The Hank Chair

[Bmac]

Got some work in on this project yesterday before the heat became too much. I initially wanted to get the seat frames glued up. But after reviewing the project on Marc's site I realized there were a few things to get done with on the chair sides. I also was very anxious to do some shaping of the sides and see what the chair would look like with my modifications. So I turned on some Simon and Garfunkel to get into the Mid-Modern groove and hoped I could find my inner Maloof.

First order of business was cutting the legs to length. The project, if followed, gives you a seat height of about 17.5". To me that is a dining room chair height, so I dropped it down 1/2". To get the measurements of the front leg you measure from the leg/side joint;

For the back leg you measure from the very back end of the side piece. But my alterations changed the shape so the measurement would not be accurate anymore! Fortunately I had the foresight to make a second template at the regular dimensions. That came to the rescue;

This shows the difference from the original at the point I need to measure the back leg length;

That distance was 1";

So now I just added an inch to the leg measurement;

Use a straight edge to draw your cut lines and off to the bandsaw;

Then I used that side to mark and cut the other 3 sides;

The plan calls for tapering the outside of the legs down to 1.25" in the front and 1" in the rear. The taper starts from where the leg joins the side. Jory used a portable planer and belt sander to get this taper. I was able to cut most of the waste off on the bandsaw, then used the RAS. Here's the cut line on the front leg;

And back leg;

After that Jory rounds over the edges of the side pieces with a .25" roundover bit. Well my adversion to routers (only use when necessary because of the mess) meant I opted to use rasps. This allowed me to personalize the roundovers. First I wanted a more delicate foot, Jory's was too boxy for me. I made some quick patterns and drew them on the bottom of the feet;

Next it was the rasp and sander with an interface pad that gave me a nice shape to the feet;

My roundover was more severe at the bottom of the leg and gradually was reduced as you went up the leg. Then I did some heavy roundovers on the outer side of leg/side interface. These I really like;

So this gives me a softer look and I'm liking that. Here's a few picks of the back and sides together to see how the new look is shaping up;

I like it so far. 

Finally, I have all the pieces for the seat frame cut to dimension and all the correct angles cut. Just need to domino and glue at this point. I'm finally moving forward with this project.

 

 

 

[JohnG]

This is coming along very nicely! It’s making this guild project very tempting to me!

[Bmac]

Starting to pick up some speed on this project. Glued up the seat frames and cleaned up some templates. 

Here are the seat templates, you see the frame and the template for the 1/2" plywood that will turn into the cushion. There is about an 1/8th" gap all the way around the seat cushion template. In theory that space will be taken up by the leather covering. The cushion will simply fit in via friction;

The seat frame glued up, culls were cut out in one area to achieve a better clamping direction of pressure. The excess on the inside of the frame will receive a rabbet up to the pattern line and the remaining lip will support the cushion. 

Here's a close up of the back joint in the seat frame. Two stacked 6mm dominos are the support for this joint. Both angles were cut at 42 degrees to match the same 42 degree angle the side and backrest were cut at. Pleased with the joint;

The front joint makes up for the combined 42 degree cuts in the back. The side is cut at 6 degrees to match a square front rail, stacked 6mm dominos here also;

Here's what's on tap next;

Cut off excess on the outside of the seat frame via the band saw. 

Pattern route the outside of the seat.

Rabbet the inside of the seat.

Fit the seat frame to the sides of the chair and attach using 8mm dominos. 

Cut out and fit the plywood cushion base and upholster the seat. 

Glue up chair.

Continue to shape, sand and personalize the look of the chair.

Thanks for looking

[Coop]

I’m definately like Iiking this  better than the original design. Beautiful so far! 

[Bmac]

On 8/21/2019 at 11:31 PM, K Cooper said:

I’m definately like Iiking this  better than the original design. Beautiful so far! 

Coop, I agree, the softer look is appealing to me too.

I got more done, and the going has been slower than I expected. This construction technique is somewhat new to me and some of the domino placements are challenging. Also since I've changed the shape, I've had to adapt some of the steps which has turned out ok but has resulted in me scratching my head as to how to get a few steps done. I don't mind this part of the build though because it is breaking new ground for me and opening me up to new solutions I can utilize later. So here's were I'm at;

I spend the first hr in the shop with the router, did not enjoy it. I pattern routed the seat frame, the cushion boards, and routed the rabbit for the cushion in the seat frame;

