Popular Post mkrusen Posted August 11, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 I finished graduate school earlier this summer and have been job searching ever since. Figured I'd use my down time to knock another build off the bucket list. So here we go with the Morris chair. I forgot to take pictures before this but its just basic milling and mortise/tenon work. So here is the first dry assembly of the chair base. Here is the ottoman dry assembly. Used some really great curly cherry. Can't wait to get finish on that. I had milled up all the pieces for the ottoman and forgot that I was going to Hawaii with the my wife and family the next day. Domino to the rescue! I bought some incredible curly koa in Maui and mailed it home. I'll have to take some pictures of it, its so nice. Bent lamination time. 6 laminates, a little under 3/16" each. Wasn't sure if I'd be a fan of the walnut laminate but I went with it and ended up really liking it. Here's the bending form. So much plywood. As per Marc's suggestion, I glued a strip of 1/8" cork to the top half of the form and it was very helpful in distributing the clamping pressure. I didn't cut the top form into smaller cauls like Marc did. I did a test run to see if everything was closing well and it worked out fine keeping it as one piece. I may have stolen a beater from our hand mixer to mix the glue... Don't tell my wife. Arm #1 glued up. Good lord that's messy. Using Unibond 800. Glue up was a little stressful but since I did the dry run first it ended up going pretty smooth. And voila, a bent arm. The lamination lines are invisible to anyone not actively searching for them. Very happy with the Unibond 800 and bending form. Second arm is bending right now. Thanks for looking everyone. I'll be sure to upload pics as I continue. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 This is a project I am thinking about doing. Looking forward to following this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 I'm excited to follow along with this. I'm going to do this project some day and it'll be fun to see a step by step. Question #1 I saw someone use epoxy for the arms is there a reason unibond is used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted August 11, 2016 Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 Very nice! I like your bench chop as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted August 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2016 14 minutes ago, Chestnut said: Question #1 I saw someone use epoxy for the arms is there a reason unibond is used? You'd have to ask someone who's done more bent lamination than I have. From what I can tell, glue choice for laminations is another one of those highly debatable topics. I would think epoxy would work fine as well, though with the quantity needed I think it'd be significantly more expensive. For reference, the bottle of Unibond and the hardener was about $44 shipped. After I do the back slats, I'll probably have used about 3/4's of it. It does have a fairly short shelf life, they say about 6 months. So definitely don't buy way more than you need unless you know you're going to be doing more laminations in the near future. 2 minutes ago, pkinneb said: Very nice! I like your bench chop as well. Thanks! It tapers down into an elongated tear drop shape. I was really pleased with how it came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted August 12, 2016 Report Share Posted August 12, 2016 I need the kind of job where when you don't have a job you can still afford to go to Hawaii. Damn that place is expensive. Chair is looking good. You do solid work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted August 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2016 46 minutes ago, Eric. said: I need the kind of job where when you don't have a job you can still afford to go to Hawaii. Damn that place is expensive. Chair is looking good. You do solid work. Thanks, appreciate the compliment. I'm a biochemist who just finished grad school. I can't afford more than my mortgage and bills at the moment. And of course the occasional lumber. My parents go to Maui every year and they brought my wife and I this year as a belated wedding present. I blew my budget on Koa haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted August 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Made some more progress over the past few days. Slower going than I'd like but we're getting closer to the finish line now. I have two other projects going on right now with rapidly approaching deadlines so my chair is having to play second fiddle. Not a ton of pictures today but I'll have a lot more once things start going into assemblies again. So with the arms bent and mortises cut (which of course I didn't take pics of, oops) the next step is the side slats. For those who haven't seen the guild build, you use a slot cutter to cut a groove the entire length of side rails. You then glue in filler pieces between the slats. This is done so as as to avoid having to cut some pretty complex curved mortises and tenons on the slats. After doing it this way, I have mixed feelings about the process. Its definitely WAY easier and faster. However, I'm not 100% happy with the results. Maybe with some more meticulous grain matching it'd be better. And obviously the pieces haven't been finish prepped yet so there's still a little glue that'll go away. Hopefully with finish applied, the results will be great. A note of caution to those who plan on building this. It is extremely important to get the perfect fit on the slats. Shoot for a tight fit off the machines and then finesse with a plane so you get a perfect fit. Some of my slats were a little too tight and it made things difficult while trying to fit the filler pieces. Here are the chair back stiles. Nothing complicated, just some template routing. I got lucky with a perfect board for these pieces. Both stiles came from the same board and the grain followed the