Morris chair follow up journal


Mick S

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I recently posted some pics of the Morris chair build I started last September after I had applied the first coat. While I obviously didn't do a journal as I went, here's a retrospective of the build with the pics I took when I remembered to do so.

Like I said, I started this at the end of September, first selecting and orienting the boards for each piece based on size, figure and color.

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I made the arm bending forms for use in a vacuum bag using the tried and true method of cutting and shaping one layer of MDF, then attaching it to the next roughed out piece and trimming it with a flush trim bit on the router table.

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to use a piece of highly figured mesquite to veneer the legs so that I could stretch it to 16 pieces, bookmatched. I did not photograph the process, but I resawed the veneer, sanded it on my drum sander to .090" and started the veneering process by lining up on face flush on one edge and overlapping the opposite edge by about 1/8". Since the veneer was bookmatched, I continued around one face at a time using the overlap from the previous edge to line up the veneer. I block planed the excess after it was dry. you can just see the veneer layers over the cherry core of the leg on the right in this photo.

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From there, I started cutting the mortises in both the legs and horizontal members for floating tenons. I used my Domino to cut the mortises, stepping over to get the mortise width I was looking for. All the tenons were made form scrap mesquite.

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I made a 1/4" MDF template for the cloud lifts on the bottom rails. I did not take any photos of the side slat assembly process, but essentially did exactly what Marc did on his build, using inserts into a dado between the slat, paying attention to color and grain orientation as I went.

By mid-October I had reached this dry assembly point.

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My wife started developing some health issues at that point that required me to be with her pretty much all day, so the project was stalled until I could find and hour here or there to get some things done.

 

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Alison was feeling better by early January, so I had a little time back in the shop before my CNC class started for the Spring semester. I managed to get most of the bending work done.

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I made the jig Marc showed in the video and tried it out. For me, it was very awkward to use. The mortises were off center just enough to throw the slats out of alignment. I wound up using solid stock, cutting the mortises with my Domino before cutting the arch, then glueing in a floating tenon.

The uprights (stiles) for the back were done just as Marc did them in his video.

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5d Back slat mortise.jpg

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9 minutes ago, Mick S said:

Nope - the ebony plugs are purely decorative. With as much glue surface as the tenons have, I didn't see the need.

Just last week I joined a Facebook group for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. They had a FB Live forum the other day to discuss the use of the Zia symbol. I admit that I knew little about it other than its basic meaning. The symbol's use by the state originated in the 1920's after a contest to design the state flag. An archeologist appropriated the symbol from a stolen vessel belonging to the Zia pueblo, descendants of the Mesa Verde tribe. No permission was ever granted by the tribe, at the time only numbering about 120 people, down from about 15,000 when the Spaniards conquered this area. They did not have the resources to contest it and it's now part of the public domain due to trademark laws.

It's meaning is quite elaborate, complex and beautiful, having been passed down by oral historians on December 29th of each year during a prolonged ceremony.

In hindsight, I doubt I would have used it without permission from the Zia Pueblo Council. I will contact them and try to secure it retroactively along with a donation to their scholarship fund. 

Thanks for the nice remarks!

Mick, is there a written version of the meaning of the symbol. If so, where can it be aquired?  ...

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1 minute ago, mat60 said:

Hope you don't mind me saying this but Im glad your wife is doing better. Just spent the last 4 weeks with my wife being not well also. Not much fun.  Anyway, I like your work on the chair and your shop is a nice one Mick.

Don't mind it at all. Oddly enough, we're not getting any younger and the indiscretions of our youths seem to be catching up with us. She's  due for a knee replacement before the end of the year. Then it's my turn. Hope your wife is on the mend.

Thanks for the compliments!

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3 minutes ago, RichardA said:

Mick, is there a written version of the meaning of the symbol. If so, where can it be aquired?  ...

There are some written explanations, but as I said, the ceremony on Dec 29th each year is hours long. There's a lot more to it than has been written. I Googled it and found some basic interpretations, but I have not seen a written explanation as in-depth or elaborate as the one the Governor of the Zia Pueblo gave in his talk - and even it was abbreviated.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mick S said:

I will contact them and try to secure it retroactively along with a donation to their scholarship fund. 

Well if that doesn't work you can always just give them the chair and start over on another one. ;)

That Mesquite has real beautiful looking grain and texture.  The Osmo gives it a deep rich look, I hope you get good wear out of it.

Just a super job over all Mick.

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Did you leave a slight flat spot on the arms? The arms in the pictures look like there is a spot with less curve on the arms  from about where my elbow sites to where my wrist sits.

I love the look of that mesquite that you used. The veneer on the legs looks awesome. Other than shipping it from down south i wish i had some of that wood to work with. Maybe I'll have to splurge and buy some and have it shipped up north.

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2 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Did you leave a slight flat spot on the arms?

If there is, it's not intentional. I started the curve about 8" back from the front edge, gradually increasing the amount of curve until about where the back sits in its most upright position, then flattening it more toward the back.

Shipping is a killer on it. Roughly 30% - 50% on the orders I've placed. This batch was a mix of #1 common and select. With freight it was about $15/ft. 

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7 minutes ago, Mick S said:

If there is, it's not intentional. I started the curve about 8" back from the front edge, gradually increasing the amount of curve until about where the back sits in its most upright position, then flattening it more toward the back.

Shipping is a killer on it. Roughly 30% - 50% on the orders I've placed. This batch was a mix of #1 common and select. With freight it was about $15/ft. 

The flat spot must just be a trick of the camera.

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10 minutes ago, Mick S said:

Could be. I've tried photographing large pieces I've made with my phone and they always look distorted. 

Well even with the distortion they look stunning! I love these chairs since the first time i saw them in the guild. I knew i HAD to make at least 1.

As a side note because i took the pictures of my chairs in my lawn i can't count how many people think they are patio furniture. It has me wondering if i shouldn't simplify the design some and make a pair for my deck. I imagine that mesquite is hard and can present challenges did you find it at all difficult to do bent lamination with the material?

 

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11 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I imagine that mesquite is hard and can present challenges did you find it at all difficult to do bent lamination with the material?

It's abrasive stuff. Resawing was the biggest challenge because it does tend to dull HSS tools pretty fast. I don't have a carbide blade for my bandsaw, so I did it at school on the big SCMI saw with no problem. I have a set of LN bench chisels that I've thought pretty highly of until I tried them on mesquite. Rolled the edge over very quickly. I switched to Japanese chisels and it works just fine.

As for the bending, no problem. 

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  • 1 month later...

Got the chair back from the upholsterer last week. I think they did a really nice job, but... they ran the pattern the wrong direction. The pattern repeats with alternate colors in the horizontal sample, but does not show in the vertical orientation. They are going to redo it for me. Too much work in this chair to not have it the way I envisioned it.

I posted this on my FB and got lots of responses saying I should leave it as it is. It isn't that I dislike it the way it is, I think it looks great. Just want it the way I want it!

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