Tested to destruction
When I was learning chair making the boss of the workshop a guy called Hymie would kneel on the newly completed chair and with his strong powerful arms pull and shove the chair back legs in opposing directions. He said that he was attempting to replicate the damage and uncaring user would do to the newly finished chair, I think he just liked breaking my chairs. His argument was that it was better that the chair was broken here in the workshop than in the client’s house.
We have a new version of the now, I take my chair’s home and give them to my teenage son Alex he sits on the chair over dinner and if he can’t break it a goes straight off to the client. Over Christmas he had one brand-new chair to work on. I thought it was going to get past him but last night came a noise like a pistol shot, bang!! This guy is probably the most dangerous creature that any furniture maker could let their near his his work, but I love him.
