Sculptured Chair

[Cheeset202]

Bmac, they are looking great.  I really enjoyed the sculpting part on the Maloof Rocker, the sanding and scraping, not so much.  The Maloof joints are a little finicky but it is so satisfying when you get them fitting perfectly.

[Bmac]

Got at it again today with some slow going. Hopefully with what I tried to do today I can get some input from others as to if this is the best approach. What I did worked in the end but it was slow and I kept thinking there must be an easier way.

So I worked on the stretchers for the chairs today. There are 2 stretchers, one you turn on the lathe and that was straight forward. The other stretcher was one I needed to hand shape, the shaping went fine, but then I needed to make a 3/4" round tenon on each end of the stretcher. This was were I struggled.

I'll start with the shaping of the front stretcher, used the Festool RAS 115 rotary sander, rasps and then Festool sanders with interface pads.

It only took a few minutes to get here using what I stated above.

A few minutes later I was done with half the shaping on this stretcher. As I said before I found using this method of shaping goes quickly with minimal dust.

Here's were I ran into the problem, my tenon shaper/maker couldn't handle the curve of the stretcher.

I then went manual. Used rasps, scraper with a radius cut out of it, sand paper, and a wood block drilled to the size hole I wanted. The block helped compress the wood and show me where I was rubbing.

The wood block finally showed me I was were I needed to be.

Then I drilled the hole in the stretcher, That was tough since I already had it rounded. So I got smart and drilled the hole before shaping. Last picture shows the stretcher before drilling, but I'm sure you can tell it is easier drilling the square surface.

Next it was to the lathe to shape the back stretcher.

First attempt to put together and it wouldn't go home. Wasn't sure if the back stretcher was too long so I shortened that, no help, so the front stretcher was the problem.

After multiple adjustments I got the top of the leg to go home but the bottom of the joint was still open.

More adjustments and finally got a dry assembly.

So I plan to use the front stretcher from this chair and use it in my first assembly of the second chair, Then I'll know if how to adjust the second stretcher length wise. The second stretcher is likely too long just like this one was but I want to confirm before cutting. Also I don't know if my holes in the legs on the first chair were alittle off angle, also creating difficulty. Those were not fun holes to drill, esp after all the time spent on those legs.

So, any suggestions on doing the front stretcher tenons better? Or was I doing what I could do and I need to expect it to be tedious?

 

 

 

[Cheeset202]

Bmac your method looks pretty solid.  I know in the case of the Maloof Rocker all the joinery is done on square stock, then you cut the parts out on the bandsaw or turn on the lath.  Not sure this could be done in the case of your front stretcher given the angle of attachment.

[Bmac]

Haven't had a chance to get back in the shop much this week, but when I made it out I continued to struggle with the stretchers. Once I got one chair close to going together well I used the front stretcher from that chair to size my stretcher for the second chair and this helped speed things up. I got both assemblies looking real good, and everything went home tightly with clamping. But when I took the clamps off I continued to have a little spring back with the front legs. Best way to explain that is with some photos;

See how a gap opens up in the joint with both legs, and this was happening with both chairs. I finally figured out the problem was not stretcher length but the angle of the stretcher holes in the legs. I drilled these hole by sight and there was no real way to measure the angles. This sort of reminded me of the problem I had, and others had, with the back slats in the Mallof Rocker. Marc corrected this by flattening one side of the round tenon. Once I did that I got a big improvement in fit but couldn't get it any better than this.

Tenons flattened;

So on I went, I could get the leg joint closed with hand pressure but it would spring back open once released. I thought the spring back was acceptable, at least I hope, esp with glue and screws to support the joint.

On to glue up. Epoxy was used for working time. I've been using this system Three with good results.

Glue ups done;

Time to get a cold one and I can't wait to start shaping the chairs this weekend. Backrest blanks have been glued up and I'll work on those also this weekend.

[Chet]

Making some nice progress.  I have never used System Three, have you ever used West Systems?  I would be interested in how they compare.

[Bmac]

9 hours ago, Chet said:

Making some nice progress.  I have never used System Three, have you ever used West Systems?  I would be interested in how they compare.

My only experience with epoxy is this product. I looked into the West System, and this was easier for me to get (sold at Woodcraft) and seemed more reasonably priced. What you are looking at cost around $30, I think. 

