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It was a revolutionary design in the 1930s, but not everyone can
afford to sit on a piece of art. We work the best features of the original
Zigzag chair into a stylish and completely accessible chair
you can actually pull up to the dinner table.

T he original Zigzag chair designed by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld in the 1930s is an iconic
piece of artwork. The cantilevered, Z-shaped chair looked deceptively simple but employed
masterful joinery and was hailed as a sublime example of minimalist design. It was not a chair you
would want to use for, say, everyday dining.
Nevertheless, with modern adhesives and joinery techniques, it is feasible to build a com-
fortable upholstered dining chair both reminiscent of Rietveld’s Zigzag and strong enough for
everyday use. Our chair’s cantilevered frame also gives it a slight comfortable
springiness.
To withstand structural stresses, the chair’s
side assemblies must be made from a strong
hardwood such as jarrah, maple or white
oak. The seat cross-rails and the slip-seat
frame can be made from a secondary
hardwood. The chair’s miter joints are
reinforced and locked with floating
tenons, epoxied, and pinned with brass
screws. We designed this chair to be built
using the Festool Domino tenon joiner.

Getting started
The visible parts of the chair can be made from an
8' board of 6"-wide 6/4 hardwood. Plane the board to a
thickness of 13/8" and rip it into three lengths 1¾" wide. For
ease of handling, cut the three lengths in half to yield six 4'
lengths. Plane and joint each 4' piece so as to finish 13/8"x
1 /16" ensuring that all the faces are square to one another.
9

Crosscut the parts for the feet, legs, seat side rails, back stiles, and back rails
from the 4’ lengths according to the cut list. It is easier to achieve a consistent
length for the matching parts if you clamp a stop to a crosscut sled or use a miter
gauge with a long fence and an adjustable stop. Mark
out 38" radius curves on the top edges of the back
 rails, and bandsaw away the waste from MAKE A JIG FOR CUTTING LEG MITERS
their front faces. Use a random-orbit
sander with progressively finer sanding
Cut a right-angled triangle from ½" plywood with a base 24" long and
disks to smooth and fair the curves.
a height of 915/16". Mill a hardwood cleat 1½" square and 36" long. Cut an
The hidden parts, the seat rails and 8" length from the cleat, and glue and screw it flush with the base of the
the seat frame components, are made plywood triangle. Cut 24" from the remainder of the cleat, and mark out a
from an 8' board of ¾" x 2½" second- 22.5° miter on one of its ends. Cut away the 22.5° wedge of waste with a
ary hardwood. Since the angle to be cut backsaw, and plane the miter face to the marked line. Then glue and screw
for the miters is 67.5°, you will need the mitered cleat flush with the hypotenuse of the triangle. Square the outer
to make a supplementary 22.5° jig to faces of the cleats by running the jig over the jointer with the jig’s base
against the fence.
achieve the correct angle (see sidebar).
Set your miter gauge to an angle of 45°, and clamp the jig to its fence,
adjusting the position of the jig so that the mitered end of the cleat barely
Cutting the miters grazes the table saw’s blade as the miter gauge is moved forward in its
Make the 22.5° jig for cutting the slot. I used a Kreg miter gauge, which has a suitably long fence, but if you
miters on the feet, legs, and the front have a standard miter gauge, you will need to attach an auxiliary fence to it.
end of the seat side rails. Before start- Align the end of the workpiece with the mitered end of the cleat and clamp
ing the cut, ensure that the broader it to the jig with a hand-screw clamp. It is essential
(19/16" ) face of the workpiece is flat on to clamp both the jig and the workpiece very
firmly. If either came loose during the cut,
the saw’s table (Fig. 1). Set aside the
it could cause a nasty accident.
22.5° offcuts for later use as wedges to
facilitate clamping at the glueup stage. 24"
The 49° miters for the back stiles are 915/16"
cut without the jig by setting the miter
gauge to 41° and clamping the rear face
of the back stiles and the bottom face 90º
of the seat side rail against the miter 22½º
gauge fence.
24"

