Chair Leg Splitting/Turning

 

Here's a video I made showing how I make a chair leg start to finish (not including the time in the kiln for drying the tenon). I love turning legs and when they come out as slick as this one did its even better.

I have to make about 40 or so of these and by the time I'm close to the end I'll be able to turn one in about 10 minutes. Repetition is what normally drives me in the opposite direction while building furniture, but for chairs, I get so much joy from seeing the next one look better that I am kinda disappointed when I've done the last set of legs.

Back to the process of...FUN

After some time away from chair building, I am finally getting my mojo back. To me there isn't much that is more rewarding than starting with a log to build a chair. The process you have to go through and all the drying time is so worth it in the end, to result in a piece of furniture that will outlast my daughters kids. I'm not sure what is more special to me, the fact that I made something that will be enjoyed way beyond my time or, to have someone in a 100 years at least know I was on this earth as a chair builder.

 

Starting once again in log form, I began splitting out the maple log for the legs, arm stumps and stretchers for about 10 chairs I'm making. I've got to get in the neighborhood of 40 leg blanks, 30 stretcher blanks and 6 arm stump blanks. This one log should yield all of it for me as long as there are no surprises. I have noticed a few large black streaks inside the log as I split it open. My best guess is it was struck by lighning and it scorched the heartwood.

 

Out of one 24" section I got around 14-16 usable blanks for legs plus more than enough arm stumps.

 

 

 

Next I'll take them into the shop and turn them to a 2 1/4" diameter round. After I turn them round I let them sit around the shop for a few days to harden up before I'll turn them to shape.

Web site back online

Well,  it's been about 8 months since I shut down the website but I'm proud to say I am now back in bid-ness. I have a much, much cheaper website that will be online for the next two years at least. I've just stuck with windsor chairs which is was my main seller before anyhow. I'm hoping good times will pick up, but at least I haven't thrown in the towel for good and I'm still able to make chairs.

 There's always hope !!!


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Benchmade Windsor Chairs

Time to dust off the ol' pen!

   Wow!! I can't believe its been almost a year since my last post. 2012 wasn't real good for furniture in my shop. I shut down the website and pretty much stopped even going out to the shop for this entire time. Due to business being so slow I had to go back to my old type of work...Construction!

   While I've been working building houses and such, all I have thought about is making chairs again. I've wanted to get back to it so bad and just haven't been able to. The worm is turning though. I am starting up a web site once again and getting back to the shop on a somewhat more regular basis now. It feels good to just create something again in the realm of woodworking.

   I've got a few chairs to make and thought I better get back to writing on the blog, if for nothing more than to get my head back into chair making like it use to be. Man, its sad when you have such a passion for something and the thing that keeps you from that passion is money alone, but I guess that's everyones issue. Who wouldn't love to do something they absolutely love and get paid to do it. I'm one lucky bozo that I at least had the "good life" for a few years.

    I've been working on my new website and I'm going to stick primarily to Windsor Chair Making. The hand tool aspect is what drives me and gets the creative juices flowing for me.

I expect to write about ideas and techniques I use in chair making plus bring anyone who wants to follow, along for the ride. I'm hoping to get some videos and pictures of the process as I do them so you can visulize what I ramble about on here.


Here's to a better 2013!!!

Matt

Update on Split Rail Fence

After my better half got home and after a little debating, we decided the spilt rail fence just didn't look quite right around the garden. It just didn't fit the look I was going for. I think making it into a round-ish shape threw it out of proportion and that Civil War era look, so, after taking it all down we decided we'd try it at the front of our drive and that came closer to the overall look we liked. I still need to split out another log or two to have the fence on the other side of the drive and a little more going down the front of our yard. With that said here is how it looks with just one side up. This is one whole log. It seems kinda bare when you think that's an entire log and it only made 4 high and 6 sections. I guess the logs that were used in the 1860's were either huge, or they just split a ton of em. What do you think?

Making a Split Rail Fence

Well it's been almost a month since my last post and that about sums up how furniture making has been going. Pretty dead right now, but it was time for me to get back on the horse and write about something hand work related. This time I'm splitting out rails for the split rail or snake rail fence I'm putting around my better halves garden. I only had one log today but plan on getting a couple more to complete a 5 rail high fence.

 Here is the first log. About 15" dia. at the small end and its 9 foot long or so. I go through the splitting process like that on any other for the most part.

      I begin by first splitting the log in half. One thing I've noticed is it's way more difficult to split long pieces. I usually split out 5 foot long sections at the max, and at just over 9 foot, this log took some muscle and quite a bit more gusto from me than it normally does.

After the initial split, I split each half again making quarters.

  Then each quarter is split into half again making 1/8ths. The smaller the log gets the easier it is to split. I used a wedge to get the split started then turn to the trusty ol' froe to help the rest of the way. By using the wedge to hold the split open as I move along, I can then remove the froe and hop over the wedge and continue the split. Out of each 1/8th of a section I split out two more pieces.

                                                   This is the rails ready for use in the fence.

Checking the look and finding out that I need 2 more logs.

                                      

     After about 2 hours of splitting I had the whole log split up into about 23 rails and was ready to get the fence started. Here you can see the fence in it's "Civil War-ish" look. Hopefully after 6-8 months it will grey up to that Civil War fence grey and look pretty good.        

