Popular Post SeventyFix Posted September 9, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 9, 2017 And here's how the day ended. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2017 As you can see, the headrest is not sitting down as far as it should. I didn't want to hammer down on it too hard. It feels like it's not going to want to drop down any further. I'm going to remove the headrest and check the length of each spindle. One might be somewhat too long. I'll also check the depth of the drilled holes - make sure they're all 1.25" deep as they should be. This should be a fairly simple adjustment. I'm also going to easy a little more off the back of the bottom tenon. It's pretty tight - the headrest has to be pushed up into position between the rear legs. I was a little nervous while maneuvering it into position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 9, 2017 Report Share Posted September 9, 2017 That's really looking sharp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeset202 Posted September 9, 2017 Report Share Posted September 9, 2017 Looking great, just started shaping my spindles today, it is a lot of work. I will definitely use your technique on the shaping the tenons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 OK, where were we? You guys are probably thinking that I gave up on this project. Nothing could be further from the truth! Videos 16-19 are pretty much just sculpting, rasping, scraping and sanding. Boy, if you love sanding, this is THE project for you! The pictures are going to be a little uninspiring because the spindles have been removed. The arms are permanently attached with epoxy and screws. They're sculpted into the chair. The chair is 90% sanded to 220 grit. Side shot 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 Not the horniest chair in the world, but pretty decent horns nonetheless. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 Epoxy In the video series, Marc uses West System epoxy - great quality stuff. He uses the 105 epoxy resin combined with the 205 hardener (3 parts resin to one part hardener if you don't purchase the measuring pumps from West System or your pumps stop working after 1 project - like mine). Marc thickens the epoxy with West System 404 High Density Adhesive Filler. This is a great formulation for a project that uses a dark wood like walnut. This produces a dark brown epoxy adhesive. For a lighter project, like cherry or say, a maple sculpted rocker, I suggest a different formulation. I use the same West System 105 resin but instead use the clear 207 hardener. The result is a clear epoxy that doesn't stand out against lighter woods. I have used this formulation for several projects with smashing success. I bought a can of the 406 filler because it was all that Rockler had in stock. I don't think that the thickener type (404 vs 406) is critical - just make sure to mix the resin and hardener thoroughly before adding and mixing in the thickener. Epoxy squeeze out is easily cleaned up. Have a rag and a bottle of acetone handy before the glue up. Soak the rag in acetone (more is better). Wipe up any squeeze out with the acetone rag. Acetone evaporates completely without leaving a trace (it's used to dry glassware in high end chemical laboratory settings; don't ask how I know). I have not experienced any problems with stain or finishing after this kind of clean up. Make sure to use plenty of acetone and be thorough. Other organic solvents will work too - check with West System. I use acetone since it's always on hand and readily available from any big box hardware store. Epoxy is strong, structural and has excellent gap filling properties. It also has a long open time. If you're working on complicated glue-ups (see the Morris chair project), the long open time is a huge help. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SeventyFix Posted September 21, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 I'm going to take an extra day to go over the chair with a fine toothed comb, so to speak. I want to have every issue dealt with an sanded smooth to 220 grit. I'll likely do that tomorrow and have the spindles glued in before nightfall. After that, there are only 4 videos left: Rocker lamination, rocker fitting, rocker sculpting and finish. It's going to be tight but I'm still on schedule to complete the project by the end of this month (September 2017). My finishing is going to be a multi-step dye/sand and will take more time than what Marc does with the walnut. I have some figured grain that needs special attention to make it as good as it can be. That extra attention to detail might take me into October. I'm working at it every day. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 Are you going to upholster the seat and back in real leather or Naugahyde? Just kidding man! This thing is looking awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeset202 Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 SeventyFix, you are moving ahead of me at lightning speed, I only work on mine on the weekends. The chair is looking fantastic, like how you finished the seat carrying the pommel over the front edge. I followed Marc's procedure pretty much to the tee. Can't wait to see the chair with your finish on it. Looking forward to see how you make out with the rockers, please pass on any pearls of wisdom as you work on them! Attached a pic of my seat for comparison, about 90% done, just a few tweaks to go. The profile edge of the sculpted bowl is a bit wavy due to an unsteady hand with the sculpting wheel. Did you experience this and if so what did you do to get the profile straight? I am thinking a sanding block will be my best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 Naugha's are real ! It just takes about fifty of them to make a square yard....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 One of few on here that knew what that was. Sure held up better than real leather. Or not? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeset202 Posted September 21, 2017 Report Share Posted September 21, 2017 35 minutes ago, wdwerker said: Naugha's are real ! It just takes about fifty of them to make a square yard....... And here is a Naugha! