Puzzles

As a boy, I can remember doing what seemed huge jigsaw puzzles with my mother and brother. I was reminded of this recently by my brother’s return to this hobby. I liked doing the puzzles, but children and then grandchildren precluded my being able to do any that took any time. Also, part of the fun was doing them with someone. I’ve been able to replace this by meeting with my daughter and her wife over the phone on Sunday afternoons to do the NY Times crossword puzzle.

Every project I’ve ever done also is a puzzle. The difference is that the pieces have to be fashioned, and there is no lid to go from when assembling the puzzle. The picture comes out of my brain and my experience with objects like what I’m building. I don’t make a comprehensive picture because I learn and can go forward better by measuring and fitting the actual pieces together at the bench.

 

Today’ project is a desk chair I’m building for one of you. You can see the blanks that I shall use to fashion the pieces and assemble the puzzle. The chair will have a revolve and tilt function and five legs with castors. This chair is in cherry. With this species of wood and design this chair will retail for $550.00. This particular chair is 20” high at the seat (as specified by the customer) and 17” wide at the seat. The job was to take one of my side chairs and turn it into a desk chair. When the puzzle is made, it should be a functional and design success.