Upholstered Club Chair

By Ken Burton March 7, 2024

Cushioned comfort, exposed woodwork

As much as I like all-wood chairs, when I want to relax after a long day in the shop, I look for something with a little padding. But as a woodworker, I still like to see some of the material I love. A bit of a conundrum, perhaps, but not an insurmountable one. When I set out to develop this club chair, I knew I wanted to design a piece that had comfort at the forefront, but also showcased wood from which it is made. After several pages of sketching followed by building a full-sized mock-up screwed together from 2× lumber, I arrived at the design presented here. Its soft box cushions provide ample comfort while the solid white oak provides nice contrast with both the cushions and the fabric-covered side and back panels. Construction involves pattern-routing the legs, then assembling the side, seat, and back frames with mortise and tenon joints. I ordered the cushions online, but upholstered the side and back panels myself. If you have some basic sewing skills, making the cushions isn’t that difficult as Samantha Kuczynski explains in Making Box Cushions..

Side frames support the seat and back

Each side frame consists of two identically-shaped legs joined near the bottom by a lower side stretcher which will show, and at the top by an upper side stretcher which will be concealed. After assembly, additional liner pieces are added to the frames to help support the upholstered plywood side panels. Those panels attach with nylon push-in rivets. A front and a rear stretcher join the two side frames to complete the base. The back cushion is supported by a frame with two intermediate slats and a separate upholstered plywood panel. The seat cushion is supported by the seat frame crossed with rubberized webbing. The seat frame rests on a cleat attached to the back frame and two supports glued to the insides of the front legs. Be aware that both the back and seat frames are removable and actually get installed after the side panels are pressed into place.

Note: the print edition contained incorrect dimensions for the riser and leg detail; this version has been corrected.

Illustrations: Christopher Mills

Make the side frames and base

Mill stock for the legs, arms, front, back, and side stretchers to size, leaving the upper side stretchers about 1/2” overlong for now. Mortise the legs for the lower side stretchers with a 1/2” spiral upcut bit in a plunge router equipped with an edge guide as shown. Then cut the mortises for front and back stretchers with the same router configuration, this time with the legs lying flat on your bench. Make a pattern for the legs, then shape them at the router table. Rout the upper mortises with a 3/8” spiral upcut bit as shown. Cut the tenons on the front, back, and lower side stretchers at the table saw and fit them to their mortises, rounding their edges with a chisel and/or rasp. Rabbet the upper ends of the legs to create the triangular-shaped bosses where the upper side stretcher lands. Chuck a 3/16” roundover bit into the router table and profile all the long edges of the stretchers and most of the long edges of the legs, leaving the inside shoulder where the lower side stretcher attaches square. Dry clamp the legs to the lower side stretchers and measure to determine the shoulder-to-shoulder length of the upper side stretchers. Add enough extra length for the tenons and cut those stretchers to final length. Cut the tenons at the table saw and fit them to their mortises. Glue up the side frames, then add the front and back stretchers to glue up the base.

Gang and rout. The paired legs make a stable surface for the router to ride on. Reference all cuts from the legs’ inside face. Rout one leg, then swap positions before routing the second.

Parallel is paramount. Lay out the leg shape on a piece of MDF. To ensure the shoulders for the stretchers are parallel, make a short stopped cut as shown before bandsawing the rest of the pattern to shape and fairing the curves.

Cut with the grain. After bandsawing away most of the waste, adhere the pattern to the leg blanks with double-faced tape and trim them to shape with an over-and-under bit. Feeding from right to left, cut the upper part of the leg with the upper bearing and the pattern on top. Then cut the lower part of the leg with the lower bearing and the pattern underneath.

Make a sandwich. Clamp the legs between two 4” wide pieces (I used the two arm blanks) and shim to make parallel. When cutting, be sure to reference from the same face on all four legs.

Table saw tenons. Set up a wide dado blade. Measure from the outside of the blade to the fence to set the tenon length. Push the pieces through the cut with a sacrificial follower board, adjusting the blade height to control the tenon thickness.

Rabbet the legs. Clamp a straightedge aligned with the upper inside edge of the leg. Rout along this guide with a straight bit, adjusting the cut depth to leave a 1⁄4”-deep rabbet to the inside and a 1⁄2”-deep rabbet to the outside of the leg.

