowels. Drilled at a 22.5 degree angle, straight and regularly spaced. Oh and did I mention that there's a slight flare at the knees making the seat not square! Or that the joint between the seat and the back is a 98 DEGREE BOX JOINT! (Trust me, difficult.)

Look at it again. Minimalist? Yes. Simple? Not even close. The essence of modernism.

That being said, we're going to try to make them. Four of them. We've made a jig for the table saw.



We have a better band saw which we can use on the complicated box joint.



We still need to figure out how to do the drilling. But in the meantime, I made this:



More projects, including a completed bed design to come!