Tale of two chairs

[billsm]

The chairs look great and in following along with the build many old memories are flooding back. I grew up in the country and our doctor who was a close resemblence to Winston Churchill, worked out of his large home and his waiting room was furnished with a close replica of your chairs. Best as I can remember (55 yrs ago) they were upholstered in a green leather. To compliment the stately chairs he had the full compliment of Dogs playing Poker paintings on the walls and generally had a British Consol cigarette smoldering in the ashtray as he examined you. Sessions with Dr. Makercher were a minimum 30 minutes so comfortable chairs were necessity as you could spend many hours for your turn.

Beautiful looking work

Bill

[Stuart Jacobs]

I have to say, I'm quite jealous.

[Ed in Calgary]

Nearing the finish line on this project. The oak chair and stool are dyed and stained and both sets have a first coat of Osmo applied. This is my first experience using Osmo as a finish and I must say it is easy to use, yet unlike anything I've ever used before. Once the second coat is done we'll see how it looks, but so far I'm impressed with the product. The oak chair having been stained took up a lot less of the finish than did the raw cherry. the end grain on both looks a little dry yet but should improve with the second coat.

We're off to the upholstery shop this afternoon to see about getting the cushions made and to select the leather for them.

[Rod Sheridan]

Rounding the tenons is a lot of work. Do you think it easier than squaring the mortises? I'm asking because I square and that's no fun either.

That's why I use a hollow chisel mortiser, the tenons come off the shaper and just plug in.....regards, Rod.

[Rod Sheridan]

I'm enjoying your progress on the chairs Ed, yours look very nice..............Rod.

[Ed in Calgary]

Stools are moving along quickly with the assembly of all the ends today. Tomorrow should have them all together.

I also got the oak chair dyed today. I'm doing a four step finish on it to get the traditional dark colour that was achieved with ammonia fuming. Lots of variations on the theme are suggested, but the common technique is to use a dye first followed by stain then finish coat. I had some aniline dyes on hand and did up a test piece to see which produced the desired look. Surprisingly, this colour which is french walnut, turned out the best even though it looks quite yellowish by itself. The dark gel stain on top gives it a nice deep tone. That will be followed with an Osmo oil finish and a final paste wax application. The cherry is a lot simpler with just the Osmo oil and paste wax finish and sunlight to bring up the colour.

[Ed in Calgary]

Quick progress on the footstools. All the parts cut and most of the mortise and tenon work done. Need to square up the mortises and check the fit before sanding and assembly.

[Ed in Calgary]

Looking good I did that same chair a few years ago out of Red Oak. Cost was a bit less than yours because I got the logs for free and had a guy bandsaw them then air dried
I did the legs a bit different as I glued them up out of about 3/4 thick pieces and then cut and glued 1/8 thick veneer on the glued edges rather than the box mitres
I just built it from the magazine plan rather than buying the proper ones.
It was a really fun project and I know your pain about fitting the leg tennons to arm mortices...yikes.
I just carved pegs for the seat back. The brass would be really neat but I'm cheap

One thing. Do not follow the plans on the cushions. Super uncomfortable. They need more thickness and softness. Ask somebody with knowhow
Good luck with it, looks great so far

I'm using the veneer method for the stool legs since they are only 1 1/2" square and came out of 8/4 stock. The brass was not very expensive and having a metal lathe and mill to make the hardware meant no added cost above the materials. Good to know on the cushions. We are checking out some upholstery shops and will see what they suggest as well.

[nugsthecat]

One thing. Do not follow the plans on the cushions. Super uncomfortable. They need more thickness and softness. Ask somebody with knowhow
Good luck with it, looks great so far

I agree with this 100%! My morris chair looks great, but not very comfortable, cushions are too hard. My inlaws have a commercially made morris chair that I could sit in all day. I gave my morris chair to my parents when I moved and told them to get it reupholstered with new cushions but they hardly ever sit in it so never went through with it.

The brass plate and rod are a nice touch.

[dwoody]

I use floating tenons frequently and have used them as you thought to do after a cutting mistake. You absolutely made the right call in re-doing as there was not enough wood for proper support in this case.

[Dara]

Looking good I did that same chair a few years ago out of Red Oak. Cost was a bit less than yours because I got the logs for free and had a guy bandsaw them then air dried
I did the legs a bit different as I glued them up out of about 3/4 thick pieces and then cut and glued 1/8 thick veneer on the glued edges rather than the box mitres
I just built it from the magazine plan rather than buying the proper ones.
It was a really fun project and I know your pain about fitting the leg tennons to arm mortices...yikes.
I just carved pegs for the seat back. The brass would be really neat but I'm cheap

One thing. Do not follow the plans on the cushions. Super uncomfortable. They need more thickness and softness. Ask somebody with knowhow
Good luck with it, looks great so far

[Ed in Calgary]

With the success of the second attempt at the back slats, the back rails were mortised and both backs assembled after the final sanding of the parts. The curve of the slats and the relative thinness means they would bow with clamping pressure so there needs to be a spacer block between the rails for clamping. And of course the masking of all the pieces to keep the glue squeeze out minimized.

To continue with the use of brass, I made the support pins for the backs from 1/2" brass rod. I turned some grooves in the ends to help the glue hold better for the wood caps. The wood caps are drilled and then held on with epoxy. The pivot pins I ended up making from steel drill rod since I failed to get enough brass rod. No big deal as those are pretty much never seen once together. I did make the spacers from brass as well though. The pivot pins are threaded and I used a 3/8" EZ-Lok insert in the chair leg for them to screw into. The original design just uses a straight pin that slips into place, but I figured having it secured was better. Those got the same treatment with the epoxied on caps.

And with that, the back are on and the chairs are now fully built and ready for final finishing work. But first, footstools.

[gdtrfg]

We all do the same thing Ed. I personally like my scrap to be milled into interesting shapes, cut to length, and if possible, have joints cut before I throw them into the BTU file.

[Ed in Calgary]

Yes some mistakes can be fixed, some just need to be re-done. I am tossing about a couple of ideas to re-purpose the first sets of slats in new projects. Also have and idea for the off cut pieces from the slats. If these work out I may be able to make a couple of bucks to offset the cost.

[drzaius]

Ouch! But I know what you mean. You gotta do it right.

I've bought several times from PJ. Their market is definitely the commercial shops. I got 150 bf of hard maple for my workbench there for only $1.90/bf. It was 4/4 with a fair bit of mineral streaking. Lots of milling & glue up work, but I enjoy that sort of thing. Not a lot of waste though. I always buy Baltic birch there because their prices are best. Same with Medex, when I have to use MDF for something.

I've also bought other hardwoods there, and they do allow picking, but you get the feeling that you shouldn't be spending hours going through the whole pile. I just be sure to neatly restack the lumber so as not to wear out my welcome.