After routing I rounded the edges of the seat frame with a rasp, mainly because I was just done with the router. I also took an hour to clean up the shop after the routing. Next is fitting the seat frame to the chair. To do this you clamp the chair together with the back rest in place. Than mark were you want the seat,  Jory has some estimates. I then clamped two 1" strips on that line and Jory uses a neat technique to make a template to get your cut lines for the seat frame. He takes 2 pieces of 1/4" ply, puts them on the line for the seat and in the correct position one the chair frame and where the plywood overlaps he secures them. I used tape but he used an air nailer. So here's the template in place;

I then took that and laid it over the seat frame to mark my cut lines. I used a circular saw for this cut, I think I should get a track saw, would have been easier;

After the cut I put the frame in place and found out my slenderizing and shaping of the back leg caused a slight problem;

So I was able to reposition the seat frame a little more forward, but it will be a problem with the dominos. Jory puts 2 in the back leg and 1 in the front. I will put 1 in the back, because I'm concerned with the width. I will increase the size of the domino though from 8mm to 10mm. Here's the chair clamped up, sat in this carefully and it felt great;

While clamped I took the 1" strips out and marked the underside of the seat frame for domino placement, then unclamped;

Here's the domino setup for domino slot;

Turned out fine, just took a steady hand, Jory uses a template for this as a guide, my design change made that more difficult so I freehanded it;;

Next I needed to find out where that position sits with the seat frame. Put the seat frame in place and marked the center of the domino on the frame;

This worked, as I eyeballed the mortise into the seat frame. Came out very much dead on, even though I didn't need to be dead on, just needed to be close. What I really needed to be was consistent. Next it was a dry run;

 

Took a seat for a few minutes relieved I worked my way through those last few steps. Then I marked some areas I need to shape;

Took things apart and grabbed the rasp;

One interesting problem was my workbench was not quite wide enough to sit the chair on. So I made it bigger with my vise and a 1" strip;

Next is dry run with the second chair, sand all the parts and glueup. Moving toward the end.

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[Chestnut]

This looks like a fun project. Definitely different than the origional but i think better.

[Bmac]

Glued up the first chair yesterday. Chose epoxy for it's working time and the fact I was working alone and it was a tricky glue up. Considered hide glue but still thought that might be tough timing wise. The glue up went faster than I expected, the dominos slipped in real easy with epoxy.

Wanted to shape this first chair to see how I could make it look. I can do the second char differently since they are not going to live together. Really wasn't sure how the shaping would turn out. 

Started with the top of the back rest. From the dry run you can see it's pointy in the back;

I took the high spots on the backrest down to the chair side and then drew some guide lines as to where I wanted to reduce;

I'm looking for a rounding and beveling shape toward the inside of the chair. The plan calls for an outside sharp bevel. that seemed backward to me. So here's where I'm headed with my inside reduction;

You can see it slopes in toward the seat;

I'm liking that and further refinement is ahead. I then went to the bottom of the back rest. Here there is some excess material. I'm going to try and reduce the excess and make a curved lower line on the back rest;

And I really like this, but it's only visible from the back of the chair;

Roughed out I took another pic, any thoughts?

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[pkinneb]

I like where you’re going here.

[Mark J]

Do you work with the chair on your bench like that?  Or is it just posing?  Seems it would be devilishly difficult to keep it from falling. 

[Chestnut]

I like that you are trying to add sculpting but maintain some of the lines from the original piece. The only thing that comes to mind is if it doesn't make sense to try an follow a hard strait line just don't do it. I feel lie you have enough sculpting experience to know what's right.

[wtnhighlander]

Definitely, the sculpted, organic form is much more inviting than the prismatic original. Your's looks like something I'd actually want to sit in.

[Bmac]

5 hours ago, Mark J said:

Do you work with the chair on your bench like that?  Or is it just posing?  Seems it would be devilishly difficult to keep it from falling. 

That pic was for posing, but I do lay the chair on the table for shaping.  I place a towel like in this pic, or a blanket on the table while shaping and sanding. Helps keep the piece from moving but more importantly keep the sanded parts smooth. When shaping I'll put stand the chair on the floor, put it on it's side on the table, upside down on the table, hanging off the table, however I can stabilize for shaping. 

[Bmac]

Attacked this piece some more after church and I'm happy with a few changes I made. Sanded to 320 and ready for the finish. Even knocked out the leather seat! 

So here is what I ended up with. I thought my first effort this morning was good, but the shaping lacked definition. It was too rounded and amorphous. I wanted some harder lines for the top of the back rest but I liked the general shape. So I put a heavy bevel on the inside of the side to back rest area and then just broke the sharp edge with 220. Here's what I came up with;

I like this a lot better than before, Here's what it looked like on the other side before I reshaped so you can compare;

So this is what I'm going with. Sanded and did some tweaking of the rest of the chair and here's the final product unfinished;

I really like the curve on the underside of the back rest.

