Most novice woodworkers look at a chair, and see a seat, a back, four legs and maybe some arms. Piece of cake to build, right?

As any experienced chairmaker will tell you, building a quality chair is much more complicated. There are a lot of considerations that go into making a chair look nice, be strong enough to handle the stresses of sitting (and getting into and out of the chair), sliding the chair forward and back, and still be comfortable. This combination is a lot more difficult than one might think.

In Chairmaking & Design, Jeff Miller has written a basic but relatively thorough course in chairmaking, from theory to practical designs. Some of the chair plans could be considered modern, while others are more classic in design, but each successive design builds on the techniques learned in the previous chapter.

Read our woodworking book review of Chairmaking & Design by Jeff Miller, and get started building chairs of your own!

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