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 On 9/20/2017 at 9:26 PM, Cheeset202 said: SeventyFix, you are moving ahead of me at lightning speed, I only work on mine on the weekends. The chair is looking fantastic, like how you finished the seat carrying the pommel over the front edge. I followed Marc's procedure pretty much to the tee. Can't wait to see the chair with your finish on it. Looking forward to see how you make out with the rockers, please pass on any pearls of wisdom as you work on them! Attached a pic of my seat for comparison, about 90% done, just a few tweaks to go. The profile edge of the sculpted bowl is a bit wavy due to an unsteady hand with the sculpting wheel. Did you experience this and if so what did you do to get the profile straight? I am thinking a sanding block will be my best bet. Marc mentioned this as well - getting the edge of the seat "bowl" straight. I didn't have a problem with this aspect. I used a goose neck scraper and a hard sanding block with some aggressive paper to bring everything in line. It didn't take much time. I spent more time sanding the back of the seat bowl - essentially end grain. It took some elbow grease to get all of the deep scratches out and get it smooth. Marc's recommendations about scraper usage are dead on. The scrapers save a lot of time. As far as your seat design goes - that's a personal preference. I'm following the videos but also looking at pictures of chairs that I've found online. I will deviate from the plan if I find design elements that I like in other chairs. I'm hoping to have the spindles glued in tonight. I've made a decision to use walnut for the accent color in the rocker and the plugs. I'll be constructing the rocker form this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 On 9/20/2017 at 9:09 PM, K Cooper said: Are you going to upholster the seat and back in real leather or Naugahyde? Just kidding man! This thing is looking awesome! Coop - I was thinking about you during the recent flooding in Houston. Happy to see you here. I did leather upholstery on my Morris chairs. Let me clarify: I hired a local upholstery shop to perform all of the leather upholstery on my Morris chairs. In all seriousness, leather upholstery is pretty expensive. Looking back, I wish that I had spent a little more time and money and gone with bison hides. I have a bison wallet and I really like the grain. Not sure what that would have cost but it would have been awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 22, 2017 Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 1 hour ago, SeventyFix said: ... I spent more time sanding the back of the seat bowl - essentially end grain. It took some elbow grease to get all of the deep scratches out and get it smooth... Not sure what tools you have in your sanding arsenal but I found the Festool RO90 with the interface pad worked great on the seat edges of my sculpted bar stools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 1 hour ago, pkinneb said: Not sure what tools you have in your sanding arsenal but I found the Festool RO90 with the interface pad worked great on the seat edges of my sculpted bar stools. I opted for the Mirka DEROS. I believe that it has a soft pad but I haven't taken the time to track it down. The Mirka website sure isn't as intuitive as its Festool counterpart, otherwise I would have already purchased the part. I was surprised at how little Marc used a random orbit sander (ROS) in his finishing routine. I used the Mirka ROS A LOT! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 My shop floor is littered with spent 5" sanding disks. As I said, if you really enjoy sanding, this IS the project for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2017 I am toying with the idea of finishing the parts separately and bringing them together for the final assembly. The headrest, however, gives me great pause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted September 23, 2017 Report Share Posted September 23, 2017 7 hours ago, SeventyFix said: I did leather upholstery on my Morris chairs. I think I remember your Morris chairs. They were all curly cherry, right? Those were outstanding. The best ones I've seen out of the Guild...and there are many. I hope I've got the right guy. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeset202 Posted September 23, 2017 Report Share Posted September 23, 2017 10 hours ago, SeventyFix said: Marc mentioned this as well - getting the edge of the seat "bowl" straight. I didn't have a problem with this aspect. I used a goose neck scraper and a hard sanding block with some aggressive paper to bring everything in line. It didn't take much time. I spent more time sanding the back of the seat bowl - essentially end grain. It took some elbow grease to get all of the deep scratches out and get it smooth. Marc's recommendations about scraper usage are dead on. The scrapers save a lot of time. As far as your seat design goes - that's a personal preference. I'm following the videos but also looking at pictures of chairs that I've found online. I will deviate from the plan if I find design elements that I like in other chairs. I'm hoping to have the spindles glued in tonight. I've made a decision to use walnut for the accent color in the rocker and the plugs. I'll be constructing the rocker form this weekend. I did spend a great deal of time scraping the end grain on the seat bowl. I have a Festool RAS 115 but have not used it on this project yet. It is a pretty aggressive tool, I will use it some on sculpting the chair legs. Looking forward to your rocker build, I will be gluing up the legs and working on the headrest this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SeventyFix Posted September 25, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 On 9/22/2017 at 7:19 PM, Eric. said: I think I remember your Morris chairs. They were all curly cherry, right? Those were outstanding. The best ones I've seen out of the Guild...and there are many. I hope I've got the right guy. LOL Thank you - I appreciate that. I'm very happy with how they turned out. The Morris chairs are also very comfortable. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 With the first coat, the grain was immediately apparent. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventyFix Posted September 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 I ran into a problem with the rocker build this weekend. Two of the spindles cracked at the bottom in the seat. The cracks aren't too major. I attempted to repair the cracks with CA glue but that didn't work (they cracked again, at the same spot, on a subsequent dry fit). I think that I remember reading that CA glue has poor sheer resistance. I tried to repair them again with tried and true Titebond. I let them sit and moved on to constructing the bending form. It's odd that the spindles cracked as I had performed a dry fit in the past without problems. If the cracks can't be repaired, I will make new spindles. But making new spindles will take a significant amount of time. I have other deadlines that I need to meet before the end of the year so the rocker might be put in the back burner. It will be a shame if the spindles cannot be repaired as the figure in the wood is very prominent. After an 18 mile training run on Sunday morning in the Dallas heat and humidity, I wasn't feeling hugely motivated to spend the day in the shop. I'll get back at it tonight and update this blog when I find out what's happening with the spindles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeset202 Posted September 25, 2017 Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 21 minutes ago, SeventyFix said: Thank you - I appreciate that. I'm very happy with how they turned out. The Morris chairs are also very comfortable. Those are stunning, I would hate guess what that leather work cost but they sure make the chairs beautiful! Look like they are the thrones in your castle room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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