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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;verybrad, post: 11144590, member: 37&quot;]OK.... People have identified the most visible glue seam in the above posts.&nbsp; On closer scrutiny of the enlarged photo, I believe this is a 5 board seat.&nbsp; I have marked with black arrows at the side the seam discussed above.&nbsp; I have circled the others.&nbsp; The one at the bottom of the photo is less clear than the others but I think it is there.&nbsp; At least one of these are clearly visible from the top.&nbsp; Glue seams should be nearly invisible from the top of a finished piece unless there is joint failure or boards shrank at differing rates over time (which can also lead to failure).&nbsp; They are usually pretty evident from the bottom side.</p><p><br /></p><p>Smaller circles are spots where the grains from board to board do not match up.&nbsp; I could point out others but these are quite evident. This is the clearest sign of&nbsp; multi-board joinery. This is a practice adopted as wider lumber became more scarce in the later 19th century.&nbsp; A benefical bi-product of multi-board joinery is that the piece is less likely to split over time as the wood shrinks if joined properly. The practice was widely adopted.</p><p><br /></p><p>The machined saw marks run vertically in the photo and I have marked them with orange arrows at the bottom of the seat.&nbsp; These regular saw marked were made by a machine operated band saw or reciprocating saw.&nbsp; By the 19th century, machine saws like this were the standard for processing lumber.&nbsp; While the circular saw was invented pretty early, It did not come in to common usage until the mid-19th century. A circular saw leaves arc marks, rather than the straight ones seen here.</p><p><br /></p><p>The straight saw marks are what led me to place this post-1850.&nbsp; The 5 board seat gives me a bit of pause as I would not really expect it until a bit later. Say, 1870 or so. It is entirely possible that a sawmill could still be using a band saw this late, particularly in a more country setting.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the furniture maker could be using more modern techniques. Consequently, I think your chair dates to 1870 or later, but certainly 19th century.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]537461[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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