cradle wood, love and Japanese tools.

Meditation stools
cradle wood, love and Japanese tools.

In part one the seats were made, every cut with the adze full of love and with my thoughts in the process and the heart full of this special woman.

Part two is where a piece of wood from a transport cradle becomes legs by the use of Japanese tools and the love in my heart.

I will also try to be methodical in explaining how to cut the tenons, to share my way of working.

While working on the project a sketch of the joints.
Since I found the seats curves so fine and clean, I wanted hidden joints.
But even they should be hidden, I wanted them to be beautiful.
I believe that the love and quality will be merged into the final result and that even it will not be visual, it will be in the Zen of the stools.

Here it is, originally nature, but it became trash, and will now be transformed into a meditation tool, the circle is complete.

Marking.

Sawing.

Planing.

Look at all those lovely shaves, look at the planed surface - tell me that you don't smile now…

Finding the length of the tenon, at this point I was still not sure if they should become visible or hidden, so I made them long enough to penetrate the seat.

Marking this on the legs.

Marking the tenon.

A straight cut down the side.
Flat side of chisel against the shoulder.

Now a cut down 45 degree on the waste side.

The tenons are marked for sawing.

Both sides.
Like this the saw will not slip.

Then sawing.
Let the saw do the work, stand relaxed, find your rhythm.

Marking the shoulders.

Sawing.

Easy.

Precutting for the shoulder between the tenons.

Set the chisel just shy of the line.

Now you have crisp line and will not break the edge.

Then chisel away.

When deep enough, remove the larger piece.

Like so.

Go deeper and deeper, with patience.

Here we are.

End of part two.

Hope this can bring some inspiration, perhaps some peaceful moments or thoughts of love.

Best thoughts,

Mads

 

Hi Mads-son! You sure are good with those hand tools. You make it look so easy!!
have a great weekend. Say Hi to Mathilde!!.......................Jim

 

Sharp tools and shy tenons.

Meditation stools
sharp tools and shy tenons.

So once more we move on, with wood and with love.

The very special woman, and I went for a walk in the forest, and both fell in love.
In this tree.
But at the end also in each other.
So I smile as I work on, on the meditation stools.
Her name is Line, guess it is a good match in English, the vintage architect and his Line.

So back in the shop it is time to trim the shoulders, and all woodworking starts with sharp tools.
So the Japanese wet stones soak while I smoke a good tobacco.

Then sharpening on 1000 stone.

Then 3000.

And finally the paring chisel gets a hone on an 8000 stone and a finish touch on my strap.

And so with a razor sharp chisel, the shoulders are trimmed.

It could also be done like this, but honestly, I begin to love the sharp chisel more.

Ready for next step.

But first.
Time for a workshop dinner…
Lamb, artichokes, home baked bread and red wine, life sure is sweet.

It is hard to drag me home these days, look at that wonderful pile of shaves from this project.

Now I mark up the shoulders, since the sides are in an angel, and this will slip out the joint.

Like so.

Saw.

Trim.

Tenons ready.

Now marking the tenons on the seats, so mortises can be made to fit.

So time to bang away some wood.

First inside the line, this will make you able to adjust later, and also it will give you the chance to pare the sides and so get sharp edges.

Once sides are set, remove wood.

Set your square to the desired deepness.

And check often as you go.

Look how bad the sides are, this is why we leave some for cleanup.

So here we are.

Looks like a fair fit.

The second one is not all perfect, but as you can see it is quite easy to fix.

Just pare of a little of the tenon.

And a perfect fit.

Now I can saw them off to fit the deepness of the mortises.
And I make them a little shy.

Trim.

Test.

So now we are talking!
It looks like a stool.

And the fit is just perfect, it can hang there just in the friction.

This is a good place to stop now.
End of part three.

Hope this can bring some inspiration, perhaps some peaceful moments or thoughts of love.

Best thoughts,

Mads

 

Mads a wonderful piece and I've been making them for four decades

May you be Happy

Jamie

 

excellent !

mucho bueno zen

i'm with mike on this
i can only do 'prono yoga'

lay down
relax
wake up

don't you just love love

 

joining and meditation on love.

Meditation stools
joining and meditation on love.

In this last part, the seat and leg will be joined, and the finale will be Line and the architect meditating on love.

It was not only beauty we saw on our walk, the beast is always hiding in reality.
See if you can find it on this photo…

Since I want hidden joints and like them wedged, I saw some spurs for the wedges.
This will give a strong joint.

Then some small pieces of hardwood.

Making them wedge shaped.

Pre fit.

And with the tops cut off, so that they are just a little higher than the tenons.

Glue, plenty of it.

Then the seats were beaten on to the legs, so that the wedges come into action.
While drying I clamp them.

Grrrrrrrrr
A little misfit, guess that it what happens…

So time for some magic.
Sawdust and glue, mixed into a paste.

And put all the way around, this to make it tight and beautiful.

Marking for the pin, and thinking of my friend Jim.

Drilling for the pin.

Pin is applied glue and beaten in.

Then sawn of.

And finally trimmed.
This means the joining is done.

Next step is to finish the base.
First I make sure it is straight, by measuring from both ends down.

And marking a straight line.

Since I want the seats to be in an angel forward, I decide the angel and mark this.