And here it is with the leather seat cushion in place;

To me it looks almost like a different chair than the plan, and it is very comfortable to sit in.

Can't wait to put the other one together and put the finish on both. 

Thanks for looking.

[JohnG]

Really coming along. I like the change you made to the arms. 

Have you sat in it yet? How comfortable is it?

[Bmac]

1 hour ago, JohnG said:

Really coming along. I like the change you made to the arms. 

Have you sat in it yet? How comfortable is it?

It's very comfortable. Nice chair!

[Coop]

I believe, had this been the original design, I would have built this instead of the low back for my daughter. Great job bud! 

[JohnG]

1 hour ago, Bmac said:

It's very comfortable. Nice chair!

I just noticed that you had already said it was comfortable to sit in, my apologies. I saw the last pic and skipped over the text after it.

[Bmac]

9 hours ago, K Cooper said:

I believe, had this been the original design, I would have built this instead of the low back for my daughter. Great job bud! 

What I always thought was surprising is that Maloof liked his low back chair the most. To me it's down the list a little. I've made a few but I'm not sure I'll use those patterns again.

I think there is still more you can do with the changes I made in this build, but I'm with you in that I do think it's an improvement. 

Thanks for the kind words.

9 hours ago, JohnG said:

I just noticed that you had already said it was comfortable to sit in, my apologies. I saw the last pic and skipped over the text after it.

No worries, 

[Bmac]

Got some Osmo on this last night, and now I'm done with this chair. Love the fact that I can get a finish like this in 1 coat and I can add another coat at anytime.

With the finish on you can see the sculptured features better. In this first pic you can see the original scallop at the top of the backrest and you can see the bevel I made where the backrest and sides meet. I took the bevel almost halfway down the inside of the arm and to me this really softens that part of the chair. You just need to be aware of where you domino is when you do this bevel.

In this pic you get a good feel for how that 42 degree angle in the backrest and sides creates an open and inviting chair. I also think the bevel at the top of the backrest gives the illusion there is a slight curve to the top. 

Just another pic where you can visualize the shaping. Like I said the finish makes it much clearer.

And my favorite pic. this really shows off the chair nicely. It still has some of the angular features you see in the original but the curved arms really soften the look. 

I was on a mission this weekend to get this first chair finished while I had some spare time. Now the second chair will be easier. I think I will definitely use the contours and sculpting details from the first chair. I'll get final pics of both chairs when I'm done and do a critical recap of the chair and the design changes. 

 

 

[Bmac]

This one's a wrap. Very pleased how it turned out and the alterations I made to the Hank chair I think worked well. So let me take a few minutes reviewing the project and giving you my thoughts if you are thinking of purchasing it. 

The instruction videos were solid, not as detailed as Marc's videos, but still they were good. Jory has an easy way about him and it's amazing how he will go with the flow. He is not really strict about measurements, but he does develop systems that create consistency. He relies on dominos for his joinery and this makes the construction rather straight forward. This lends itself well to alterations to the plan. His template system is neat and really worth learning, I see incorporating this in future projects. I could easily seeing someone take this project and developing other pieces of furniture very easily. I'm already considering a love seat or couch. You could use the same sides or slight variations and just make a longer seat. 

Another aspect of this build that was very simple, but a new technique for me was the leather seat cushion. I was amazed at how easy this was and I will definitely use this on future chairs. 

I will say I thought the straight forward joinery with the domino system was not very challenging, and if you follow as it's presented, there really is minimal handtool utilization. Also, Jory uses a router for a lot of stuff, and it is not my favorite tool. I incorporated some handtools in this build, mainly rasp work for some shaping. 

So those are my thoughts, and now some pics of the final product;

This looks like a perfect setting to have a glass of scotch and a nice cigar as two friends debate politics, religion, or sports. 

Thanks for looking and thanks for following along. 

 

 

 

[pkinneb]

Really nice job BMAC!! I had to pull up some hank chair pics to see just how far you took it, you definitely made it your own. Not going to lie if I make one I think it will be closer to BHANK then the original HANK

[Chestnut]

Beautiful.

You should submit those to marc through the guild website. I think it might help the project if people see how others modify the plans and make them their own.

[Billy]

Love what you've done!  May I ask what osmo you went with?  Is it the 3043 POLYX-OIL Satin?

[Bmac]

45 minutes ago, Billy said:

Love what you've done!  May I ask what osmo you went with?  Is it the 3043 POLYX-OIL Satin?

Thanks.

Yes, went with the PolyX Oil, Clear Satin. 

[Coop]

Beautiful job bud! Does the back set back as far as the Maloof Low Back? I’d like to have one of these for my desk chair but prefer a more upright than the low back.