Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Welsh stick chair build day 3, 4 & 5

Day 3 we pretty much all worked on our legs. Off course there were a lot of other things such as planing, sanding and discussing which way the things should look.
My parents paid us a visit and my father brought along some old tools, so we took some time deciding which ones we couldn't live without. We both ended up with some chisels and various other stuff.

My mother made sure we didn't loose any weight, so we had late morning coffee with rolls followed about an hour later by a large lunch. At 3 o'clock coffee was served including apple cake and cookies and some delicious Panna Cotta that Olavs wife made.
Around 6 we had a large supper with wine etc.
Brian joked about Danes being like Hobbits employing the 2nd breakfast and more small meals spread out over the day.

I managed to put on the legs of my bench in the evening, but that was about it.

Sunday I finally collected enough courage to drill some holes for the loop back. And much to my surprise I managed to get them both pretty even.
After test mounting in the loop back, the whole contraption suddenly looked like a bench instead of looking like a shaped plank with four sticks in it.

I marked the position for the centre spindle for the loop back, and used a divider to step out the position for the remaining spindles from that point. The spindles are placed 4" apart.
The two front spindles are a little further away from the loop back than 4 inches, but it still looks OK.
I used a level to transfer the location of the spindles to the back so I would ave something to aim for when drilling the holes.

After remounting the loop back I drilled some 16 mm (5/8") holes in the seat eye balling the angle in relation to the back. the 2 front most holes in each side had to be drilled without the back to make room for the drilling machine.
I used a cordless drill and a spade bit. I tried to go very slow at the bottom of the hole, because it is difficult to drill from both sides when the hole is at an angle. I managed to get by with just a little bit if tear out.

The back went on again and I flipped the bench over. Aiming through the holes in the seat I now drilled the holes in the loop back. This was done from the underside of the loop. These holes were 12 mm.
Again a few of the holes near the front needed to be drilled with the loop back taken off.

The holes in the back were tapered using Brian's tapered reamer, and the spindles were tapered as well.
All the spindles were made by planing some square 16 mm (5/8") stock octagonal and then further rounded by an plane finishing with some sandpaper.

I inserted the spindles from the underside of the seat and hammered them all the way till they seated in the loop back. I used liquid hide glue for this operation because the hot hide glue stiffened up a bit too quick. The spindles were finally secured with a wedge in each end.
I started fitting the centre spindle and then worked in pairs on each side of it, each time leaving an open spot between the spindles. I have no idea if it is the preferred way, but it worked for me. I figured that it would prevent me from accidentally dislocate one side of the back by accident.
Once all the spindles were mounted I sawed of the protruding part of the all the wedges.

The entire settee was sanded up to grit 180.

I finished the piece by rubbing in Camelia oil wit a black scotch brite pad. Then I wiped all the chair over with a clean rag to remove any excess oil and the eventual slurry made from the scotch brite.

I got some bees wax and orange oil from Brian, so I decided to try out making my own paste wax finish.
I never measured the amount of ingredients I mixed, but I think it is 4 tablespoons of wax,  1.5 tablespoon of orange oil and half a tablespoon of camelia oil. The batch was heated up until the wax melted and then stirred and left to harden up.
The result is a very pleasant smelling wax that has a nice consistence.

Today I waxed the settee and finally buffed it off.

All there is left is to decide where to put it in the house.
Paring the end of a leg, Jensen senior in the background.
  
Brian's Moxon vice. Note the nice flower on the seat. 

Brian drilling holes for the legs. 

The legs are mounted.

Windsor settee with a loop back.

OK result for my first windsor type furniture.

Nice gentle curves.

Ash legs and spindles, elm seat and loop back

Even the weather is nice.

17 comments:

  1. Jonas,

    That is neat, well done! Say hi to Brian ;)

    Michael

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    1. Hi Michael.
      thanks for the nice comment.
      Brian left yesterday, but I'll say hello to him when I talk to him next time.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  2. The chair looks absolutely great! Even more importantly, are you keeping the sideburns?

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    1. Hi Bill.

      Thanks for the comment on the settee.
      The sideburns will come off on Thursday. I have made an appointment with a hairdresser, so that should be the end of them :-)
      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. Well, if you decided to keep them, I could quite honestly see a woodworking television show in your future. Believe me, we need a good one here in America.

      Delete
  3. It turned out gorgeous! I guess I'll have to get downstairs and see if I can finish up the last few bits of my chair now.

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    1. The home made wax was really fun to make, and it worked really well too.
      I told my dad that I had bought the Veritas taper reamer set, and he said that he would like to participate in a Rorkhee chair building event.
      I think I'll organize a family build event for those.
      Did you like my parents' house?
      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. That sounds fun for the Roorkees.

      Your parents' house is gorgeous! I love the furniture they have. Perhaps one of these days you could take some pictures and make a post about their Scandinavian furniture.

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  4. wow! wow! WOW! Jaw dropping here! congrats guys! it's beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. You almost make me blush.
      It was a challenge to make something without a decent 90 degree angle, and having to eyeball so many things.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. Can't wait to see Brian's and Olav's chair! Congrats again!

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  5. Dude, that looks awesome. By any chance, horse-piss isn't a key ingredient in your homemade wax, is it?

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    1. Nope, I left that out of the recipe..
      I actually considered staining the bench with the Roubo stain, but I decided that I didn't want to darken the wood, and I am also not sure if I have enough of the stain left for a piece this size.
      Maybe I'll make another batch some day, just for the fun of it.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  6. Very nice! I like the contrast of the seat to the rungs and legs.

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    1. Thanks.
      I suppose some of the colour disappeared from the back during steaming. It is elm as well, so I had expected that to e a bit darker as well.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  7. I've got two windsor style builds under my belt. I've got to say, your first attempt came out heads n tails better than mine. Less "rustic". I love the raw wood look as well. Keep it up!

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    1. Thanks you for the nice comment.
      I am impressed that you have made two Windsor style builds. My problem with a build like this is that the further you go in the process, the more is at stake for every hole you have to drill. And I since it was the first time for a piece of this design, my hands trembled more and more for each hole that I had to drill.
      It was quite a relief to move to the mounting of the rungs for the back. That wasn't prone to destroy the entire piece if something went wrong.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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