With a marking knife scoring the line.

Marking the saw cut again.

Sawing so that the leg gets its final size.

Since I want the base to end elegant, I mark up a line all around.

And plane in an angel up to this line.

For finishing the wood I use a card scraper.

And trimming with a chisel free hand.

Remember to dip the chisel in camellia oil, this will make it easier to cut.

Tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Here we are the final stool.
With my MaFe branding burned into the wood.

On the shop floor, here, booth.

And finally Line and I are able to sit there and meditate.
While I have been building the chairs, the love has grown and we are now sitting on each our chair but walking the same path together.

I guess this picture says more than I can explain with words.

Thank you for watching this little blog of woodworking, walks in the forest, meditation and love.

Hope this can bring some inspiration, perhaps some peaceful moments or thoughts of love.

Best thoughts,

Mads

 

Love is your drug, Mads! Another great project inspired from the bottom of your heart and from heart to your bottom!

 

Minimalist meditation - in Scotland...

Minimalist meditation
in Scotland…

On my travel to Scotland visiting Jamie, Shirley and all the lads I had decided to give my self a little challenge to work at in the workshop.
Meditation stools, minimalist version - light weight, easy for transport - yes and hopefully beautiful.
So one leg will be all we need after all it will be for meditation not dancing, shape cut down to minimum but able to rest stabile on the floor and support the body without discomfort.

First prototype, just scrap plywood to see how much can be cut away.
The leg are a wee bit too narrow and ugly…
Looking like a axe…
Ok it was first prototype, so not too bad.

Actually the plywood layers are quite beautiful.
The seat to foot detail looks too abrupt…
Work to do.

A little square but not too bad.

I like the wing feel.

Prototype II.
Getting there, now I think the foot looks too narrow on the ground.
Removed extra material on the seat, to minimalize and sex it up… smiles.

Yeaaaa a bit too narrow foot.

This makes the legs follow the seat and avoid the sharp edge against the legs.

Too narrow in the center…
Work to do, but now I think I got what's needed.

My I love being in Jamies shop!.
But enough prototyping.

Time for beer, kanna and beautiful wood.
Jamie offered me some spalted beech and some beautiful mahogany - lucky I am!, like a spoiled child on Christmas eve I feel.

Now I can transfer my efforts to the real wood..

Will try making a sliding dovetail for this version.
In this way I will be able to take it apart for travel.
So I make a run on the router table

Tataaaaaaa power tool dovetails.

Hell yes!
A ton of shaves on the lathe made by dear Ryan.
Clamps, clamps, glue, clamps and wood…

Making that sliding dovetail.
(Should have taken the leg out and made it a little more narrow for fitting after, this way it becomes a wee bit too open… We can't win them all and it will work).

Now time for some rough shaping, I like this part.

It all starts to make sense.

Sliding dovetail.

To mark what's front, I decide to make some little wooden markers.

Planing some wood into dowels, the MaFe way…
Ok just a little jig for making it possible, works like a gem.

Another on spot tool, the Curvemarker… Smiles.

Also start gluing up for the ash version.
Just making some scrap into thicker stock.

After shaping on Jamies wonderful sanders, sorry I forgot to take pictures since I loved what I was doing too f…... much.

Yea, yea, yea, that dovetail is a wee bit open, but locks up fine.

Now going for the ash version.
Transferring the shape

This is how it looks cut out.

Ok and how it was cut.

Guess I am not the only one loving Jamies home made oil.

A happy monkey in the workshop.

La, la, la Jamie!

That wood is so beautiful.

And the fit a little better after oil.

I don't know what you think, but me… I'm more than happy.

From a to b.

I do get that light flying feel I was hoping for.

Smiles.

Ok no time to rest on the happy feel, the ash version are waiting.
Here the feet cut out.
Also giving some oil to Jamies knife, a gift from his son, what a lucky father he is

And after shaping it up, this is where I got.
This one will be fixed and the ash allows me to make it really thin.

I work on two…

Dowels for the glue up.

Drilling.

Transferring the marks.

Drilling…

Time for glue.

Wings of love…

To lighten up the ash I give it some white oil.

Still the life of the wood are visible.

At first I thought it was too light, but I ended up liking it a lot.

Not too bad.

The use will just make it even more beautiful.

I think it became quite balanced at the end, light but sturdy.

Front and side.

Days of work in Jamies shop.

Ready for transport.

Now time to pack up and go back to Denmark…
The other ash chair stayed in Scotland, since it was a farewell gift for dear Jamie.

Once again thank you for a wonderful visit Jamie, I am with you all there, even I am fare away, this blog made me travel back in my thoughts and think of all the wonderful moments we all shared - thank you.

Perhaps it can inspire others to do some meditation chairs, or at least perhaps to do some meditation.

I can highly recommend meditation, I do it every day, not always on the stool, it can be where ever as you can see here on a sea bath house, just on a blanket.
Meditation, helps you stay more focused, release stress, lower pain, getting in touch with your core, your inner peace and so much more.

You can try a guided meditation on the link, go somewhere private, make your self comfortable and try it, it might open a new path and give you new strength in your woodworking.

The best of my thoughts,
Mads

 

Spalting note:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/spalt-your-own-lumber.aspx