CHAIR DESIGN 101

[FenceFurniture]

I have 'finished' the slat steaming process but unfortunately, due to breakages eating up the float, I have completed EXACTLY the right number which is dangerous! I'll cut another half dozen slats and steam them through the week to give me a few spares.

Hmmmm........risk assessment time.

Bending 6 spare slats:
Pros: Spares on hand for breakages which will, of course, never happen. No need to store the bulky mold. Increased Shiraz consumption.
Cons: You'll have to look at those slats in the garage for the next 30 years, and wonder why you did that. Increased Shiraz consumption.
Disastrous cons:Seven slats will break, with no mold available for the seventh. Vastly increased Shiraz consumption, possibly followed by a lethal dose of Muscat.

NOT bending 6 spare slats:
Pros: Gives you an excuse to re-use that bulky mold that you stored all those years, when a slat inevitably breaks. Increased Shiraz consumption
Cons: Storing the bulky mold just so you can use it again. Australia runs out of Red Cedar supply. Vastly increased Shiraz consumption.

Your call.

Personally, I'd go with the increased Shiraz consumption, but I suspect you're jiggered either way.

[Christos]

......

Shall I get my granny to send you up some knitted booties for your cold little tootsies?

I am a size 11 or 12 depending on the shoe manufacturer. I think a 12 would be good enough.

[fletty]

Hmmmm........risk assessment time.

Bending 6 spare slats:
Pros: Spares on hand for breakages which will, of course, never happen. No need to store the bulky mold. Increased Shiraz consumption.
Cons: You'll have to look at those slats in the garage for the next 30 years, and wonder why you did that. Increased Shiraz consumption.
Disastrous cons:Seven slats will break, with no mold available for the seventh. Vastly increased Shiraz consumption, possibly followed by a lethal dose of Muscat.

NOT bending 6 spare slats:
Pros: Gives you an excuse to re-use that bulky mold that you stored all those years, when a slat inevitably breaks. Increased Shiraz consumption
Cons: Storing the bulky mold just so you can use it again. Australia runs out of Red Cedar supply. Vastly increased Shiraz consumption.

Your call.

Personally, I'd go with the increased Shiraz consumption, but I suspect you're jiggered either way.

hmmmm indeed...!
I think the biggest CON of making another 6 slats is none breaking and therefore being tempted to make 2 more so that I can make ANOTHER CHAIR?

fletty

[fletty]

I am a size 11 or 12 depending on the shoe manufacturer. I think a 12 would be good enough.

me first ... me first ....I'm only a size 9 .... less wool!

[FenceFurniture]

I am a size 11 or 12 depending on the shoe manufacturer. I think a 12 would be good enough.

me first ... me first ....I'm only a size 9 .... less wool!

Sorry chaps, only for the very needy soles in the tropics.

[pjt]

Sorry chaps, only for the very needy soles in the tropics.

Size 8 should do thanks FF's granny
I watched Grand Designs tonight, Kevin was up in Scotland, no way I could live there, still rugged up in Summer and then Winter! waayyy toooooo much snow for me



Pete

[wheelinround]

Nothing like home made woolen socks I have my own personal supplier

[fletty]

I haven't had any shed time for a few weeks with work work and a few other things getting in the way. However today I had some time to get back onto the chairs. I opened the shed door, walked in and noticed that 'sweet' FW Prooftint smell. I had dressed much of the Australian Red Cedar for the chairs to EXACTLY 40 x 40 and stacked it out of the way against the shed wall.

Unfortunately .... OH B*GGER !

20140724_130212_1.jpg

A sealed tin of Prooftint had somehow sprayed tint over my freshly dressed ARC!
I don't know if I will be able to sand it back to remove the spots AND keep the dimension. At this stage, I still can't even find the tin itself?

I spent the morning bending the last slats and now have a full set .... plus a few spares!

20140724_155715[1].jpg

It is very obvious in the (cheap and nasty mobile phone ...) pic that, even though the huon pine slats went through EXACTLY the same bending and drying jigs, they are a VERY different shape. Steam bending is obviously an unpredictable art which is different for each timber!


I made the router jigs to shape the curved crest rail and seat fronts and started to dress the ARC crotch pieces that will be resawn and cut to make these pieces. I lust after a Laguna 12fourteen bandsaw when I think of tomorrows grief in resawing on my underpowered bandsaw. By the weekend i should be up to contacting those kind and patient people who have offered to help me with carving the crest on the crest rails.

fletty

[wheelinround]

oh crap whats spreading across the wood is it viral obviously its none discriminate almost looks like mould at its worst. I guess you left the heater on and tin exploded or a feral has entered be it two or four legged and caused that. Hope nothing is missing???


