This is a picture of our day shade (instructions for which are also on this web site). In it you see my lady's and my Viking chairs before I finished decorating them. They have decorative carving at the top, and a large knotwork pattern cut into the center part of the back. This knotwork looks great, but its primary purpose was to make the chair lighter and it also provides a handy carrying handle when moving it around!
Here we see my computer's rendition of the basic "viking" style chairs, including a 3' oak
chair, a 5-foot yellow pine chair, and the two parts of the 5-foot pine chair standing up to
show their structure. I have tried these chairs in several different widths, and I highly
recommend the 2x12 board as raw material over the narrower widths, which just aren't as
comfortable.
The chair consists of a back, which has a slot cut in it. The seat has a tapering end which
slides through this slot. As shown here, the bottom of the back portion has a cutout to create
two feet. This is more stable on uneven ground than a flat bottom, which tends to tip.
Here are the shapes and measurements. The height of the slot will depend on who
will use the chair and how long their legs are. I am 5' 8" and a height of 12" to the bottom of
the slot works for me. My lady is 5' 2" and a height of 11" works for her. The length of the
back depends on whether you want a head rest, how much space you have, and how much weight
you want to carry. The length of the seat depends on how much you want the chair to lean back,
and this is also affected by the height of the slot. My chairs have a seat length of 3'
overall, and the chairs lean back quite a bit as a result.
Several people have asked me how much I would charge to make these. When I get time, I will
price some wood in my area to determine prices. At that time I will update this site.
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