I've seen Marc use the West System and this seems to have a thicker consistency and doesn't need filler. This is the slower set product by System Three and you simply mix to a 1:1 ratio, simple to use and no need for dispensers and etc. Has 40-60 minute working time and full cure in around 24 hrs.

I've use this with some dye to fill in knots and other defect and I will say the thicker consistency made that a little more difficult, but in the end it still seemed to work well for that. 

[wdwerker]

Progress looks great !

I have pulled thick epoxy into thin cracks with a shop vac from below. Check often or you will get epoxy on/in your hose.

[Chet]

4 hours ago, Bmac said:

simple to use and no need for dispensers

Simple is always good.   The West Systems pumps are measured so one pump of each give you the correct ratio.  Other then yours being thick they sound pretty similar.

[wdwerker]

Those digital kitchen scales would measure very easily.  Put Saran Wrap over the scale loosely, put your cup on and zero it out (tare) pour one part then pour the second part until it's doubled in weight. With a little math you could mix 5 to 1 or any other ratios as well. 

Digital scale is very handy in the shop. Count 10 screws & weigh then do the math and pour till you have enough. Beats counting out fasteners in quantity. Make sure you have enough to finish the project before the store closes !

[Bmac]

We are moving forward with this project. Spent a few hours in my hot shop to begin shaping the chairs. Started with putting screws in all leg joints. Then I started shaping and the joints started to show up.

Shaping is so much easier with the interface pads,

 

Hope to have more progress photos tomorrow if I can stand the heat.

[Bmac]

Was hot in the shop today and my lame cooling system barely kept up, made it only partially tolerable.

Shaped both chairs to the point I just need to make the backrests and shape the backrests and the backrest area. Everything above the stretchers is sanded to 120, stretchers and below is sanded to 220. I also got 1 backrest roughed out. Here is my progress.

Here is the walnut chair shaped;

And the cherry chair;

For plugs I've used the same type of wood as the one I am building with. I sort of like that better than using a different wood. I've done this with the many Maloof style chairs I've made (rocker, barstools, lowbacks, and bowtie stools). Here's a pic of those plugs. When people look at what I've made they don't even realize I've used screws.

Backrests traced out on the blanks;

First backrest roughed out.

Cutting that back rest out of the large blank resulted in a lot of waste, something I don't like about these Maloof projects. I wish I could laminate and bend the backrest, but by starting in the block shape you are able to cut your dado joints. If I could figure out how to do the dado joint with the laminations I would laminate the backrests. Also you'll see that the way Morrison does his back rests is with 3 boards glued up to get your width. I don't particularly care for this. With the walnut chair I had a thick enough board I was able to just glue on a backer board that the dado will be cut out of. I'll highlight the difference between the two as I progress.

If I can bear the heat tomorrow after church I hope to get the next backrest roughed out and begin the shaping of the backrests. This has been a fun project so far and I'm on a roll so I really hope to progress more tomorrow.

 

 

[pkinneb]

Looking graet Bmac! I like the matched plugs something different 

[Coop]

Beautiful work dubs! 

[gee-dub]

Almost there.  Looking great.

[wdwerker]

I really like the organic fluid shape. High value functional artistic pieces seem to be a bit wasteful of materials but the results make it worthy. Definitly sign and date them !

[Bmac]

Worked as long as I could stand, it's 100 here in the Mid-Atlantic and humid. When sweat is dripping onto the table saw you know you need to stop, esp when it's a sawstop. I thought a well placed drop of sweat might fire the brake. One other challenge with this project, I just upgraded to the sawstop and I didn't get the dado brake yet, so I had to cut the 3.25" dados in the seats with a thin kerf blade. Time consuming for sure. Here's my progress today;

Started by refining and shaping the neck of the back support that the backrest attachs to;

Then sanded this neck area to 320, you'll see I won't be able to easily get back to this area once the backrest is attached.

Next was to start shaping the backrest, esp in the area of the neck. Here are my outlines to guide me.

You can see from this picture how tight this area is.

Now I scooped/shaped out the area in the backrest next to the seat support.

And then rounded the underside of the backrest to blend in with the front bottom line angle of the backrest, taking away the flat area at the bottom of the backrest.

