[sras]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

 

[a1Jim]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Good start Steve

 

[OutPutter]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Hey Steve, you've got a good start there. I just love working with mahogany don't you. Can you explain your time log a little bit? Does it really mean that you were standing at the table saw pushing legs through for over 4 hours or, is that the elapsed time from when you began working on the legs and you finished? Either way I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress.

Best,

 

[stefang]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Very nice wood Steve. I also buy Mahogany planks and it is a joy to work with. It seems to have most of the attributes one is looking for in wood. Beauty, stable, easy to work, easy to finish and probably others I forgot. Your chairs are going to be first rate. I'm especially interested in the seeing how you will be laminating the back supports (slats).

 

[ellen35]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Nice wood and I love the time it took to get it ready.
I think it will be work every minute in the end.

 

[sras]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Hi Jim,
The time log is elapsed time. In the cutting legs case, that is just under 50 minutes a piece for each of 6 sets of legs. Since the cutting also sets me up for making other pieces, the division of time is not all that precise.
I do take my time… It includes time studying each piece to figure out how to orient the grain. Several pieces have wavy grain that can nicely match the curve of the back legs.
I do not have a jointer so I place a straight board along my rough timber. I also am trying to minimize waste at the early stages. That means I check each piece to find which side bows out and then set the fence to remove a little as possible.
I also broke the milling of the legs up into two sessions. A few of the timbers had built in stresses and the pieces bowed after making the initial cuts. I cut everything oversize by ~1/8". After the wood relaxes for a day or so, I go through the straightening process again. Then it gets planed down to final width and thickness.

As to working with mahogany, this is my first time. This wood is really nice! It cuts well and leaves a crisp edge (more on that later). When I have a piece that is changing shape as I cut it, the blade scorches and it smells like hot butter!

 

[CaptainSkully]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

That is going to be one heckuva set of chairs. The prototyping is really paying off. I love to work with mahogany. It's cool seeing the red layer between the white oak layers in the dust collector bag. Great blog!

 

[jimp]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Steve - I really like the design of your bar stools. I can't wait to see how they turn out. What do you plan on doing for the seat? Also, since we both live in the same area, what is your favorite lumber yard, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[sras]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Hi Jim,

We plan on using an upholstered seats. The idea is we will change the fabric on the kitchen chairs at the same time. I would like to try a wood seat, but these stools are going to see a lot of use and I think the wood would get scratched pretty quickly.

My favorite lumber yard is Moxon Hardwoods - just across the 205 bridge. They are my favorite when it comes to hardwoods.

 

[Beginningwoodworker]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

I love Mahogany wood.

 

[jimp]

Begin Rough Cutting

Back in early November, I went to my favorite lumber yard and started looking at what kind of wood to use. I was interested in mahogany, but wanted to check out my options. They had some very nice ribbon mahogany. I went home and gave it some more thought. The next weekend, I made the plunge.



I had only one problem, I kept seeing pieces that looked too nice to pass up! I ended up with way more than I needed for this project. I can rationalize it that I saved gas by not making an extra trip You can see 3 fir 2×4's on top of the stack. They ended up being the material for my prototype.

Even though I had plenty of material, I took it as a challenge to try to get the most use out of each and every board foot. I spent way too much time on this, but I packed in the pieces in the most compact cut layout I could. Here is the result after 3 or 4 iterations on my CAD system.



I'm hopeful I will end up with only small blocks of scrap and a big pile of sawdust!

Fast forward to last weekend. I finally was able to start cutting the legs. Here is where I ended up.



I got the width and thickness rough cut and then ran them through my planer. I learned something about my dial calipers. I bought a nice one with resolution down to 0.001 inches. The resolution makes it nice to know exactly what dimension I am at. On the other hand, I don't need to worry about being off by 0.001 or 0.002 inches. If I can't see the difference when I hold two pieces up to each other, I am happy.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 15 min
Prepping laminations: 15 min

Total so far: 9 hrs 50 min

Steve - Thanks for the information about Moxon Hardwoods. I have heard good things about them, but I haven't had a chance to check them out.

 

[sras]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

 

[a1Jim]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

Good start.

