Scott M Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 For starters I know that this forum is no longer called "critiques" but I would really appreciate some good feedback. Please don't hold back. The chair is pecan/hickory and walnut and I built it to match a table I made a few years ago. I was going for a rustic look and picked some pecan/hickory with a lot of color variation. There were a lot of firsts in this project for me. First time steam bending for the arms and back slats. First time doing quadralinear legs. And the first time using loose tenons (odd that on a woodworking site "tenons" is not recognized as a valid word). The arms were steam bent from solid 1" walnut. I went with this option because I don't have a band saw to do bent laminations or to cut the curve from a thicker board. My initial attempt was using air dried lumber which had too much spring back so I had to find some green lumber and try it again. This worked much better but delayed the project many months as I waited for them to dry. I used kiln dried hickory for the back and this bent fine but when they say time is of the essence getting them in the clamps they're not exaggerating. I ended up bending 7 pieces in order to get 4 that matched. To make the legs I originally ordered a lock miter bit. When it arrived it was A LOT bigger than it looked in the picture and I ended up scrapping that idea and going with a splined miter which worked perfectly and was very easy to do. The legs started out as 8/4 that I "resawed" on the table saw in an attempt to do a continuous grain match around the leg. Because the boards had some face checking that I wanted to keep for that rustic look I didn't turn the boards inside out so only 2 of the corner have a good grain match. In retrospect I should have turned them, the color on the front and back of the board did not match well and the checks that I was looking to keep get lost in the color variations and you don't see them unless you look closely. The pecan/hickory pieces are finished with BLO and wax. The walnut is Waterlox knocked down with 0000 steel wool and also wax. Now I just need to get some nice leather cushions made and find a good book to read. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book?! Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Stunning piece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 The corners at the end of the arm rest are a touch too sharp for my preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdie Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Other than agreeing with C Shaffer that the ends of the arm rests might've been nicer with rounded ends, I can't find anything I don't like about it. I'm always amazed at those who think that every piece of wood in a finished piece should match, grains should be similar, no knots, all blending into one piece. Ends up being bland in my opinion. I like contrasts and to recognize that the medium we choose to work in isn't perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBaker Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to criticize. Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 I like it a lot. What do you have in mind for the cushions? Are you going to make them yourself? No sew cushions, or are you going to sew? Remember, a sewing machine IS a power tool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Very nice! If it were mine, I'd prefer the arms to be rounded at the front as well. Stunning wood choices though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkirby Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Chet not if its a treadle singer I really like this chair, the choice of cushion is really going to decide the final look here. Excellent job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodbloke Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 I would tend to round the arms at the front as well...a bit too sharp for me and if you were to catch your knee on one as walked past there'd be a.... ''dang, why the @&*$ did I make 'em that sharp?" Timber...always difficult and a great temptation to 'mix and match', but in my view, it's a mistake as the overall effect starts to look contrived and fussy. Choose one predominant timber and use another contrasting one for details, say drawer pulls - Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott M Posted August 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 I like it a lot. What do you have in mind for the cushions? Are you going to make them yourself? No sew cushions, or are you going to sew? Remember, a sewing machine IS a power tool! That's one power tool I don't have yet. I'm thinking a medium brown leather and I'll get a upholsterer to make them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieboy Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Wow! That looks great! I love the walnut and pecan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 You got me, I'm a big fan of pecan. I'm just finishing up my Morris chairs. Yours are a different style and they're very nice. Your joinery looks tight and the lines are clean. Byrdie's comment is interesting - I appreciate different points of view. Personally, I would have stressed over the colors, tones and grains. My chairs are done in figured cherry which also has significantly lighter sap wood. Some very nice figured grain appeared in that sap wood. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to include it in the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 1 hour ago, SeventyFix said: You got me, I'm a big fan of pecan. I'm just finishing up my Morris chairs. Yours are a different style and they're very nice. Your joinery looks tight and the lines are clean. Byrdie's comment is interesting - I appreciate different points of view. Personally, I would have stressed over the colors, tones and grains. My chairs are done in figured cherry which also has significantly lighter sap wood. Some very nice figured grain appeared in that sap wood. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to include it in the project. Those things are a trip you really should give them their own post. I'm not usually a fan of huge amounts of figure in a large project but this really looks awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Great looking chair ! I'm not a fan of the curved arm front idea and like that you kept it square. Curved arms would have made this resemble your atypical adirondack... which is butt ugly compared to this. Nice Job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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