Then sanded this area, the hard to reach area, to 320. The rest of the shaping will be done when the backrest is attached. Proceeded on to glueup for this backrest. With the area between the neck of the support and the backrest being so tight I was very concerned about glue run out, so I did not apply glue to the very bottom of the joint to help minimize glue run out. I figured glue would creep into this area when clamped. I added glue to the seat support the same way.

Also applied the epoxy in a thin layer. This is were the greater thickness of the System Three epoxy was a big advantage. Once clamped I turned the piece over and will let the glue set up in this position. Minimal glue run out, if any occurred, pumped about that.

Next I started working on the backrest for the walnut chair. Cut the dados while sweating, avoided tripping the sawstop brake, and then cut out the shape for this backrest. Glad I went as far as I did with the first backrest, as I was able to do a better cutout knowing what the next steps were. Here is all the waste from the walnut backrest.

Finally called it a day once I saw the backrest fit well and looks great. Got some great grain with this on. I said I did this one slightly different than the cherry backrest, as I had thick enough stock to handle the concave cut and only needed to glue up enough wood in the back of it for the thickness of the dado. I really like this technique much better.

Thanks for all the compliments, but please feel free to add any pointers or suggestions as I really did this journal as a challenge to myself and to get feedback.

I will say I've enjoyed doing this journal much more than I thought I would. I'm also getting better at documenting the steps and showing the building process. Knowing you are going to show your work also challenges you to pay attention to detail. I've already looked back at some of the photos I've posted and I can see things I need to tweak and improve, these were things I didn't notice in the shop.

Time to jump in the pool and cool off. Oh one last thing, Steve, I will be signing and dating these, no doubt.

 

[Bmac]

I'm enjoying this build so much I can't stay out of the shop. Finished with work early today and spent a few hot hrs out there moving forward with this project. So far this project has gone very quickly for me, but I am getting quicker with each sculpted project I do. Also helps this project only has 3 legs to blend and shape into the seat.

So here's my progress today;

Attached the backrest to the walnut chair, turning it upside down to avoid any unwanted glue run out.

Got to sanding the cherry chair and after a few hours I was done. This project calls for you to sand the stretchers prior to assembly and I had everything from the stretchers down already sanded to 220, everything between the backrest and the seats already sanded to 180, so I had a head start. Here's the chair sanded and ready for finishing, some nice hard lines and detail with the backrest;

Nice organic flow to seat;

Looks inviting to sit in;

I'm using the Maloof finish for this as I've done with my other Maloof chairs I've done. Going to get 4 coats of the oil/poly and 3 coats of oil/wax. Use the OOO Steelwool to rub on the finish and wipe dry with rags.

After the first coat;

Always great to get the first coat of finish on. Hope to get the walnut chair shaped and sanded to start finishing it this weekend.

 

 

[..Kev]

those really look sharp!  Nice work!

[Coop]

Your joints are so tight and the curves so fluid, it looks like one piece of molded lumber. Beautiful job. 

[wdwerker]

Sculptural furniture has always appealed to me. 

[pkinneb]

That turned out great Bmac! thanks for sharing.

[Cheeset202]

Great job Bmac thanks for taking us along the build!

[Bmac]

Started shaping the backrest on the second chair and then disaster struck! Complete disaster!

I had the chair clamped to the workbench and with the backrest added it made the chair top heavy with the way I had it positioned on the table. After removing the clamps to reposition the chair I forgot the precarious top heaviness of the chair. As I put the clamp down I saw out of the corner of my eye the chair slowly tumbling off the bench. Needless to say I was too late to catch it. Falling 3 feet and landing on the back rest put too much stress on the back support. I was beyond depressed.

Here's the devastating result of the fall;

I have put too much time in this chair to scrap it, but it looked hopeless. I picked up the pieces amid tears and slowly tried to see how the pieces fit together. Remarkably I was able to piece it together. With a few clamps here it is;

Now to epoxy and clamps;

Off we went to the beach for a few days and when I returned everything looked hopeful, after sanding it looked even better;

 

So it's back together, the initial joint held and the break was mainly in the support. What is everyone's thought on this repair, am I right to be hopeful or should the chair stay mainly unused in a corner somewhere?

[..Kev]

Great save!

[Cheeset202]

Good repair, only you will know unless you tell people!  Structurally it looks like a long grain break so the epoxy should hold up well.