How (NOT) To Make A Chair With a CNC Machine...

[@jamesdiaz4678]

I think it's so rare for designers to show the mistakes in the process, and I truly appreciate you giving us insight into the perils certain materials have. I would love to see you explore past projects that have effectively "failed"; an exploration similar to the manner of the art of Kintsugi. I know my advice might not be compatible with your initial concept. I love your work and I appreciate the content you provide. Keep it up!

[@mlefe09]

I LOVE the fact that you showed all the issues that hit you: those learnings are invaluable! Thank you!

[@macedindu829]

Yep, you learn by failing.

[@DominusFeles]

18:30 The most honest and true display of emotions ever seen on youtube I felt it!

[@ancampos9664]

Loooooooved that moment of pain after that "crack" and that disappointment face haha true feelings. Thank you for also showing the shitty parts!

[@TFlorian]

so sad for me But true moment and it's precious to share

[@WIImotionmasher]

That visceral anger and sadness when the chair snapped Never thought I'd see that much emotion from him lol

[@Mrshyguy775]

We don't like to see your mistakes to laugh at your failures, but rather to know that you are human and make mistakes as well as us. Please continue to include them, as it helps me keep from stopping creating because it's not "perfect" the first time. THanks!

[@dragoncracker]

for the runners for the back, use 2 sheets at half thickness, glued together with the grain running perpendicular to each other (like plywood)

[@InfectedByEli]

Or steam and bend actual plywood like Ikea's Poäng chairs. Sure it won't be a circular cross section but it will definitely be strong enough, also it's at the back so 🤷‍♂️

[@wannabefunnyman]

A bunch of KZbinrs think people like them to fail. I don’t think that’s true. We just learn more from the failures. As well, as a beginner woodworker it’s heartening to see that even the pros make mistakes. When we remember that us beginners don’t get as discouraged by ours.

[@warsuper4681]

You can use the large cutter for the finishing just with a small step over, this would actually give you a better surface finish than the small cutter due to the larger radius. Clearly if you have small corner to get into that would be a drawback as you would need to change out to a small cutter to reach into those spots. Nice work overall, always learning is part of what makes it fun!

[@acexl]

ajajaja when i saw he did that i stopped the video to say the same thing

[@rustymetaII]

Man I love it how you're dealing with this designing process, it takes so much dedication and humbleness to not give up on the project and still present the results no matter if it fails, that's art

[@zerocool2352]

The mistakes and iterative process are a big component of the learning process, and sharing that with us is the difference between letting us learn with you versus just watching another maker make a video of something cool. Both video I enjoy, but getting to watch your mistakes is unique among the rest.

[@KimbrellBrad]

I built a beautiful "Maloof-style" rocker in a class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking about 8 years ago. He told us, and was correct, that a chair takes more of a beating than any other piece of furniture in your home. Leaning back on 2 legs will snap some of them (don't ask me how I know that at 6'6" x 310# LOL), twisting in it, etc. Of course I had over 200 hours of filing, sanding, shaping, finishing, etc. I appreciate you showing the fails as it helps the rest of us avoid obvious problems that were not obvious until you tried them LOL. I am sure your next version will be nice!

[@micmclane]

This is my favorite video of yours, not because of the failure, but the humbleness of the learning from it.

[@iAmTheSquidThing]

Back when I was using a CNC router, I would generally run the toolpaths through a block of polystyrene foam to check them before cutting the final material. It's cheap, and you can turn the feedrates right up, saving time.

[@jack_brooks]

The electrostatic mess must be killer. I don't even like using MDF.

[@keysimfr]

I love when your true self come back at 18:30. 😂 Awesome video, I also love the fails, when it seems like everything goes as planned for you, I feel so bad for my mistakes. Thanks for showing some of your fails, I also try to add them on my channel, people seems to like it, please continue !

[@whereisdave]

hey man, you've probably worked this out already. but every time you hit the stop you need to re-home your machine. as soon as you hit the stop it no longer "Remembers" its position, you also don't know how many steps the motor makes after you hit the stop. great usage of pins for the flip. that's a very simple and clean way of doing it.