 

[Ecocandle]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

This is really cool. I love the write up, I can't wait for the next installment. It is fun to read about grown up woodworking.

 

[ellen35]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

This is like a chapter in a book… fun to read and looking forward to the next one!
Ellen

 

[sras]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

Thanks for the comments. I suspect that the time between articles will evetually increase - there is going to be a lot of repetitive work. On the other hand, keeping the blog active turns out to be a good motivator to get in the shop after work!

 

[Beginningwoodworker]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

Great start!

 

[stefang]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

Interesting process Steve. I like your idea about the thin kerf blade for resawing. Good color/grain match on the pieces pictured. You might get a little tired of glue-ups after awhile, but the design is so nice, once the laminate glue-ups are behind you I think you will be very satisfied.

 

[jimp]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

It looks like you are making some good progress. Is there a reason why you do your resawing on the table saw vs. the bandsaw?

 

[sras]

Preparing Lamination Strips

There are three curved parts in each stool. These are formed by gluing up thin strips to create a thicker laminated part. The three parts are:

1. Seat Back - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
2. Back Rest - 7/8" thick (formed with 5 or 6 strips)
3. Slats - 3/8" thick (formed with 3 or 4 strips) (5 per stool)

As I plan the construction, I start to realize that I have 6 stools with 7 curved parts each. That works out to 42 glue ups. Each one requires a full day for the glue to cure. I do have three different forms, but this is still a lot of time - 30 glue ups are for the back slats. I need to get the glue up process started first. I can work on shaping the other pieces while the glue dries on the laminated parts.

The 7/8" thick parts were prototyped with 6 layers. They formed fine with no spring back. I prefer to use fewer, thicker strips and end up with one less glue joint. I'll be testing out the first glue up with 5 strips and see how it goes.

The 3/8" slats were prototyped with 3 layers. There was some spring back that made it difficult to align parts for assembly. I need to reduce the spring back. My plan is to try to modify the form and test it with another prototype glue up.

The wood for the laminations was resawn off the Back Leg stock. I ended up with pieces about 1/2" thick and 3 5/8" wide. They were long enough to provide two pieces for the glue up. I then resawed these to give me 2 long strips. Now I am up to 4 pieces for the glue up.



I figured I would share some of the things I do when resawing. First I use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf blade. The kerf is only 1/16". This helps me get the most out of each piece. If the board is too wide, I need to stay with one of my larger blades. I do not have a zero clearance insert (yet), so I use a long scrap of thin plywood and clamp it to my saw table. I raise the blade through the plywood and I end up with a temporary zero clearance solution. Finally, I use a marking technique to keep track of which board each pair of strips came from.

I use my hand saw and make a set of marks across the end of the board.



In this case I have marked this piece as belonging to stool number 4. By angling the marks, I can return the two pieces to the same orientation as before the resaw cut. Each stool has 2 boards (one for the Seat Back and one for the Back Rest). I mark the second board for stool number 4 with 4 cuts, but I place them in a different spacing.

I now have strips of wood that can provide 4 pieces for my glue up, but I need 5 or 6. Fortunately, my strips are wider than I need. When I rip them to the desired width, I have two narrow pieces left over. In the case of the Seat Back, these two narrow strips can be glued together. This way all the wood comes from the same board and I should be able to keep the colors matched.



Once I let the glue dry and clean up the piece, I have 3 strips of wood. Each is long enough to give me two pieces for a total of 6 parts for the lamination.



The strip on the right is the glued up one. The Back Rest is wider. As a result, my left over pieces are not wide enough to make the third strip.



In this case, I have added a third piece of left over stock to make the strip wide enough.



This entry is long enough. I'll cover more later.

Current time log:
Cutting rough stock: 2 hrs
Cutting legs to width and thickness: 4 hrs 20 min
Cutting thin stock for seat back laminations: 3 hrs 35 min
Prepping laminations: 2 hrs 20 min
Glue up Laminations: 35 min

Total so far: 12 hrs 40 min

Hi Jim,
Yes there is a reason! I have a dull band saw blade and worn guide blocks. I rarely get good results resawing on my band saw and I don't want to risk the loss of a board. I have enough experience on the table saw that I jsut go there instead to tunig up the band saw.