You are currently viewing May 14, 2020 – Making a Michael Fortune Chair by Patrick Daugherty
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May 14, 2020 – Making a Michael Fortune Chair by Patrick Daugherty

Patrick described his love of woodworking and the pleasure and knowledge he has gained from being a guild member over the past 13 years.  He has been a frequent student at Marc Adams School of Woodworking.  Marc recently came out with a book called the “Difference Makers”.  On the cover is the chair Michael Fortune designed and built.  Michael has made over 500 of the chairs and they require 38 jigs to make the chair.  The chair design is a work of art, very light but very structurally strong.  Strong hardwoods should be used with this chair.  
Patrick used walnut and curly maple.  Their are several templates that include every piece of the chair.  Many of the jigs allow for the complex joinery necessary for this chair.  As you can see from the shape of the chair, several pieces required steam bending or bent laminations.  Patrick used air dried walnut he purchased from Bob Gammage.  There are many details describing the construction process that were discussed during the slide presentation.  The entire meeting and Patrick’s presentation are available to watch again or the first time at https://www.twitch.tv/jkunzman/

Joe Kunzman

Joe is a retired CPA and Sr. IT Data Storage Architect. He resides in Lake Helen, FL with his wife Marie. His woodworking interests include cabinetry and building 18th century reproduction furniture. He is also the Florida Chapter President of Society of American Period Furniture Makers. When not making sawdust, he also spends his time building embedded systems with microprocessors, such as Arduino.

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