[@gaveintothedarkness]

I just gotta say I love your channel. KZbin recommended one of the 3d assortment box videos last week and I have been binge watching ever since. Only sad part is I only have a few vids before I've seen everything.

[@181charlie]

I was thought I was impressed with you. I REALLY became impressed when you admitted your multiple attempts and two-sided milling. Bravo!

[@ZebraandDonkey]

It is good to show mistakes so that there is a realistic expectation for others when they want to try making something. Only showing successes can be cool though learning through failure is something that is important to making and learning. Nice work and a cool project.

[@ngranag]

Dude! this is your best video, when i make things i swear i have more problems than good results, its frustrating, but see you living the same make me feel really happy. The resilence making things failing in the process makes the final results feeling great. Again, amazing video!

[@epicBettsy]

I really like see the things that don't work. I learn far more by seeing what doesn't work and how you work around them

[@flavianlihwa6909]

I like that you have been open to show all the mistakes and lessons. I am going through similar experiences with my cnc - every new product is a result of several trials that ended up in fire pit.

[@AnthonyLoPrimo]

That scream and you yelling no sounded so incredibly raw. Oooooh I've been there before and I felt so bad seeing that shot. I'd love to see a version 2!

[@tomiberastegui3485]

love it how you are showing your mistakes, we are all learning a lot from it. keep it up!

[@dguy-xk4fc]

Good thing you did not left out the mistakes, refreshing and educational. Great video.

[@zjpeterson]

I find watching your fixes and re-design iterations both entertaining and interesting. Seeing some of your journey gives important context and so the final, finished product will feel more earned and triumphant. Thank you for sharing.

[@ezrarichardson279]

Definitely not regretting subscribing! I think you’ve gotten better at this! The first video I watched of yours was the drill powered scooter or something and I’ve gotta say it’s gotten better and better since then! Keep it up!

[@billbrock5486]

I love your energy! the Chair looks beautiful. Can't wait to see more.

[@ernahubbard2062]

Great to see the failures aka features of the design and making of it, that makes it so real, and the actual learning is from mistakes. Kudos!

[@lukeharland]

One of the strengths of your work is the level of accuracy and polish you bring to the table (pun intended) but it's actually really good to see your failures too. It reminds the rest of us makers that failures and mistakes are just part of the process. Nothing that is well designed was accomplished on the first try

[@fudpukker]

Awesome Alex, the energy you put into these videos is amazing. You are by far the most entertaining woodworker to watch. Keep it up and good luck with the fix for the backrest problem

[@RickPiasecki]

Love your presentation style, and showing that design is an iterative process, no matter how smart or clever you are! Thank you for keeping it "real"!

[@dachr2]

Huge props for showing us all the mistakes! I'm thinking about buying a CNC machine myself and it really helps knowing that everyone else also messes up from time to time :) Here's my idea for fixing the back issue: Each back support could consist of two halves glued together along the entire length of the piece. Then you would be able to have the grain for each half running in a different direction and thereby adding a lot more strength to the piece. Good luck with version 2!

[@ZerodJailbreak]

Most of the time, I'll feel down when I make such mistakes just because those I learnt from (KZbinrs) barely show fails. That's really nice you included them in the video, I feel a little more confident now. :)

[@1Nolimited]

love the smile and the enthusiasm you have after broken the chair ;-) but the concept start with fails and wins :-)

[@ThitoO]

Thank you for your honesty and actually stress testing your product !

[@XxHeManWomenHaterxX]

Keeping going!! I love to see your design process - failures and all. Remember, each step is a learning experience

[@asraelvudogel]

best video ever. Failing is always an option and nothing to be ashamed of!

[@puyakhalili]

Hey Alexandre, really loved this video! It was great to see the whole process including the initial test runs and the failed attempts! Love where your channel has arrived! Also congrats on 300K followers! wow it's unstoppable now!

[@MidnightMaker]

Dude, for your first CNC project, this was amazingly advanced.

[@sylvainforget5451]

Wow, it takes intense listening to fully enjoy this video. Well done for challenging me.

[@StevenDavisPhoto]

Thanks for sharing about the two sided process. I'm assembling a 4x8 avid pro right now and was wondering how it's done.

