When most people think about a first project in woodworking, they picture a wooden stool. A stool, everyone figures, is as simple as it can get. This seems logical at first " stools are small, they only have 3 legs, and they don't have to be much to look at. Once you start working on it, you will realize how hard it actually is. Wooden stools have to be stable and study, and there is a lot of detail work. Aside from that, once you are done, what do you have? Nothing but a stool. How often do you really need to use that!
No, wood chairs are a much better first project than a stool. If you like rustic wood furniture, a well-made wooden chair will last you for years and years. You will be able to show it off to your friends, letting them know how crafty you are with your hands. Best of all, there are many wood chair designs that are not very hard to make. When I made my first wood chair, in fact, I had no woodworking skills at all. I was completely new to it, and I only had a few basic tools.
How you go about making a wood chair depends on how ambitious you are. There are, of course, many different kinds of wood chairs. There are wood folding chairs, hand tooled wood restaurant chair, and even wooden recliners. Basically, anything you see in a store can be made at home. Still, I recommend that you stay away from any of these. The best thing to do is try something simple that you know you will be able to succeed at. If it is a little bit simple looking, so what? You can always try for something more difficult the next time, and best of all, you have a finished project " a usable chair.
If you are pretty creative with it, you can make a wood chair out of no more than four pieces. You make the back all one piece, stretching from the top of the head rest to the bottom of the legs. You can then attach the seat to that horizontally, and attach the front legs (also one piece) to that. The fourth piece, of course, is a brace for the legs on the bottom.
Making the joints stable using this design is a little tricky, and you should probably get someone who knows what they are doing to help you. Nevertheless, with proper tools and skills, you can make this style of wood chair in as little as an hour.