duckkisser Posted February 28, 2020 Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 19 hours ago, Chestnut said: Yes my shop is in my basement. The table saw is pretty easy to get down there I took the top off and carried it down mounted on 2 boards with a helper. The planer I took apart as soon as I got it and carried it down with a helper in 3 parts, it wasn't so bad because it was only 300 ish lbs and wasn't an awkward shape. The jointer..... that nearly killed us. I also took it apart to move it into the shop but the beds can't really come off. So the top part with the beds and cutter head weighs probably 450 lbs and nearly put 2 of us through a wall when it started to tip over. My stairs go down about 7 steps and then turn a corner to go down about 5 more. To make the corner we had the main part stood on end it was very awkward. This reason alone is why I'm never moving. If i have to move the jointer is being sold with the house. It'd be entertaining to coat the thing in cosmoline and just build it into a secret room under the stairs or something for someone to find in 100 years. dude I think I would have bought a new house before I moved all that in basement. or built a ramp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 4 hours ago, duckkisser said: dude I think I would have bought a new house before I moved all that in basement. or built a ramp It was a new house. The only thing that really sucked was the jointer. I guess plywood is a PITA but i don't use it all that much and when i do I break it down in the garage. Moving stuff in sucks yes, but my shop is 64 degrees year round, has 9 foot ceilings, and full plumbing. Some day we might put an addition on the house. At that time i'll add on to my shop and put in a man door or something that goes strait, and to the garage or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 28, 2020 Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 You're rolling! The sash job, that I started over six months ago (can't remember when it was really), is still at this stage. Not a stick has moved since then. I got sidetracked, which is not unusual. Those computer parts, in the background, are still there too, as well as a bunch of unopened tools still in boxes added since that picture was taken. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted February 29, 2020 Report Share Posted February 29, 2020 14 hours ago, Chestnut said: It was a new house. The only thing that really sucked was the jointer. I guess plywood is a PITA but i don't use it all that much and when i do I break it down in the garage. Moving stuff in sucks yes, but my shop is 64 degrees year round, has 9 foot ceilings, and full plumbing. Some day we might put an addition on the house. At that time i'll add on to my shop and put in a man door or something that goes strait, and to the garage or something. Plumbing in the shop would be really nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chestnut Posted March 1, 2020 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 So i have 2 prototypes, I really need my shop space back so now I need to figure out something to do with the prototypes. Naturally I decided to see how hard it would be to break. I didn't make the joinery in the prototype as stout as I did in the actual chair so i assumed it'd be easy. WRONG. I was able to balance on 1 leg while standing on the opposite side. I realized I was starting to do some really unsafe stuff so i grabbed the chair and started hitting it against the ground. It ended up taking a good 1/2 swing to break it into pieces. The interesting part was how the joienry broke. It ended up splitting the legs with a small portion of the tenon breaking off inside the mortise. So yeah I'll say these are strong enough. Do i have numbers on strength ... Nope. What I do have is the knowlege that no ordinary use or even abusive use will break the chair. It will talk a hulk hogan style swing with these things to do them in. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 So the moral of this build is, don’t lean back in these chairs with a drink in your hands? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chestnut Posted March 3, 2020 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Final finishing went smoothly. It was a nice change to shift from production woodworking to finishing. I don't know when or how the chairs got banged around so much but there were a LOT of dents I never knew I caused until I started finishing. Some of the dents and dings I didn't see until it was too late so the chairs already have some wear and tear on them. This isn't a bad thing imo they are goign to be well used and loved with the character. I put 4 coats on the entire chair and seat of my go to wipe on poly finish. I've had good luck with this finish on the dining able that these chairs will go around so might as well stick with it. The chairs have a bit of subtle figure here and there that is typical of cherry. It's hard to see but I've found that as the cherry darkens the figure becomes slightly more prominent. There are little bits of sap wood here and there on the chairs. I tried to tie everything in a way that the sap would stay mostly on one chair. Here they all are around the table. We're supposed to get some warm sunny weather this weekend so I might take them outside for a suntan for a bit. One head rest rail came from a different board than all the others and is a bit darker. In time i think it'll even out. Not ideal but hard to tell until finish was on. I made 1 gigantic mistake that only you folks and Megan will ever know. Each chair is 1" shorter from backrest to front rail than I designed. I measured 4 times and cut once but the measurement I had was wrong so that age old saying is complete BS. Every chair is made the same so it really doesn't matter. I made the seats the same size so they front overhang is just an inch larger than it was supposed to be. They still look good so no big deal. Thanks to everyone for their help when offered especially @Bmac for helping me with the design and seat sculpting. I'll be doing a sculpted chair/seat again in the future, sometime.... 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Those chairs turned out beautifully, Nut. Did you try steaming out the dents? I've done that lots cause things seem to get dented a lot in my shop Oh, and is that a partially gestated workbench top in that first pic? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted March 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 1 hour ago, drzaius said: Those chairs turned out beautifully, Nut. Did you try steaming out the dents? I've done that lots cause things seem to get dented a lot in my shop Oh, and is that a partially gestated workbench top in that first pic? I thought about steaming but I wasn't sure how it'd react with freshly applied finish. Some of the subtle dents got addressed before finish. Some dents happened after the final sanding or during finish. 