Thread: Machinery needs for furniture making?

The bandsaw is probably going to be your best friend, but a jointer and thicknesser (or combo) will make your life a lot easier.

You can use a router for mortices etc and cut tenons on the tablesaw.

I wouldn't use pocket hole joinery on a chair, if the screws pull out there's nothing holding it together any more. Think about the stresses that get put on a chair. Biscuits are supposed to be quite strong but I have no experience with them so can't comment. Mortice and tenon is the traditional way.

The ultimate chair making package.

Jointer, bandsaw, frontline engeneering bandsaw jig and a Domino plus 24 cheap pipe clamps from super cheap auto and 700mm pipe lengths (red) to match.

Thinking of branching out from woodturning (pardon the pun)

That treemendous

Rssr,

pick something easier than chairs to start out on. They are about the hardest item of furniture to design and make, be comfortable and strong enough to stand a 100+ kilos being dropped on them.
Try something easier.
regards Nine Fingers

Yeah NF, reckon I'm up to the making but not the design. Have just spent an hour failing to find a plan I like on the dub dub dub.

See if you can still get a copy of ' The Best Seat in the House' - I got my copy from 'Woodworks' when they still had a shop in Gowings, Sydney. It has all the calculations & measurements for chairs that you'll ever reasonably need, from super-formal tight laced to comfortable slouching.

I have pocket hole screw jigs and a biscuit joiner. I would advise against pocket hole joinery in this case - I've had quite a few screws strip out their hole, but 'others' have reported no problems. Biscuits could work for the seat framing, specially if you use corner blocks, but not the rest of the framing.

But the vote is still for M&T - several books from Taunton have jigs for making loose tennon joints (like the Domino) with a handheld router - the mortice is routed in both parts & the tennon is made from scrap stock again with the router. If you want to get fancy, you can pin one or both sides.

Thanks for all the good oil folks.

The Domino knocked me over - leastways the price did.

I can see that dedication will be needed to produce a set of dining chairs ;-}

WMS here in Melb. have the Frontline contour guide for $199 by the way.