[TungOil]

Marc Adams School, Day 2

Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.

The crest rail is the most time consuming part to make. The mortises for the floating tenons were made first using the multi-router, while the part was still square. Next, I affixed the template to the blank with double sided tape. Using a Forstner bit, I bored holes where there was an inside radius. After the holes were bored through, I cut the curves for the front and back of the piece on the bandsaw, then taped the offcuts back in place to bandsaw the profile.

The back apron also has a profile which I roughed out on the bandsaw as well. Even in the rough bandsawn state, the parts are starting to take shape nicely.

I began smoothing the parts with a spokeshave and block plane before moving on to final cleanup using my ROS.

Tomorrow we will continue getting the back leg components fabricated and ready for assembly.

I wonder what Peter and John Hall would think of the way their chairs are fabricated these days?

- Mean_Dean

Bob Lang gave us a very interesting slide show of various Greene & Greene furniture pieces at lunch today. While complex enough, the chair we are building is actually a simplified version of the original. One of the biggest differences is in the crest rail, which actually curves in a third dimension (towards the back) and tapers in thickness (thicker at the bottom, thinner at the top. Bob thinks the originals were carved from 16/4 material in order to achieve the backwards curve. Amazing craftsmanship came out of the Halls shop. It doesn't hurt that they were working T&M for the richest people in the country either, I suppose.

 

[TungOil]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

 

[a1Jim]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

Interesting blog thanks.

 

[EarlS]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

It all looks so easy and simple, but it's not….....

 

[pottz]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

coming along quite nicely tung i look forward to each days blog.love that wall of clamps!

 

[CaptainSkully]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

Awesome! Are you using pencil for your layout lines?

 

[TungOil]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

Awesome! Are you using pencil for your layout lines?

- CaptainSkully

most of the white lines you see are made with a mechanical pencil with white fabric lead. I'm using the white lead, regular lead and scribe lines depending on the purpose.

 

[htl]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

Very very interesting!!
Thanks for posting this up.

 

[Mean_Dean]

Marc Adams School, Day 3

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.

With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.

Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.

The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.

To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.

Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.

Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.

Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.

Looks like you're making very good progress for just your third day!

I'm warming to the idea of the floating tenon. I would normally just make them the regularl way because I don't have the horizontal router, but may have to look into getting one.

I suppose there's always the Domino-after I win the Lottery, of course…..........!

 

[TungOil]

Marc Adams School, Day 4

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.

I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.

With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.

I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.

 

[PPK]

Marc Adams School, Day 4

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.

I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.

With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.

I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.

Tung,
are the dominoes supposed to fit that loose on the sides? (first pic) I've never used dominoes… it looks pretty slick if I ever got a bunch of extra money to spend on one of those things… The chair is looking awesome!

 

[pottz]

Marc Adams School, Day 4

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.

I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.

With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.

I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.

lookin good tung.the domino is definitely a cool tool,expensive but worth every penny for what it does.im also wondering why you used the wide setting? was this too allow for easier alignment during assembly?keep it comin.

 

[TungOil]

Marc Adams School, Day 4

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.

I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.

With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.

I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.

yes, the slots are wide for adjustability. The domino cutter has three settings that allow the slot to be cut either snug to the domino, slightly loose and more loose. Most of those were cut in the middle setting so we had some adjustability. This was the first time I used the domino and I can see why folks like them so much. One nice thing about it was that it was absolutely dust free with the Festool vacuum hooked up.

 

[pottz]

Marc Adams School, Day 4

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.

I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.

With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.

I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.

sounds like festool just sold another domino!-lol.im savin up for the big brother!

 

[Mean_Dean]

Marc Adams School, Day 4

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.

I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.

With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.

I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.

Well, asked and answered on the Domino….............! (Referring to my comment in Day 3's entry.)

I didn't realize that the Domino can be set at three different settings-could also be used to allow for expansion/contraction where needed.

Guess I'll head out and buy my Lottery ticket….....!

 

[TungOil]

Marc Adams School, Day 5

Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.

With the mortises cut I tested the fit of the center back slat. It took quite a bit of fitting to get the mitered ends just right. I'm starting to see why the original chairs used housed mortises for these parts.

I moved on to the side slats. These slats are mirror images of each other and have a compound angle cut on the end. To make the layout more challenging, the slats are slightly angled to follow the curve of the crest rail. Once I was happy that I had established the correct compound angles for the cuts using a scrap of MDF, I then transferred the angles to the sapele for the cuts on the final parts.

With the final length established and cutting completed, I used the templates to lay out the curve and profile of each back slat. At the bandsaw I first cut the front and back curves, then taped the waste pieces back in place to cut the profile.

I brought the rough pieces to the edge sander to clean up the bandsawn edges, cut the domino mortises and did another dry assembly.

I am very surprised at how much work it is to fit the back slats. Bringing together three curved pieces, two of which have compound angle end cuts and getting all of the joints to fit without any gaps is tedious work to say the least. But I'm very happy with the results so far.

Tomorrow is the last day of class. We will not have a full day but should get to routing the center back slat for the ebony bars and talk about installing the ebony plugs and cutting the final angle on the front legs.

 

[pottz]

Marc Adams School, Day 5

Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.

With the mortises cut I tested the fit of the center back slat. It took quite a bit of fitting to get the mitered ends just right. I'm starting to see why the original chairs used housed mortises for these parts.