Marking out and milling

the mortises
It is important to remember, when ters in the figures, so that the mortises the cut, I clamped a cleat behind the
marking out the positions of the mor- are cut at the required distance from workpiece so the fence would have
tises on the components of the side their respective reference faces. All the a broad surface to rest on (Fig. 2).
assemblies, that the assemblies are chair’s mortises are 20mm deep, except Although this procedure slows the mill-
mirror images rather than identical. for those for the locking tenons, which ing of the mortises a little, it is essential
It is worth laying out the parts and are 28mm deep, and those for the back to avoid the risk of cutting any mortise
marking the matching miters before stile miter, which are 25mm deep. at the wrong angle.
marking the mortise centers on the In order to achieve a perfect joint, To mill the mortises in the end-
reference face (the face on which the the Domino’s fence must lie perfectly grain of the back rails, seat rails and
Domino’s fence will rest). flat on the workpiece, so that the mor- stretcher, you need to attach the narrow
You are now ready to mill the mor- tise is milled exactly perpendicular frame accessory (Fig. 3) to the Domi-
tises in the side assembly components to the face. To help ensure that the no’s fence to hold the machine steady
except for the miter locking tenons, machine’s fence remained flat during during the cut. The mortises in the end
which will be milled after the leg miters
have been glued up. All of the chair’s
mortises are milled using the narrow
width setting on the Domino joiner.
Also, all of the chair’s mortises are
cut with the 6mm-diameter Domino
PHOTOS: DAVID DUNDAS

cutter, except those that reinforce the

miter at the bottom of the back stiles,
for which the 10mm cutter is used.
The height of the Domino’s fence is set 1 2
using the dimensions given in millime-

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 EGD?:8I CJB7:G 

TOOLS, HARDWARE & MATERIALS

Festool Domino joiner, festool.com
6 x 19 x 40mm Domino (16)
10 x 23 x 50mm Domino (2)
11/2" #8 brass wood screws (12)
15/8"
Tenon center to edge Minwax wipe-on polyurethane
distance = 8mm
CUT LIST
A Foot (2) 13/8" x 19/16" x 17¾"
ILLUSTRATION: RICK CHRISTOPHERSON

B Leg (2) 13/8" x 19/16" x 265/8"

C Seat side rail (2) 13/8" x 19/16" x 17¾"
D Back stile (2) 13/8" x 19/16" x 181/2"
E Back rail (3) 13/8" x 19/16" x 16"
F Stretcher 7/8" x 13/8" x 16"
33/8" G Seat rail (2) ¾" x 2¼" x 16"
Seat frame, side rail (2) - not illus. 5/8" x 2" x 17¼"
Seat frame, back/front rail (2) - not illus. 5/8" x 2" x 11¾"
H Locking tenon stock 6mm x 19mm x 500mm

40 WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE | 05.07

 mortises 6mm x 19mm x 20mm deep
unless otherwise noted
/"
58

13/8"
15/8" 17.5mm

FOOT 221/2˚ miter face

19/16"
/"
14

3" 4"
173/4"

/ "
9 16 miter face

85/8"
10mm 13/16"
17.5mm
5/"
12
25mm 17.5mm
23/8" deep

20mm 46˚
13/8" BACK STILE

181/2"

Radius of curve 38"

13/8"
top mortises 6mm x 19mm x 20mm deep

19/16" 13/8"
58 /" BACK RAIL 17.5mm

End face
of back rail 16"

1315/16"
15/8"

20mm
LEG 19/16"
221/2˚

265/8"

/"
58

13/8"
miter face 17.5mm
miter face
miter face 10mm 13/8"
17.5mm

25mm
deep
15/8"

49˚ 9.5mm
19/16" SEAT SIDE RAIL

4" 221/2˚
173/4"

1"

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 EGD?:8I CJB7:G  before you apply your final finish.
First, the 22.5° miters are glued up
(Fig. 5) using a Domino in mortise B
to ensure precise alignment of the joint.
When the epoxy has set, the squeeze-
out is cleaned up, and mortises J and
K are milled; the locking tenons, shop-
made from the same hardwood as the
3 4 chair parts, are then glued in place (Fig.
6). When the glue has set, cut away
the projecting portions of the locking
tenons and sand them level.
Drill 1¼"-deep 7/64" pilot holes
(Fig. 7) for the #8 brass screws; smear
the screws with epoxy and drive them
home, taking care not to split the wood
by driving them too hard against the
bottoms of their pilot holes. When the
5 6
epoxy has set, the heads of the screws
are sawn off and the screw shanks
are filed (wrap the tip of the file with
masking tape to prevent marring) and
sanded level.
Before gluing the 49° miters (Fig.
8), cut away the tips of the 22.5° miters,
removing about 3/8". After the sides
are glued up you can gently round
7 this front edge with a smooth file and
8
sandpaper. Make four 8° wedges out
of scrap to facilitate clamping the 49°
miters. Finally, when the 49° miter
joints have been glued up, drill pilot
holes for screws to pin their reinforc-
ing 20 x 50mm Dominoes, and glue
them in place. Cut off the screw heads
and file and sand their shanks level as
before.
10
Gluing the rails
assemblies, bandsaw the waste from the After sanding each of the side assem-
underside of the feet and sand all the blies, lay one assembly on its outer
parts (Fig. 4) to 150-grit. Glue 100-grit face and insert epoxy into the mortises
sandpaper to the 22.5° wedge offcuts to for the cross rails. Push 6 x 40mm
prevent slippage when the clamps are Dominoes into the mortises and stand
tightened. the back rails, seat rails, and stretcher
9 The glueup is done in several stages, vertically in position. Insert epoxy and
PROJECT PHOTOS: DAVID DUNDAS

