Woodworker: Michael C. Fortune

Fortune designed these chairs as part of a dining suite for the Governor General of Canada. The suite sits indoors next to a garden so he gave it a marquetry leaf motif. He used a variety of techniques and jigs to pull the piece together. The seat frame and arms are steam-bent cherry. The back features vacuum-molded compound curves where each lamination is planed with a jig so that the back panel is thicker where it joins to the seat. Jigs helped with the leaf parts too. They streamlined the process so he could make twelve leaves at once. His upholstery techniques for the seat are detailed in “A Slim, Comfortable Slip Seat,” FWW #163. The finish is lacquer.

Photo: Michael Fortune