POPULARWOODWORKING.COM ■ 43When I was 17 years old, my
family had an old craftsman style
armchair that we’d inherited years
earlier. It was an antique chair
with solid bones but badly in need
of refi nishing. It had all the right
details, from the through tenons in
the armrests to the dark fi nish and
leather seat. I spent a week stripping
the fi nish and carefully sanding that
chair down to bare wood. Alas, as
teenagers will do, I moved on to
other interests and never fi nished
the project. But I never forgot about
that chair.
A Simple Template
Wanting to recreate a similar
armchair, I rummaged through my
lumber stash for some 8/4 white
oak. I was getting low on thick
stock, but I found just enough for
the four legs and backrest rails. The
front legs are straight and square,
but the rear legs angle backward
for comfort, and require a tem-
plate. The template is made from
a piece of^3 / 4 " MDF 42" long x 4^1 / 2 "
wide. Lay out the leg shape on the
MDF and cut out the template. The
angled front of the leg template can
be cut with a tapering sled at the
table saw. The back of the template
can be started with the table saw,
and fi nished at the band saw. Sand
the template to fi nal shape and
your leg template is complete.
1
1 The signature through tenons and^5 / 8 " dowels provide aesthetically pleasing
strength to the arms.