[@5teFX]

This was your best episode! A less polished final product doesn't make less quality content, au contraire

[@3ddiy]

Another fantastic video. Fails are just more XP to leveling up. Love watching your editing to help me step up my channel. Keep up the great work love to see chair 2.0 in another vid.

[@syntaxcuemi3d53]

One way to try & fix the chair. Drill some long holes down the length of the uprights & just like the seat & back pieces, insert & glue a metal rod. Make the rod long enough, so that the uprights don't snap at the next weak point. Another great vid by the way & looking forward to the next vid👍

[@lejacobo]

love this. Love it how you always put out projects that work so good and seem so quick and easy to complete. This is a great example on how does work well and not so well in the same video. Amazing how you're using pretty wood on a cnc router, I'd never seen that before lol, only with mdf and plywood

[@Rouverius]

13:17 "I just put everything back together and cried again.." Man, I feel that! But even through all those trials you got a great looking backless chair! Hey, could lamented wood for the chair stiles work?

[@DaBuild]

Failure is the real life. We fail all the time! I appreciate it much when people shows it. Cheers!

[@MadebyMagnus]

Thanks for sharing this type of video! It's much helpful to see all the things that can go wrong and not just a fine polished end result. I love your enthusiasm and looking forward to see the story of the chair continued!

[@andreaslindner8477]

Super video, I love to see WHY something fails and I appreciate your way of dealing with it. For version 2 I would do the backrest-holders each with 2 parts, strain going perpendicular - just like with plywood. Thus strength will increase.

[@iQuincyboy]

Yet another great video, and seeing the mistakes of the design process is an amazing way to prevent those down the line. Cheers!

[@polhub1]

Sandwich some solid wood in an alternating pattern for the back supports, like thick plywood. Conversely you could glue the back struts together and route a groove and place a spline with the long grain running up and down.

[@Subsonic-cd2en]

This was actually my favorite video of yours. When I saw the parts getting cut on the CNC I was worried about that short grain - I think if you did the back support the same as you did the legs that would probably work.

[@WPGinfo]

Such a beautiful design and a great project! Thank you for sharing the 'good, bad and the ugly'. I'm sure this will help me and others to think of all these aspects of the design and manufacturing process. Better luck with making the next version. I am sure you'll end up with a great set of chairs!!

[@DudleyToolwright]

We learn more from failure than success. This was a great project to follow. For the chair back supports try laminating a bunch of thin sections together. It will be strong and still quite nice looking.

[@jogeirstrand1]

Great video, Alexandre! Looking forward to seeing your next version of the chair. 🇳🇴🇳🇴

[@koopametalpack]

I always hate you because the end result of your thought process is so damn cool, i really love that today you let us watch the middle of the process aka a couple of mistakes. So cool video!!!

[@BresStephane]

Great video, I think there is more to learn when things go wrong and you make it really entertaining to watch. To fix the chair, maybe you can drill the back supports from the top, add a small metal beam to help the load and use a wood plug to hide the hole ?

[@tiagocampos959]

Welcome to the life of product design. Everything is part of the experience, good luck!

[@2S74]

Excellent !!! You open doors to a next level for wood furniture design. Thank you to be honest and to share with us your mistakes. In my opinion the steam bending is a good solution. Challenging but elegant, it seems not to be an issue for you. 😉

[@tomasis7]

i like such videos.. showing mistakes and progress.. far more interesting than "perfect videos".

[@deefdragon]

Alex is slowly assembling an art piece of chairs made with different methods and materials. I suspect the final form will be a chair made of all the other chairs.

[@jimhatch5873]

I thought I was the only person crazy enough to use stepovers to create curved pieces 🙂 Super job! To fix the back on version 1 of the chair, I'd glue the back on again. Then I'd cut vertical slots in the two supports. After that it's just a matter of cutting out a couple of thin pieces either of the chair wood or some contrasting material (walnut maybe?) and gluing them in - splines are used a lot in traditional woodworking to strengthen joints. I think that might work here.