Clamp up. After dry fitting, apply glue and clamp the side frames together. I used the off cuts from the legs as clamping cauls, reshaping them slightly for a better fit.

Make the arms, seat and back frames

Cut the arms to shape. I didn’t bother to make a pattern. Instead, I cut and sanded the first one to shape then traced it to make the second. Profile all but the lower inside long edges with a 3/16” roundover bit at the router table. Drill dowel holes in the tops of the legs, then mark and drill mating holes in the underside of the arms at the drill press. Attach the arms with pocket screws driven up through the inside surfaces of the upper side stretchers. Mill the stock for the back and seat frames to size. Measure the distance between the legs on the base and adjust the rail lengths if necessary. Predrill 1/2” dowel holes and 3/16” screw holes through the rear stiles. Mark the inside of the base and clamp the stiles in place. Drill the dowel holes into the base. Also push a 3” screw through the screw holes to mark the screw locations and drill pilot holes for use later. Cut the frame joinery and glue up the seat frame. Dry fit the back frame without the slats and rout a 1/2” deep rabbet around the inside. Square the rabbet’s corners with a chisel, then glue the back frame together with the slats in place. Profile all the frame edges with a 3/16” roundover bit at the router table. Rout the webbing slots in the seat frame. Temporarily install the back frame and mark it for the cleat. Cut the cleat to size and rip one edge of it as well as the back edge of the seat frame to a 75° bevel. Screw the cleat to the back frame. Set the seat frame in place and clamp it to the front legs so the place where its top surface intersects the front of the leg is 12-1/4” above floor level. Cut the support blocks to hold it at this position, roundover their inward-facing long edges, and glue them to the legs. Drill the underside of the seat frame for a pocket screw to attach it to the leg just in front of the support block. Finally cut the spacers to fit inside the side openings and screw them in place. Finish all the woodwork with a durable finish. I used General Finish’s Arm-R-Seal.

Drill straight. Make a simple drilling guide to help you drill the 1⁄2 × 1” deep dowel holes straight into the tops of the legs. The exact location isn’t important, somewhere near the center is good enough.

Transfer the center points. Pop dowel centers into the holes, locate the arms flush with the insides of the legs and press down to mark the center points.

Locate the back stiles. Mark the base as indicated and clamp the rear stiles in place. Drill the dowel holes into the base through predrilled holes in the stiles.

Webbing slots. Rout four equally spaced 1⁄8 × 1⁄2 × 21⁄8” long slots in both the front and back seat rail for the seat webbing. On mine, the spacing between the slots is 111⁄16”.

Locate the cleat. The top of the cleat should be 91⁄2” above floor level. Pinch two squares together to mark this measurement on the sloping back frame.

Upholster the side panels

Cut the side panels about 1/8” smaller than the trapezoidal openings in the side frames. Center them in the openings and drill the 3/8” holes for the push-in rivets. Be sure to offset the holes for the rivets in opposing panels. Repeat the process for the back panel. For each panel, cut a piece of 1/2” foam slightly oversize. Push the rivets through the panel and stick it to the foam. Staple the fabric along the top of the panel. Then pull it tight and staple it along the bottom edge. Check periodically for uneven puckers, restapling as necessary. Then pull and staple the fabric around the sides.

Wrap things up

Cut the webbing to length, add the metal end clips and press them into the slots you routed in the seat frame. Trim about 1/4” off the length of the rivets and press the side panels into place. Slip the back frame in place, tap the dowels home and fasten it to the base with 3” screws. I found having a close-quarters drill really helped with driving the upper screws. Set the seat frame in place and screw it to the cleat. Clamp it to the support blocks as you drive the pocket screws home to fasten it to the legs. Add the back panel and cushions then have a seat. You deserve it.

Crimp in place. Squeeze a metal clip on the end of the webbing with a machinists vice. Be sure the webbing is fully seated in the clip, or it won’t run straight across the frame.

Stretch to measure. With one clip installed, press that end into its slot and pull the webbing across the frame. Hold it taut, but not stretched and mark the other end 3⁄8” past the slot. Cut the webbing and install the second clip. Test to be sure the webbing isn’t slack when installed then cut the remaining pieces to match.

Add the panels. Press the panels into place before installing the back and seat frames. Be aware, once the rivets go in, they don’t come out easily.