Mid Century Lounge Chair

This lounge chair started as one of the first things I cut when I bought a Shaper Origin in February of 2024.

I milled the stock, ran the Origin files, and rough-shaped the major components… and then the parts sat on my table saw for about eighteen months.

I finally picked the project back up while building the mid-century record cabinet, using it as an excuse to clear the backlog and finish something that had been quietly waiting.

The design is largely based on a community project from Shaper Hub. I followed the overall geometry closely but made small adjustments along the way based on material thickness, fit, and how the parts felt in hand.

The chair is built from solid mahogany — 6/4 stock for the structural sides and legs, and 4/4 stock for the slats and back. All lumber was sourced from Austin Hardwoods in Denver.

The original plans call for traditional mortise and tenon joinery. Instead, I used the Festool Domino throughout. This also turned into a good experiment with the Shaper Origin’s offset feature, allowing me to sneak up on tight-fitting joints by incrementally adjusting toolpaths.

Most of the shaping was done directly on the Origin, followed by light hand work to ease edges and refine transitions. The goal was to keep surfaces soft and approachable without sanding away the character of the toolpaths.

The finish is Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C Pure. I wanted something low-sheen and durable that would highlight the grain and feel good to the touch rather than looking overly polished.

At the moment, the chair is perfectly sittable without a cushion. I may eventually have one made, but I’m enjoying living with it in its simplest form for now.

Like a lot of my projects, this one is less about perfection and more about momentum — finishing something, learning from it, and carrying those lessons into the next build.