using a gap-filling epoxy with a gel Dominoes into the top end mortises
consistency and a hardener that will of the rails; insert epoxy into the mor-
grain of the back rails, seat rails, and allow plenty of time for assembly. It’s tises in the second side assembly, and
stretcher are all centered in their end easy to clean up after using epoxy if then get a helper to assist in fitting the
faces. you spread carnauba wax in the areas assembly onto the Dominoes project-
that you expect squeeze-out to occur. ing from the ends of the rails. When
Gluing the side assemblies The epoxy won’t stick to it and the wax the second assembly has been pushed
Before you start to glue up the side can be removed with mineral spirits home, stand the chair upright with its

42 WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE | 05.07

 AMAZING DETAIL WITH FREE SOFTWARE
feet on a level surface and clamp it
HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HARD TIME following drawings for projects that you’d like to
until the epoxy has set (Fig. 9). build? Are there times when you would like to see hidden details? The eDrawings viewer
When set, clean away the epoxy is a universal CAD and solid model viewer that will let you open a wide range of two-
squeeze-out, give the chair a final and three-dimensional files. One such file, containing the Zigzag dining chair from this
sanding and finish with four coats of article, is available for you to download at woodcraftmagazine.com. The file includes the
viewer as well as the model file, so there is nothing more to install on your computer.
Minwax Wipe-on Poly. Fig. 10 shows You will be able to rotate, pan, and zoom into the 3-D image with your mouse. You
a close-up of a finished miter joint. will also be able to make the project explode and collapse, cut it in half with a section
view, and even take measurements directly off the model!
Making the seat frame
Mill mortises for 6 x 40mm Dominoes
in the ends of the front and back rails
of the seat frame and in the inner
faces of the frame's side rails. The
back and front rails of the seat frame
are glued between its side rails. I took
the frame to a professional uphol-
sterer to get it upholstered with foam
on elastic webbing and covered with
black leather. There should be 1/8"
clearance on either side of the seat
frame to accommodate the thickness
of the leather.
In order to be certain that the chair Navigation Tips
• When you need to return the model to its original state, click on the Home button.
was strong enough to withstand the • To see the parts outlined because it makes the edges more distinct, go to the View
stresses of frequent use, it was tested menu and click on Show Edges When Shaded.
by placing a board across its side rails • To rotate your view around the model, click and hold your middle mouse button (or
and having three people with a total mouse wheel) as you move the mouse.
• To zoom in and out, move the mouse to the center of what you want to see, and spin
weight of 576 lbs. stand on the board. the mouse wheel. If you don’t have a wheel, click on the Zoom button and click-and-
The rear ends of the side rails were drag the mouse up or down to zoom.
depressed by ½" under the load, but • If you want to see details that are obscured by another part, right-click on the part and
sprang back to their original position a popup menu will appear. You can make the part transparent or hide it completely.
when the load was removed, and the Parts List, Move, Measure, and Explosion
joints remained intact. Open the Feature Manager Tab by clicking the icon on the left side of your screen.
• The items listed are the parts and subassemblies that make up the chair. Clicking on
any of these items will highlight the part or assembly in the model view.
• To see details that are obscured by a part, click on the Move icon, then drag the part
with your mouse. Double-click on the moved part to return to its original position.
• Extract measurements by clicking the Measure icon, and clicking on a part.
• The great thing about the eDrawings viewer is that you can watch the assembly
of parts explode and collapse to match the drawing in the magazine. Click on the
Explode icon. Click it again to bring the chair parts back together.

The eDrawings viewer has many more features, so to learn more, check out the built-
in help file. To download the free viewer separately, visit solidworks.com.
Download your free copy of the Zigzag chair and viewer in the projects section at

WoodcraftMagazine.com.

David Dundas
David was an exploration geologist in Tanzania, England, and
Australia. Since retiring in 1995, he has indulged his passion
for furniture making, with a particular interest in designing and
building chairs.

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