Post & Rung Chair Version 01

[thumbsucker]

I have just completed my first post & rung greenwood chair version 01 in Chestnut and Oak. 100% done by hand, no turning, no sawing, or machining.

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The objective for this version was to work through some of the problems and process of making a post & rung greenwood chair. I was not overly concerned with fit and finish. Rather it gave me the opportunity to work on dimensions and proportions. While allowing me to play with the process of bending wood. I formed a crude former to bend the top of the legs. While the curve is comfortable, it is not visually pleasant. It bends to high and to abruptly.

I did not have a steam box for bending the rear leg, so I simply boiled them in a large stock pot for 20 minutes.

I also played with bending the back slats. Initially I boiled them in water, however I found that it was not really necessary, by bending the slat by hand one way then flipping it over and bending it the other way I was able to curve the slat a tip I got from Michael Fortune. I used a large old pot as the former. To over bend the slat before allowing them relax. It did not to work consistently, the top slat retained a nice bend the bottom flattened out to much. I think I did not leave it in wrapped around the pot long enough.

I have been going backwards and forwards between dimensions provided by Jenny John Alexander here and Brian Boggs here. I found the Jenny John Alexander dimensions are way to small, I ended up adding a good 100mm or 4" to what Jenny John Alexander had for the seat dimensions. Even then I feel that it was a touch to small. I used the 35mm diameter of Jenny John Alexander for the rear legs but the Brian Boggs dimension of 42mm diameter for the front leg. I prefer the 42mm. The problem with the Jenny John Alexander 35mm is that the tenon is just 25mm deep and the tip auger bit come out the other side of the leg. The rails are 16mm tenons and 20mm thick in the middle. I used chestnut for the bottom rails, but opted for oak for the top rails for strength, as advised by Boggs.

A few things learned:

The chestnut is great to split and work with however it is not that visual exciting. Next time I will get another Oak log or Ash.

The slats need to be dried bone dry before fitting to the mortice. Otherwise you get gaps top and bottom.

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The transition on the rear legs is not the best, next time I will try a less drastic transition. Out of interest I used the drawknife bevel down to form the transition.

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I stuffed up the drilling of the holes, I drilled one side correct however the other is FUBAR (fuucckkeed up beyond all recognition/repair/reason). One side is square the other side has the correct flared angel. Structurally it is fine, visually it just looks a little odd.

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I did not have any means to form perfect 16mm or 5/8" tenons, it took some effort with the spokeshave and file to make the tenons 0.25mm bigger then the mortice. I have been using a Chinese made auger bit, it is supposed to be 16mm but it makes 16.6 mm holes, so me tenons had to be 16.85mm. I have secured an old 5/8" auger bit to fit a bit brace and I will be purchasing a 5/8" Veritas tenon cutter for the next chair.

The seat is weaved using Fiber Rush, Bunnings happened to have some in the gardening section. I do not like, it because it is twisted it always wants to twist itself into knots. I want to play with some non traditional materials, next time.

The front legs and the rear legs are fitted without glue, however the side rungs are glued. I want to see how and or if it fails.

Failure is the greatest teacher. I have enough chestnut left for seven more post & rung chairs. So stay tuned for version 02.

Next I have to work on my formers as well as getting a steamer up and running.

[thumbsucker]

I would really appreciated any criticism, feedback and ideas from those who may know a little more then I do. Just be kind.

[orraloon]

It looks pretty good and I would not have spotted the defects if you had not mentioned them. I have not yet had the confidence to try a chair so cant help with any tips but good on you for having a go.
Regards
John

[Christos]

An interesting show and tell.

Sounds like you have been experimenting with something new to what you are accustomed to.

I have not made a chair before so will only touch on the steam bending. I think you may need to make a steam box to test the limit of timber you are using.

At the working with wood show there was a fellow bending wood for the boat he was displaying. One thing that comes to mind is to allow some spring back.

[RoyG]

I have just completed my first post & rung greenwood chair version 01 in Chestnut and Oak. 100% done by hand, no turning, no sawing, or machining.

03.jpg 01.jpg 02.jpg

..............Failure is the greatest teacher. I have enough chestnut left for seven more post & rung chairs. So stay tuned for version 02.

Your chair looks really good. Much better than my first green wood stool, so I won't embarrass myself further by producing a photo. I've got green woodworking books by a couple of American Authors and one British author. One thing I find is that timber selection in Australia is difficult if you want to work with green wood in Chairs. In the US and the UK, they are very specific about what timber to use where in say a chair.

In Australia we seem to have lost the collective knowledge that must have existed 100 to 200 years ago. Settlers in Australia started making plenty of green wood furniture from pretty much as soon as the first fleet arrived in 1788, and they seem to have worked out which species worked best. But unless there's a book that I've missed - that collective knowledge around green wood furniture construction in Australia seems to have been lost. In the Power House Museum in Sydney, there are two chairs of a similar design to yours that were made from green wood. The info about the chairs states that they were found in a store room in Hyde Park Barracks, and that test on the timber suggest that it dates back to the late 1700s.

Is the reed used in your seat a reed you sourced and split yourself, or a commercially bought reed ?

Anyway - Good Show !

Roy

[thumbsucker]

There is plenty of good Oak, Elm & Ash in Australia, timbers that I love and I am happy to use.

As for Australian timbers I know from experience that green Mountain ash and Blackwood split and work well.

I have seen Tasmanian Horizontal Scrub (Anodopetalum biglandulosum) used successfully green. I would wager that most non-Eucalyptus Tasmanian timbers would work.

I used Fiber Rush, so its only twisted paper, store bought.

[JB]

Great looking chair, congratulations. Lot of work there. Good weaving too.