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A couple of weeks ago I posted why Philly chairs were just better (read it by clicking here). In the comments pmac mentioned including a SketchUp drawing in future posts to illustrate the joinery I discussed in the body of the post. Even though pmac understood the joinery I mentioned, I thought it would be a good idea to post a follow-up with the SketchUp drawing for those who still had trouble envisioning how the two chairs were constructed.
The chair on the left in the illustration is based on the Newport chair in the original post – the one on the right is the Philly chair. The vertical tenons on the Newport chair are only 3/4″ long (and only 2″ wide) while the Philadelphia tenons are a full 1-1/2″ long. The biggest difference is the Newport rails are joined into the small curved block at the top of the cabriole legs while the Philly side rails are joined to a massive front rail. The legs on the Philly chair are then joined to the bottom of that “frame”. It’s just stronger.
To help the visual, I’ve included the pics from the last post below.
Photo courtesy Chipstone Foundation
Photo courtesy Yale University Art Gallery
Photo courtesy Chipstone Foundation
Photo courtesy Yale University Art Gallery
