Something for the woodworking junkies

[dyount]

[dyount]

So what this is "all about" is I'm making my kiddo a Morris chair as a wedding gift. 1/4 sawn white oak with bent laminated arms and full cushion if I don't run out of time.
The legs are mitered together to show 4 good quarter sawn sides and the frame/stretchers are mortise and tenoned together and the chair must somewhat come apart for shipping to TX before 4/8 (wedding day)
It'll have to be stained/sprayed with Watco oil finish /dry to ship by (crap I've got to go back to work on it right now)
THought you wood monkeys out there might like a little workshop that didn't involve 911 pics

[Charles Freeborn]

Well done!
I've never been a fan of Watco. I prefer the line of stains and finishes made by General. I usually use the oil based, but their water based are good too. Set fast and hard. The Gel Poly is great for a "close to the wood" look. On Oak I pre-stain with the General Seal-A Cel clear, then use a dye stain. It makes the stain behave better (no blotches). A couple coats of Gel Poly and you're good to go.

Charles Freeborn Fine Furniture and Accessories – Handmade Fine Furniture and Accessories

[john70t]

Probably sick of hearing it enough already...but you sir are awesome.
Be safe and carry on.

[look 171]

Looks great and fun doing it too I bet

[Holger]

I LOVE such pictures!
That is beautiful!
So much fun working with wood!

[rwest]

Very nice- got to love the smell of cutting white oak, smells like pickles!

[dyount]

Charles Freeborn, I will be using General "Java" gel stain to give it the look somewhat of fumed oak. Those not familiar , traditionally craftsman style furniture is fumed black and covered with shellac. So Java to darken it and make the grain pop and Watco to shine. I'd typically use a catalyzed lacquer but being this an "at home,no longer do woodworking for a living thing" and also daughter can re-oil if someday needed I'm using clear Watco.
FYI , other than the laminated arms , everything done is either mortise/tenon or bisquits . This weekend I'll finish the back (which reclines) and sand/add a finishing touch and hope the weather holds to take it outside to spray the stain on

[berettafan]

such skill and confidence. i'd be terrified cutting into such expensive wood!

1/4 sawn is as pretty as it gets IMO.

[dyount]

Charles (again) just checked your website. Nice work and you're living the dream baby! I spent most of my life doing millwork/furniture/architectural and had little to no option of what I was building working the NYC/Wash/Philly area and doing bars restaurant fit-outs. Had to leave the business in 2003 in the midst of a custody battle w/travel being an issue with a 4yr old.
What to do? Became a commercial construction inspector (ICC Master Code Professional) , got custody of my 2 kids (young adults at this point) and although I miss the grind don't miss the paycheck .

[Holger]

Could you please explain what you are doing here?
I dont get it.

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by Holger

Could you please explain what you are doing here?
I dont get it.

I'll jump in and provide an answer -
The legs are mitered together to show 4 good quarter sawn sides



Quarter sawn oak has some unique and interesting grain patterns - and is typically the choice of lumber for a Morris chair or other craftsman style furniture. So that each side of the legs looks the same - the legs are glued up as 4 separate boards with the best face out.

[wswartzwel]

Nice work. Thanks for sharing this.

[Holger]

Thanks Mark!

[dyount]

MBATarga is correct the legs are mitered together. In the 2nd 3rd pic you'll see I added bisquits in the miter in order to align them while clamping so I could get an acceptable joint.
Also correct that 1/4 sawn lumber typically has one good side and I wanted good grain on the entire leg.
Later I'll add a fake thru tenon on the top of the arm as a detail that I'll add a pic of later this weekend

[bkreigsr]

You had me at 'No Metal Fasteners'
mmmm...... biscuits....mmmmm

Bill K

[Charles Freeborn]

Originally Posted by dyount

Charles (again) just checked your website. Nice work and you're living the dream baby! I spent most of my life doing millwork/furniture/architectural and had little to no option of what I was building working the NYC/Wash/Philly area and doing bars restaurant fit-outs. Had to leave the business in 2003 in the midst of a custody battle w/travel being an issue with a 4yr old.
What to do? Became a commercial construction inspector (ICC Master Code Professional) , got custody of my 2 kids (young adults at this point) and although I miss the grind don't miss the paycheck .

Great work!

I've done traditional fumed Oak with industrial strength blueprint ammonia in my box trailer. What a pain! and stupid dangerous. Now I use straight black pigment (get it from Sherwin Williams commercial outlet) cut in Methanol to give the base color, and stain (Java is great - I use that on guitars) over top of that. I still don't much like Watco, especially this time of year as it's so slow drying, but it is easy to get and relatively easy to use. You can also use Trans Tint as a dye stain cut in water, alcohol, or methanol as well as use it to tint your finish for even more depth.

A really cool way to Mitre together a base or leg is with a lock mitre. I've got a cutter for my shaper but they also make for router tables. If set up correctly they're dead on and you only have to clamp one direction.

BTW, woodworking makes a great hobby, but not so good of a profession. You took the right path... even if not intentionally... I'm shooting video of a fun little bench project - I'll post when it's edited.

[Charles Freeborn]

You can see the lock miter on these boxes I made:

[dyount]

Never had much luck running lock miters on a shaper. Although I'm truly a master of shaping (making arch top door panels , pattern shaping,using a Weinig moulder head put onto a shaper {double danger}) I could never quite get what I wanted. I'd typically do a miter and add even 0 bisquits.
Charles, gotta tip you might like for mitering veneered materials. You miter and bisquit but as you know the edge is sharp and fragile. Cut a 1/8X1/8 "quirk" along that sharp edge and plant a matching piece of solid in the quirk. By the time you sand it and round it you've got a soft edge miter with veneer

[Charles Freeborn]

Yes, the lock miter is fussy to set up. It's REALLY sensitive to material thickness - it has to be within 1/64" or better in consistency. Then, it references off of the inside face of the corner- which can be counterintuitive. Once you've got those things sorted it's pretty foolproof. I've had much better luck using a power feed than hand feeding too.
Not sure if this will work, but here's a bit of video where I'm doing a table top edge (in European Oak) with a lock mitre. It's a hexagonal top, so them corners are at 60º.

from C Freeborn on Vimeo.

I've used the solid wood trick with veneered work too. Great technique. I do a fair amount of custom veneering so I'll frequently edgeband before I lay up the veneer to get the same effect.