I moved on to the side slats. These slats are mirror images of each other and have a compound angle cut on the end. To make the layout more challenging, the slats are slightly angled to follow the curve of the crest rail. Once I was happy that I had established the correct compound angles for the cuts using a scrap of MDF, I then transferred the angles to the sapele for the cuts on the final parts.

With the final length established and cutting completed, I used the templates to lay out the curve and profile of each back slat. At the bandsaw I first cut the front and back curves, then taped the waste pieces back in place to cut the profile.

I brought the rough pieces to the edge sander to clean up the bandsawn edges, cut the domino mortises and did another dry assembly.

I am very surprised at how much work it is to fit the back slats. Bringing together three curved pieces, two of which have compound angle end cuts and getting all of the joints to fit without any gaps is tedious work to say the least. But I'm very happy with the results so far.

Tomorrow is the last day of class. We will not have a full day but should get to routing the center back slat for the ebony bars and talk about installing the ebony plugs and cutting the final angle on the front legs.

tung this is one great magical mystery tour buddy,and I'm glad to be along for the ride!thank you for all the time you take to document this journey!

 

[sras]

Marc Adams School, Day 5

Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.

With the mortises cut I tested the fit of the center back slat. It took quite a bit of fitting to get the mitered ends just right. I'm starting to see why the original chairs used housed mortises for these parts.

I moved on to the side slats. These slats are mirror images of each other and have a compound angle cut on the end. To make the layout more challenging, the slats are slightly angled to follow the curve of the crest rail. Once I was happy that I had established the correct compound angles for the cuts using a scrap of MDF, I then transferred the angles to the sapele for the cuts on the final parts.

With the final length established and cutting completed, I used the templates to lay out the curve and profile of each back slat. At the bandsaw I first cut the front and back curves, then taped the waste pieces back in place to cut the profile.

I brought the rough pieces to the edge sander to clean up the bandsawn edges, cut the domino mortises and did another dry assembly.

I am very surprised at how much work it is to fit the back slats. Bringing together three curved pieces, two of which have compound angle end cuts and getting all of the joints to fit without any gaps is tedious work to say the least. But I'm very happy with the results so far.

Tomorrow is the last day of class. We will not have a full day but should get to routing the center back slat for the ebony bars and talk about installing the ebony plugs and cutting the final angle on the front legs.

Thank you for letting us follow along - it is very interesting!

 

[Mean_Dean]

Marc Adams School, Day 5

Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.

With the mortises cut I tested the fit of the center back slat. It took quite a bit of fitting to get the mitered ends just right. I'm starting to see why the original chairs used housed mortises for these parts.

I moved on to the side slats. These slats are mirror images of each other and have a compound angle cut on the end. To make the layout more challenging, the slats are slightly angled to follow the curve of the crest rail. Once I was happy that I had established the correct compound angles for the cuts using a scrap of MDF, I then transferred the angles to the sapele for the cuts on the final parts.

With the final length established and cutting completed, I used the templates to lay out the curve and profile of each back slat. At the bandsaw I first cut the front and back curves, then taped the waste pieces back in place to cut the profile.

I brought the rough pieces to the edge sander to clean up the bandsawn edges, cut the domino mortises and did another dry assembly.

I am very surprised at how much work it is to fit the back slats. Bringing together three curved pieces, two of which have compound angle end cuts and getting all of the joints to fit without any gaps is tedious work to say the least. But I'm very happy with the results so far.

Tomorrow is the last day of class. We will not have a full day but should get to routing the center back slat for the ebony bars and talk about installing the ebony plugs and cutting the final angle on the front legs.

I realize I'm a little late to the party on these last three blog entries, but dang that was a quick five days!

I presume that you're expecting to finish the chair on the last day of class?

For a chair this complicated, I'd definitely want to take a class, and get hands-on instruction from someone like Bob Lang or William Ng. Indiana's a little far from Portland, but William Ng's school is down in Anaheim, CA, which would work out well for me, combining a couple of interests of mine.

In addition to being a woodworker, I'm also an amateur naval historian. So I could make a swing through Southern California, seeing the Gamble House in Pasadena, USS Iowa BB 61 in Los Angeles, and taking William Ng's class in Anaheim. Would be a hell of a week!

 

[CaptainSkully]

Marc Adams School, Day 5

Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.

With the mortises cut I tested the fit of the center back slat. It took quite a bit of fitting to get the mitered ends just right. I'm starting to see why the original chairs used housed mortises for these parts.

I moved on to the side slats. These slats are mirror images of each other and have a compound angle cut on the end. To make the layout more challenging, the slats are slightly angled to follow the curve of the crest rail. Once I was happy that I had established the correct compound angles for the cuts using a scrap of MDF, I then transferred the angles to the sapele for the cuts on the final parts.

With the final length established and cutting completed, I used the templates to lay out the curve and profile of each back slat. At the bandsaw I first cut the front and back curves, then taped the waste pieces back in place to cut the profile.

I brought the rough pieces to the edge sander to clean up the bandsawn edges, cut the domino mortises and did another dry assembly.

I am very surprised at how much work it is to fit the back slats. Bringing together three curved pieces, two of which have compound angle end cuts and getting all of the joints to fit without any gaps is tedious work to say the least. But I'm very happy with the results so far.

Tomorrow is the last day of class. We will not have a full day but should get to routing the center back slat for the ebony bars and talk about installing the ebony plugs and cutting the final angle on the front legs.

That is a magnificent chair! Thanks for taking the time to blog while you're at the class. SO COOL!