curves really well. I like the profile of the chair back a lot. I think its going to be quite comfortable. The back slats. This is where things may get a bit interesting. Like I said, I'm on a bit of a time crunch with other projects going. I also may be taking a new job and having to pack up shop and move at any time now. So I really need to get this thing done asap. To try to speed things up a bit, I decided to skip the bent lamination for the back slats and cut them out of solid stock. I have a ton of leftover 8/4 cherry cut offs (not complaining) that should work quite well. Cutting the tenons was much easier this way as well. I was running out of time for the evening so this is how they sit currently. I didn't want to cut the curves until I can get them locked into their mortises the same day. I'm using some pretty straight-grained lumber but I'm a little worried these are going to move excessively on me. Comments and critiques always welcome. More to come soon. Hopefully tomorrow. Beer time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Looks really good, enjoy the beer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 I got the chair back completed today. Cutting the slats out of solid stock ended up working really well. There was very little movement if any. Bent lamination is awesome but this was definitely much faster and I didn't have to deal with that huge routing jig used in the guild build. All the joints close up quite nicely. Overall, I'm very happy with the results. I got the legs tapered and most of the pivot holes drilled. Just have to turn the pivot pins and make the corbels then its ready for finish prep and assembly. Getting closer! Time for another beer. On tap tonight, Goose Island Oktoberfest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Just realized I put the slats in backwards for the picture! Haha, can you tell I'm running on no sleep? Oops, my bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Enjoying your build. Congrats about the wife man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 41 minutes ago, mkrusen said: Just realized I put the slats in backwards for the picture! No one noticed. You shoulda kept your mouth shut. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 26 minutes ago, Eric. said: No one noticed. You shoulda kept your mouth shut. Took me a second to realize it myself. Was looking at it like "Huh, that profile looks really uncomfortable to sit against." 59 minutes ago, mat60 said: Enjoying your build. Congrats about the wife man. Thanks, its been a great year already! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Looking good! I have a strong desire to build one of these and your not helping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 1 hour ago, Chestnut said: Looking good! I have a strong desire to build one of these and your not helping. Go for it! Its a great project. I'm wishing I would've just made two of them from the start now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 Those turned out great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Got the base and chair back assembled today. The picture isn't uploading for some reason. Sorry. I also got the corbels made and the pivot pins turned. Need to do a little touch up sanding tomorrow and the chair is ready for finish. I have to sculpt some legs for a jewelry box and then I'll finish the chair at the same time. Sorry for the boring post with just one picture. This thing will be done soon and I'll be sure to post lots of pictures of the finished product. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Nice, the pivot pins look good. What's next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Glue on the corbels then finish and upholster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Corbels on, finish sanded, and ready for finish. There was a small knot/crack in the right arm. I was planning to fill with tinted epoxy but I asked my wife if she was interested in me putting turquoise in it instead. Turquoise was the answer so turquoise it is. I actually really like it. I've seen some pieces where the stone inlay is way over done and it looks a bit gimmicky. This is just a small spot, about the size of a dime, and is a neat little surprise. Like you lift up your arm and say "Hey look at that." I got my other commission piece done today as well so I got out the leaf blower and blew out the shop before finish. First coat of finish went on everything about 15 minutes ago and I'm loving it! More pics to come after 4 coats and cure. On a side note, any suggestions for fabric? Type and color? I would love to go with leather but that will have to wait for this chair's future partner. My wife and I are trying to have a baby and the hopefully soon-to-be newborn will do a lot of feeding and sleeping in this chair with us. I'd prefer to have a fabric that can be thrown in the laundry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 More likely the baby will be pooping & puking on the cushions. I'd go with vinyl, or something with Aunt Jenny's plastic slip covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 27 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said: More likely the baby will be pooping & puking on the cushions. I'd go with vinyl, or something with Aunt Jenny's plastic slip covers. Slip covers. Genius! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Now is about the time I start trying to convince myself that 2 coats of ARS will provide enough protection. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxdabroxx Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 30 minutes ago, mkrusen said: Now is about the time I start trying to convince myself that 2 coats of ARS will provide enough protection. That is always the tough part of a project. They always look so much better after the first coat when you've looked at the raw wood for so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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