Thread: Sam Maloof

Sam Maloof kick-ass and I like him very much. He uses whatever is right for him. It is amazing how many screws he uses to make a chair. It works for him and the joints are just as strong. I think he is a very clever man.

YEAH! Another convert. I thought those flash looking ebony plugs were dowels but no - he whacks a good ol' screw in and then plugs the hole. People are lined up for the furniture - $US18,000 for a rocker, and you would double your money the next day I would say. Cool guy, drives his new Boxster at 130mph - he'll be 90 next year.

Originally Posted by TassieKiwi

Forgive my new fad, but this guy's approach to woodworking and everything really grabs me. If y'all know about him then sorry

Tassi No need to ask for forgiveness, as this remarkable man is one of a handful of living woodworking gods who we all need to pay homage to. He and his contemporaries should inspire all of us to achieve greater heights in our chosen craft.

Originally Posted by Wongo

Sam Maloof kick-ass He uses whatever is right for him. It is amazing how many screws he uses to make a chair. It works for him and the joints are just as strong.

Wongo your excelent statement should go straight to the hand/power darkside/whatevrside thread that has been started.

Sam Maloof and James Krenov are two classic Darksiders. Krevov is constantly amazed at the amount of visitors to his workshop who are stunned by the amount of machines and power tools and sandpaper and screws he uses. Sam Maloof is the same, he uses all types of practices wether dark or light or hand or power and screws for his amazing creations. Sam Maloof dose kick-ass, and boy, dose he kick it so well

Using screws to help secure the legs to the solid-wood seat of Maloof's rockers is fair enough, but I cannot see why he doesn't use mortice and tenon joinery, as I do in my rockers, to join the back rail to the top of the back legs. No doubt it is easier to use screws, but I can't see how screws going into the end-grain of the rail are going to produce a joint that will last for generations, as the joints in a chair that costs that much should.

Rocker

“Sam kick-ass”

He is like a woodworker without a PhD in furniture making. The guy has never had any proper training and yet he is so successful.

He does not muck around with all the complicated WW techniques. He probably does not know how to make a mortice and tenon joint. And maybe after decades of woodworking he probably has worked out that screw works just as well as anything. So why would he bother?

Why is his chair so expensive? Because that is how much the market is willing pay for it. So good for him.

Sam Maloof in his time determined what worked for him and advanced it with clear thinking around design so much so that he has a following in keeping with his work ethics.

Not all ascribe to putting metal such as screws/nails into well built furniture ...hence the modern resurgence to challenge the ethos of employing wood joints to create "Fine Furniture" which is also testament to the multitude of great design and build furniture afficcianado's that abound these day's.

Mr Maloof as the song suggests "Did it my Way" with such a panache that contempories line up to not only copy but also further his approach within the woodworking environment.

Personally I'm not a favourite of employing screws etc if I can at most avoid them but that does not detract from the admiration I have for someone who has achieved in his lifetime far more than i could hope to accomplish.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Rocker

Using screws to help secure the legs to the solid-wood seat of Maloof's rockers is fair enough, but I cannot see why he doesn't use mortice and tenon joinery, as I do in my rockers, to join the back rail to the top of the back legs. No doubt it is easier to use screws, but I can't see how screws going into the end-grain of the rail are going to produce a joint that will last for generations, as the joints in a chair that costs that much should.

Rocker

From memory he does effectively do a MT, and slides it in from the top. He's only had one chair (from hundreds) back in 35 years - a dog chewed the end off the rocker. Even this was a cunning solution, as he simply cut 2 inches off both rockers. The client was amazed at the invisible repair!

PS I added a pic of the 'scarysaw' technique in the first post.

D