Noonmark Chair
self-initiated internship project - spring 2019 - 8 weeks
Bald Mountain Rustics makes high-end, custom built rustic furniture for clients across the country. They’re best known for their chairs which mostly use non-dimensional wood, incorporating live edge, roots, burls, and other types of lumber not typically used to create furniture.
How can a new chair expand Bald Mountain Rustics’ existing product line while staying true to its production methods and brand identity?
Free-form Wood
Smooth carved elements
Anthropomorphic stance
While ideating, materials and production methods were taken into consideration as the final iteration of the Noonmark Chair (named after a mountain that looms over the workshop) was developed.
Sassafras
A twisty domestic lumber with colorful and textural layers of bark. Form of the wood creates distinctive stance and gesture while allowing for ease of manufacturing using a jig. Used for the arms, legs, and crossbars.
Spalted Maple
Hard maple that has developed striking dark lines from fungus growth. Maple’s abundance and durability allows for scalable production of high-quality components. Used for the seat, back, and sublayer.
Maple boards glued up for seat, back, and sublayer
Legs cut to size, tenoned, and sanded
Maple components roughed out
Seat carved with angle grinder
Carved surfaces sanded smooth
Arms / crossbars cut and chiseled to fit seat and back
Components assembled with screws and wood glue, and dowels
Final sanding, then finished with natural stain, spar urethane, and lacquer
