A stunning creation made this term in DT lessons.

George has worked very hard, every Friday afternoon, since the beginning of term making a chair for the garden. It is in the style of a classic American design called Adirondack. The first Adirondack chair was created by Thomas Lee around 1903. Lee was searching in vain for comfortable outdoor furniture for his country cottage in Westport, NY, which is near the Adirondack mountain region of upstate New York, on the banks of Lake Champlain.

George has created this chair from bare wood to the finished article as you see it with the laser engraving of his Father’s company logo on the back rest. First he cut out the individual shapes with a jigsaw from templates, then spent many hours sanding those shapes to make them smooth and comfortable to touch. He ‘dry assembled’ (no glue) the whole chair to make sure all the pieces fitted and lined up properly and then disassembled it to apply the glue, a long winded process but very necessary. To join the pieces he has used glue and screws but with a nice touch of hiding the screws by ‘counter boring’ the holes then plugging them with matching wooden plugs.

He deserves a great sense of satisfaction for a job well done. He was always been a pleasure to work with and needed little direction to get on with what needed to be done. Congratulations to him.

Jim Byrne - DT Technician

I wanted to make a garden chair, so I looked at what designs Mr Byrne had and chose to create the Adirondack chair, which looked to me both practical and comfortable. I used pine and cut it out with the jigsaw myself. Sanding took a long time to make everything smooth, but I have really enjoyed the whole process of making the chair from start to finish and I am very pleased with the result. Next term I would like to make a table to go with the chair and I am looking forward to starting that project. I was very proud to receive a Headmaster's Distinction for my finished chair.

George - 4^th Form, Old House