So, I would like to find some dining room chair that doesn’t fall apart.

I have never been someone who buys furniture sets. Between not seeing the need and not having the money, it’s never been something I’ve considered. But I think at this point, I would consider buying a decent set of dining room chairs to replace the collection of junk I currently have.

The backstory here is, long ago, I made a big table to seat over a dozen people for a Christmas dinner. The only table I had at that time was a small, square, Formica table that I got second (or maybe eighth) hand. I also only had some folding chairs. So, while making the big table, more folding chairs were purchased. They were cheap, made from steel tubing, with very flimsy seats and backs. Almost every one of those was no good within a few years.

I have since made another table and, at that time, I considered making two backless benches that could more or less disappear underneath it when not in use. But when you have kids, you imagine three of them sit on the bench and then they forcibly knock it over backwards. Only one at a time can topple in single chairs, so I continued with what I had.

I made a mistake thereafter, though. I went out and bought some flat packs of ready-to-assemble spindle-back chairs. But I was being optimistic. I thought, I can use really good glue on these things and they won’t ricket themselves apart (note: I just now invented the word “ricket” as a verb – but you know what I mean).

I made another mistake, though. I let the kids help me glue together their chairs.

To my surprise, however, it didn’t matter who glued the chairs together. The spindles started snapping off and cracking. Apparently, these chairs were built to self-destruct.

I prefer chairs that have the back legs run from floor to the top of the back of the chair. That, in my opinion, is the smartest design. Making a chair that withstands the downward pressure is no problem. You can accomplish that by propping three dowels under a block of wood. It’s the force toward the back of the chair that does it in (unless, of course, it just snaps apart on its own, more or less randomly).

I have, however, looked at numerous examples of newer straight-backed or ladder-backed chairs and they all seem to destined to fall apart. They don’t join the back legs to the seat or seat-apron well enough. Used examples of these chairs, but still recently made, all sway in the breeze.

The above chair was made by me for something my wife was doing. It’s about 8 inches high. The design cannot be beat ….

It’s not even the case that you can fall back on bent-pipe chairs, anymore. The old chromed pipe chairs they made in the 50s and 60s were heavy and there was practically no possibility you could even ding the pipe. What they use for such chairs now, unless you want to spend more on a chair than for a fridge, is thinner than electrical conduit.

Perhaps I’ll get a pipe bender and weld myself up some stylish chairs… No.

I know someone who made a stepladder out of welded-up conduit. It was very solid but weighed more than a fully-grown gorilla and just as easy to move around.

Now I’ve lost track of what I was talking about.