6 Chairs take up a decent amount of shop space so they had to be moved around often as to not be in the way. No that is the final work bench top. When it came to trimming to length I looked at it and asked myself "Why?" I realized all it would do is provide a pretty end and remove some length. I figured if I ever needed a flat square end, I'd just trim it at that point. My bench is positioned between 2 posts so the ends don't really get used so in 3 years of use I never trimmed them. Now it's my assembly table so it'll probably never get trimmed. Or if that bench gets trimmed it'll be in half with a chainsaw to be burned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Congratulations on a great job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Very nice Drew! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Should be enjoyed for generations! I don't think they would have looked as good with less overhang on the front. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Looking good. They should serve you well. I had good luck steaming after finish was applied (General Finish High Performance) I had to sand it with a higher grit then you normally use between coats it sort of pealed and then had to sand to feather the area edges. This was on top of the Basrrister Bookcase. But having said that, I probably wouldn't bother on some thing like your chairs, you would get all done and the first time the family sat around the table it would look like you hadn't touched up anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeslayer Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Beautiful Drew, just beautiful and you know it will only get better with age. What a great build that was, now time to sit and enjoy for many generations to come. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 The chair backs made it art and over the top. I like the color variations. Do you need a bigger overhang on the ends to accommodate the chairs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeslayer Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Quick question @Chestnut, what’s that on the center of the table? serving tray or? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 The real question is...........How does the future Mrs. Nut like them? Our opinion may be important in some ways, but we hold second candle to what the real Boss thinks. I personally think you did a wonderful job. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chestnut Posted March 4, 2020 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm glad you enjoyed the build and hope some of you got some inspiration. 3 hours ago, Tom King said: Should be enjoyed for generations! I don't think they would have looked as good with less overhang on the front. Seeing them now I agree. I do have one chair that has a seat that isn't as long and it really doens't look much different. With the heavy round on the edges for comfort it disguses the overhang distance well. 1 hour ago, curlyoak said: The chair backs made it art and over the top. I like the color variations. Do you need a bigger overhang on the ends to accommodate the chairs? I hope over the top in a good way . So the table ends extend out, If i seat 6 at the table I'd more than likely have 3 people per side but the symmetry with the backrests doesn't work then. Link to the build 55 minutes ago, treeslayer said: Quick question @Chestnut, what’s that on the center of the table? serving tray or? Thanks Yes so years ago i made some serving treys for christmas gifts. I gave one to Megan and well it's found it's way back to me i guess. 59 minutes ago, RichardA said: The real question is...........How does the future Mrs. Nut like them? Our opinion may be important in some ways, but we hold second candle to what the real Boss thinks. I personally think you did a wonderful job. She does like them indeed. She's not the type of person to get overly excited but when she shows them off to her friends and family I'll know her true thoughts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Well done on all counts, Drew. Not only the unique design, but material choice and construction are top-notch as well. You have a right to be proud. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 11 hours ago, curlyoak said: The chair backs made it art and over the top. I like the color variations. I agree! Great job Nut! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Chestnut said: I hope over the top in a good way top notch! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmac Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Great job and I too love the back design also. Glad I was able to help with the seat sculpting, looks like that went smoothly. Doing 6 chairs at one time is a lot of work but you made great time and got a great result! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted March 5, 2020 Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 Great job and craftsmanship. You can be proud of those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Fagyver Posted May 14, 2020 Popular Post Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 I'm absolutely blown away by this. Bravo! What an inspiration! It's so interesting to me - the way the cattails seem to incite nostalgia, emotion, a sense of home and what it is that we inherit from it. How is it that these chairs seem to tell a complete story upon sight? Not in the traditional sense with a plot, but...I'm sure you all will comprehend my sentiment. As this plays out now, to a late comer like myself, there was a moment at the bottom of page 1 where I thought you'd trashed the whole project. Let me tell you - I never thought I'd come to care so much about somebody else's chairs! I was devastated for a good 30 seconds before I realized I just needed to go to the next page. LOL I was so relieved! And the chairs from your grandmother! I have so much to say, but in an attempt to learn to edit myself, I will stop gushing and get to the point. I can't thank you enough for sharing this. Documenting and sharing your process from beginning to end like this is, for me, superior to everything else I've seen in the way of instruction. While I may not be attempting chairs tomorrow, whatever I build next will be done with a license to care more, to be and do better that I got from reading this journal. I understand "shop talk" in a whole new way. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted May 14, 2020 Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 ^^^^ This is why journals are so important! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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