Fletty I had to check out the Laguna not having been to SWWS to see them so checked those specs 12" depth of cut
Resaw Capacity: 12"
Throat Capacity: 13⅝"
Blade Length: 115"
Blade ⅛" – ¾"
Miter T-Slot: ⅜" X ¾"

Is this arriving for Sunday from the girls

[fletty]

I made the router jigs to shape the curved crest rail and seat fronts and started to dress the ARC crotch pieces that will be resawn and cut to make these pieces. I lust after a Laguna 12fourteen bandsaw when I think of tomorrows grief in resawing on my underpowered bandsaw. By the weekend i should be up to contacting those kind and patient people who have offered to help me with carving the crest on the crest rails.

fletty

Not quite to plan but I've now finished the crest rails and some trim that fits under the front apron. I made them together because they are the same radius and so use the same jigs. They were band sawn from some crotch pieces of ARC and finished to shape in a router jig with a bearing follower router bit

20140728_103603.jpg


the mortices for the seat backs were designed around a standard Domino size and setting

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and so were all done in amazingly quick time!

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I once had a bad experience with routing a radius without a fence (other than the big splinter in my hand I still don't know where the main piece flew to!) and hence I usually make a curved guide......

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.......to feed the piece into the router bit.....

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.... and radiussed both edges of the crest rails and the visible front edge of the seat aprons.

Only now after the tribulations of steam bending and some of its other quirks, am I remembering WHY I wanted to make these chairs out of Australian red cedar.....and this is only with a bit of mineral turps wiped on!

20140728_131009.jpg


fletty

[Christos]

Cool.

[fletty]

!

I have started on the front leg to armrest joints which will be heavily sheer loaded even during normal use of the chairs. I am making 2 prototypes out of pine of the multiple finger joints so I can do a destructive test to compare glues.

Attachment 318799

At SWWW, I spoke to our sticky marine brethren and so I will be trialling PURBOND and EPOXY glues. Having decided that I probably can't do a consistent test to the 2 samples by hitting them on the point with a sledge hammer, I'll probably use the bench vise or hydraulic jack?


fletty

I'm supposed to be working 4 day weeks but of late it has been far more. Today i made the unilateral decision to skulk in the shed but the progressively anxious work messages suggest I will pay for my sin tomorrow.
I made the finger joint test piece above and glued it with purbond. I didn't get to put it in the vise or an hydraulic jack because it fell apart when I touched the top with a sledge hammer just to line up the blow that I didn't even get to take?
i love the fact that it and the Epoxy glue are Australian made and so I'm putting a bit more thought into why it broke at the glue line with virtually no broken parent timber? I have made another test piece out of the Australian Red Cedar because the written and verbal directions for Purbond advise that the glue performance depends on the moisture content and I am starting to think that Bunnings kiln dried pine is TOO dry.
Anyway, the rest of the day was fun and I started machining the finger joints between the armrests and front legs,
I set up a heavy block on the tenon jig, cut a slot in the base and insert a fence finger which is the same width as one fifth of the armrest and leg thicknesses. I put the workpiece against the finger and cut the first slot in one piece and then adjust the position of the tenon jig so that the finger width is a poofteenth less than the slot

20140807_121935.jpg

I then relocate the workpiece so that the cut slot goes over the finger fence and cut again

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After only a few hours, I had cut all of the finger joints .......

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and the finish directly off the table saw without any dressing or cleaning up was pretty impressive

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I then cut the mortices in the front legs for the aprons and foot rails with my new Domino and tapered the legs using the jointer

20140807_163122.jpg


This was yet another occasion where I noted the much improved performance of the segmented cutting head vs the old straight blades

As i walked out of the shed a little while ago I had fully cut all of the armrests and front legs for the 6 dining chairs

20140807_163233.jpg

... but I am dreading tomorrow!

fletty

[wheelinround]

Well its tomorrow and its overcast worst that can happen is you end up with full time shed time............

[fletty]

....... worst that can happen is you end up with full time shed time............

Nah, I'm not worried about NO work, I'm worried about twice as much work!

[wheelinround]

Nah, I'm not worried about NO work, I'm worried about twice as much work!

I thought you already had that