[@jkenow]

I loved this being able to see how you problem solve is amazing

[@AleksandrEfimov]

I really like your videos, you make great designs!!! And yes, sometimes you can learn a lot more from failure than from success. Some thoughts: 1. If you want to fix the chair, you can put steel rods inside the broken parts. Glue them together, drill in and glue the rods inside. 2. Steam bending sounds like the best idea. But with several parts with different directions you can create an interesting structure on the surface... Especially if you'll use some kind of oil that shows up the wood structure. 3. To align material sheets on CNC, you can drill a "matrix" of holes of the same size on the table and use them with small rods or bolts to fix the material on the table. Welding tables have similar idea...

[@mohammedissa9448]

Amazing job on the design and the full process. Maybe use metal for the connecting pieces? It'll give it a cool contemporary look and it will be super strong. Good luck on version 2!

[@howtojake8428]

Definitely steam bend with multiple thin laminations for the back brace, strongest by far. Chairs take loads of stress so build them tanky! Everything looks awesome and you are almost there. Good luck!

[@The-Max-Lab]

Always appreciate you showing the failures! Makes me feel more confident when my own projects don't work out haha. Maybe add a metal rod through the back stems to salvage the chair. Cap them off with dowels?

[@itstiho]

I came here to suggest the same thing. Not sure whether to drill from the bottom or the top, tho.

[@danagriffith1950]

The chair looked nice good luck on the redesign!

[@DocteGaby]

Thanks for sharing this! Anything worth doing is difficult, it's encouraging to see really competent people also struggling sometimes 👍

[@jas12182]

My idea for the back supports is kinda inspired by how you attached the sides with the interlocking inset. If you cut out a channel on the inside edge of each of the back supports, glue in a bent steel rod and then cover the rod with the inset, it should provide you with great support.

[@UNVIRUSLETALE]

Looks really great, can't wait for the next version

[@Snip3r3]

Hi Alex nice job so far. i was thinking of repairing it with two long metal pins from inside and covering tips with dowels. u simply drill through the broken parts from bottom followed by metal pins. not only fixing but giving it a good support. Although drilling will somehow tricky.

[@sevilnatas]

You could also do a glue up of three flat pieces of oak with grains all going different directions and then mill it out with the CnC. This will give you strength in 3 different directions. Also, I would put the pieces that you used to connect the leg halves together on the outside. They look cool and you get added design element for free.

[@HariWiguna]

The chair looks sweet. Thanks for sharing all the lessons learned. I don't think I'll make a chair, but will certainly apply your tip on how to CNC two sides of a material. Cool stuff as always!

[@Vega-380]

Hey Alexandre! thanks for shirring your your journey !very nice Scandinavian chair design! Probably you already got this idea to save your prototype.... What about to put a threaded rod (m6 maybe) inside of the broken part (longitudinal) and cover the top an bottom with wood plugs... I know is a little be bodge but just to get your prototype to a functional status... all the best and congratulations for yours amazing videos!! thanks again!

[@Dodger__M007e]

Love the fact this chair isn't "chunky" for strength. However, I would look to incorporate a metal rods hidden in the back uprights for strength and stress on the Oak. You'll still have the same look but with added strength to last, if you plug the holes like the screws you did earlier on in the video.

[@phoenixstar206]

I'm excited for Version 2.0 of this Chair! :)

[@hsjawanda]

Despite the many issues along the way, I thought this was a fantastic build. The upside to using a CNC is that once you've worked out the minor kinks, every subsequent chair will be perfect 😉. Bravo for effort! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@MrTapanes]

How did I not ever come across your channel before? Great vid, subscribed and will be doing a deep dive into your past vids. Cheers!

[@gustavosaliola]

Great build experimentation! Maybe you could drill long holes in the 4 broken ends and insert 2 small metal rods as reinforcement, and glue/sand the two wood parts. That chair deserves it!

[@DanteYewToob]

For ver.2 why not make your own laminated plywood? Do some contrasting woods with alternating grain direction to make it super strong. It could look amazing if you give it that ALCH touch!

[@MarionMakarewicz]

I sat for many years in a school dining room with Eames style chairs. Definitely need laminates to get the strength you need. The CNC would work well to custom cut the forms for steam bending and for the individual laminate pieces. Those chairs lasted for forty years until the school closed.

