Civil War Chair

[phil_o]

The latest issue of Woodworker's Journal has an article with plans for a Civil War Chair. This is a folding chair that looks like a nice piece of furniture and is comfortable. I made one out of cherry. I decided to use my Shopbot for the mortises on the curved back pieces for accuracy and perfect alignment.
I also did the upper back concave curve on the Shopbot so I could add the "1862" to the part. I really like the chair. When I make another one I will do the other parts on the Shopbot too.
The picture shows the chair ready for the cloth seat.

Phil

[steve_g]

Phil:
I saw those plans also and was intrigued... I plan to make a "modern" version out of Baltic birch ply. What are you going to use for the seat material?

SG

P.S. Oh, and nice job!

[genek]

Would you sale or share the plans... I have a hatfield and mccoy run going on in my area... The chamber of tourism is starving for items..could make this as a period chair... The feud started partly over the civil war.
Would need it in dxf file.

[phil_o]

Steve,
thanks for the compliment. My wife has fairly heavy woven material that I think will work well.
Gene,
the plans are not mine to share, they are in the latest issue of Woodworker's journal. Also, the only parts I did on the Bot are the curved back parts.

Phil

[steve_g]

"the plans are not mine to share, they are in the latest issue of Woodworker's journal"

Interesting... The author copied an antique chair 200 + years old and I didn't see a copyright claim in the article. He published them with the intent that copies would be made! When I get my files together I'll not have any compunction about sharing...

SG

[Doug Smith]

Steve,

I am of the conclusion that you have a cavalier attitude towards authors’ work. I am specifically referring to the hard work put into publishing a copyrighted magazine, from which these authors/editors earn their living.

You stated, “The author copied an antique chair 200 + years old” This is correct, and the plans derived are his work.

You stated,” and I didn't see a copyright claim in the article.” The magazine Woodworkers Journal is copyrighted.

You stated, “When I get my files together I'll not have any compunction about sharing...” Here is an abbreviated definition of compunction from Dictionary.com “a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong…” Phil introduced the thought of doing wrong by saying the plans were not his to share, and then pointing to the resource from which to purchase the plans. The fact that there is a smell test involved, that you claim you will choose to ignore, leads me to the conclusion stated above.

You stated, “He published them with the intent that copies would be made!” If you are referring to copies of the chair, then yes that would be true. If you are referring to copies of the plan, to be disseminated by you, then I would reach the conclusion that you are WAY out of bounds, and that your sense of compunction is adrift.

Here is a quote from Rob Johnstone –Editor in Chief of Woodworkers Journal that I discovered on the internet. Rob Johnstone: "Speaking for the Woodworker's Journal, if you build one or a hundred of our projects, feel free to sell them. If I catch you selling our plans & hoo-boy, then you are in trouble!"

I am not saying that you have scheme to sell someone else’s plans. I’m saying that I think you should feel compunction about sharing, and should not distribute others’ hard work, in this particular case A.J. Hamler’s copyrighted plan.

Doug

[SterlingDevelop]

Are CNC electronic cut files considered the same as plans? I did not interpret Steve's post the way I think that you did, but I could be mistaken.

I'm asking out of ignorance - I don't know the answer.


Brent Green
http://www.dcscnc.com

[steve_g]

Doug

Thank you for your thoughtful, well reasoned response to my post. I really thought someone would jump all over me a lot sooner!

You are correct that the entire magazine is copyrighted and I stand corrected.

I still feel that the author didn't claim any originality in his work, what was original was his putting pen to paper... and documenting the design. I can respect that. When I provide a digital file of the chair it will be a compilation of this and other research I have and will be doing. It will also include some actual original Ideas of my own.

Your quote by Rob Johnstone actually encouraged me to proceed with the idea as I will not be selling the plan but offer them freely on the bot forum.

I can argue either way if the DXF files are the same as printed plans... What they will not include is an interesting write up with photos for a DIY assembly manual.

Doug... I Respect your input and wonder if you still feel the same way after my explanation.
Respectfully

SG

[bleeth]

An exact copy in CAD of plans from someone else could be a pretty gray area. I have seen websites with plans that are not CAD and the authors have stated that if someone wishes to do the plans in CAD they are welcome to as long as they have purchased the right to use it but they were not free to distribute their CADS.
Steve mentioned he plans on making some changes.

It gets down to a couple of things. If this design was originally someone elses and their copywrite/patent expired then it is open to the public and should someone choose to publish it they do not have right to restrict, just as many different publishers publish old masters books that are now not covered by copywrite. You can also, for example, build furniture like Stickley did and to the same dimensions as his without fear but you can't call it Stickley.

If you use someone elses plans as a basis for a design and change it sufficiently then you are also not infringing. I learned this one early in my boat building career when many companies in South Florida were freely admitting to taking a mold off someone elses hull and changing 5 points of the design and successfully avoided having action brought against them.

[Doug Smith]

Brenton,

You asked” Are CNC electronic cut files considered the same as plans?” There is an article in Woodworkers Journal that contains plans to build a "Civil War Folding Chair". This particular article has curved lines and dimensions representing a labeled part (i.e. backrest, outer leg, etc. These parts are also assigned a number, relating to a material list.) The curved parts are juxtaposed upon a different colored rectangle representing a piece of wood, which is furthered juxtaposed upon a grid with a scale. These are the plans, with which one could build this chair as the author has drawn.

So, if one was to take this work, (curved lines on a printed page) and using the provided grid, transformed them into curved lines on a CAD page, then I would have to answer your question with a yes.

However, there is the underlying portion of this that I believe is crucial. I will start off by saying that I have a purchased copy ( a subscription) of the magazine. I therefore have read the article, and have access to the printed plans. I think that distributing unauthorized/potentially illegal copies of the plan to people that have not ponied up the paltry sum of $5.99 for their own issue is very disrespectful of the author and editors means of making a living.

Doug