Shortly after making the kayak, I decided to make a highchair to use to feed our new daughter, Kirsten. I guess that may have been a bit of over-confidence since I had never even tried to build a chair before, but hey, I had never let a little lack of knowledge get in the way before.

So, to start I salvaged some wood from a large shipping pallet from the work dumpster and started cutting and shaping. First I glued some of the thicker pieces together to make the seat from. I then cut the shape and carved it to what I envisioned a baby bottom would find comfortable. I then borrowed a small lathe from a work colleague and turned several spindles for the back, four legs, and leg braces.

Somehow, I figured out the splay angles for the legs and back spindles, and drilled the seat with a hand drill for the assembly. I also turned pieces to attach the arms to the seat the same way. Lastly, I cut out, shaped, and drilled the back top rail to accept the spindles. To my surprise, everything went together pretty well and after cutting and carving a tray and making a sort of hokey tray attachment mechanism, I applied a finish. Wow, it was ready for use.

Somehow this highchair made it through three kids. I guess somewhere there are photographs of them sitting in it.

I don’t remember what happened to that chair sometime later, but it did have a good run.

Ken Kaiyala
3-5-2023