[@idkmachining6892]

Love it! one thought on surfacing, quite a bit of burning in the surfacing passes. Might mean your feeds and speeds need a little adjusting, carbide wants to go fast, push it until the machine starts complaining!

[@robertharris8106]

Another really good video, I like the fact that you step us through how you solve problems as well as the fact that you show the failures, we like that simply because it gives us the impetus to push on when we make mistakes too. Your cheerful demeanour and willingness to share make for a great channel. With regard to the back breaking because of the grain pattern, could you get around this by laminating three pieces so that the inner core had vertical graining to give it the extra strength? Sort of an in built spline (as another commenter mentioned) but without the need for a potentially awkward cut for the spline to be inserted. It would add a little to the waste from the project probably, but you may well end up with a stronger support for the back. Good luck with whatever approach you take, I'm looing forward to seeing the revised and improved version.

[@JarrodBush-Creator]

I would laminate some thinner oak boards at a 45° offset to each other, making a plywood essentially but with less endgrain. Then use those boards to mill up the back supports. Super cool project though! I'm curious to see how you solve it!

[@Saintvallen]

Hey Alex - Suggestion for an upgrade for the CNC table. @toolstoday have a wooden surface too on the CNC, but he have made a couple different holes in his and a clamp that fits into said holes. He then uses diffent sized plugs so he can always have his wood nice and tight. I bet you could do some sneaky stuff with a 3d printed clamp.

[@robertkiss6421]

Drill up through the back supports and insert a metal rod. Plug the hole from the bottom and that should provide enough strength. Also I would carry the shadow line underneath the seat all the way around so it looks intentional.

[@DanteYewToob]

Superglue the back together again, drill down through the struts and sink some threaded rod and glue down in each one, and then plug the tops with dowel and sand it clean. That’s how I’d fix this, and I’ve actually fixed something similar with this technique. Hope this helps, I’m looking forward to V.2!!

[@OzzyCPT]

I think you could use the threaded rod dowel method to fix that chair to give it extra structural strength. Drill a hole into it from the bottom using a long drill bit and thread that hole. Fill it with epoxy and put your threaded rod into it. Plug the holes with oak dowels when the glue has set

[@lesumsi]

Totally not a fail! Great design, cool video & I've learned a lot about woodworking and CNC'ing from you :-D

[@_DixonCider]

Can you do one of these with tapered legs? I think the modular chairs would look amazing with them.

[@graysonbuilds8597]

Great project. It is really cool to see your learning curve, thank you for sharing this! I believe that you could use the same large bit for semi-finish of the surface but with another tool pattern, lets say perpendicular to the roughing pass. as for the gap on the side underneath the seat, I think that back and front pieces of the frame were interfering as they are looking higher than side pieces (or sitting at wrong angle relative to the seat) Back rest may have locking joint, like dovetail incorporated in it so it could just slide in the brace Brace could be made in 2 parts with a channel accepting the steel rod, that will take care of the load while keeping the design intact

[@iQuincyboy]

One of the ways to reinforce the back supports might be to use a "rebar" of sorts: drill down the vertical axis and add a steel rod, for example.

[@brycelane6825]

Love it! great video and I feel your pain the moment the chair broke.

[@ChristianN-]

Great video, I love to see the mistakes and errors. It wouldn't be possible to drill a long hole inside the back supports and insert a metal rod in each of the supports?

[@marcuskolloen9214]

Maybe you can save the back by gluing it back together and reinforce it with splines somehow. Any way, great video and keep on making 😊🇳🇴

[@JeroenvanMontfort]

Just some ideas for your broken chair: would it be possible to drill a hole down the back support on both sides and epoxy a metal rod in them? The gap at the bottom of the seat could be filled with an acrylic strip and you could put some LEDs behind it. Granted, that would be too much for the average living room, but for other places it would be a nice novelty.

[@johannesn.4674]

It's great that you show the fails too. Maybe you can just glue the chair together first and then make a clean cut later. You could then drill on the cut surfaces and use an iron rod for stabilization.

[@sgavy]

Welcome to the frustrating world of cnc wood work 🤣 the first job I took was a paying one... And I very quickly realise the learning curve was steeper than expected