                               

The garden with a partial fence. I plan to cut an opening for a gate but want to get all the rails split out and in place to see where the best location for it will be. I'm planning on driving 2 split posts into the ground and running the rails into mortises in the posts. Now on to get a couple more logs and complete the whole fence, or maybe after a little nap.

Painting/Aging a Windsor Chair

For several years, I did a very (extremely) labor intensive paint finish using latex paint and lacquer to get a chipped paint effect and age, I have to say it looked good but the time spent was way to much and sometimes took longer to paint than to make the project. Once I began using Real Milk Paint, it cut way down on the labor portion of my finishing. While it's not what most would consider an easy to apply method I use, it's still much easier than the lacquer method and I can have a 3 color paint finish done in 3 days per chair. Here's how I go about it...
   

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         First I use a base coat, in this case Mustard. This first coat basically serves as a primer and gives the foundation of this process.

         Once the first coat completely dries in 1-2 hours, I use a scotch brite pad to burnish the entire chair. All the turnings, spindles, seat, and bows, get burnished. It takes elbow grease but you get this shiny appearance letting you know you've done it right.

         Here you can see the difference between the unburnished chair (left) and the burnished one (right). That shine helps the next coats go on much smoother and silkier and results in a completely smooth and inviting finish.

The legs show the same, left side unburnished, and right side burnished.  

After this burnished coat, I'll apply a second color in this case Terra Cotta Red
following the same steps. If you strain your paint you can skip the burnishing step and apply the black over the red, otherwise you'll have to burnish the red as well.

 I thin down the top color (black) to make it easier to burnish and get the wear I'm looking for. After the paint dries, use a subtle approach to add age and wear.

 I'll use a dull card scarper to simulate the chips a dings, worn out 400 grit wet/dry paper to do the blending, and if it's not blending fast enough, I use worn out 180 grit to get where I want to go.

 I try to focus on wear normal areas the get natural and the most common looking wear. The front legs, the seat edge and saddled area, the hand holds a little on the bows and spindles etc. You can go to far quick, it's better to do a little and step back to see how it looks. You can use Denatured Alcohol to simulate what it'll look like with a finish on. It will show more than you think once the finish is applied. So be cautious.

 Work thoughtfully, make up a story as you do this and imagine what this chair was mostly used for. I sometimes want a heavy wear and think a chair might have been used at a tavern and got used heavily, such as Bar brawls, spilled tankards of ale and the like. Other chairs were in a home at a table and over a 225 year period got used, but nothing like that in a tavern, these kind of made up stories sound corny, but they work and make you think about the finish more than just going randomly. Once you make these stories up tone it back a little because if you make it too worn, in 30 or 40 years it'll just look like it needs to be refinished. You want to give an aged appearance now but let the chair develop it's own character in time.

After I'm happy with the amount of aging, it's ready for the finish, I use an oil/varnish mix 1:1:1 ratio of Boiled Linseed Oil, Spar Varnish, and turpentine. The oil penetrates into the wood, the spar varnish builds up and produces a faster shine and the turpentine is simply a thinner that speeds the dry time. After usually 2 or 3 coats, the chair is ready for use. I usually like it to set for a few days before any use. The picture above shows a chair with one coat of oil next to an un-oiled one. After another  coat or two, the chair starts taking on a nice dull satiny sheen. The more coats you put on the more shine you'll get. If you don't like the artificial age on your pieces, this process is still a good way to go, just don't do the scraping and sanding and you'll get a great paint job and finish that will last longer than you may want.

Thie pics below are with only 2 coats of finish on. The shine is a little dull but I made these for a client and want to make sure it doesn't go to shiny till they give their approval. Getting that balance between what you think is the age and shine someone wants and what they think is right, is one of the hardest parts in furniture making. I look at it as I can always fix it either way and make it to their taste, which is the important thing.

Nantucket Sailor Boy Whirligig

After some digging around online and looking for a quick little project to do today while my chair parts dry in the kiln, I decided to make something I have never made before, a Whirligig. You've most likely seen the ducks or the goose, maybe the guy sawing a log or the woman washing clothes, but for those of you who haven't seen them, the Nantucket Sailor Boy Whirligig is one that is very, very collectible and very, very expensive in antique form. I have looked at some online that are in the $3800 range. While this isn't the norm and I don't know who would buy one for that, it's kind of cool little guy to make.

     Here is the version I made today just to pass the time. Its just a 3/4" thick piece of wood cut to shape, I turned the hat and the arms on the lathe, made the paddles out of 3/16" thick walnut and shaped it with a block plane then took a knife and whittled the profile. After some headscratching to get the paint colors right, I mixed up about 5 different colors and started to paint. I wanted mine to have that old and crusty dry paint texture of an antique, so with a little sanding and buffing this is what came out. You can just make out the word Nantucket on the sailors shirt but that, in my opinion, was the hardest part. I'm not a real steady hand when it comes to details like that and had to repaint it once, hence the darker blue under the word. All and all it was fun just to make something new and different. I could see getting into making these just to please the 8 year old in me. Theres something about a wooden toy with moving parts that makes the young'un in me smile.

Mini Log Cabins of the Frontier

I've always loved the look of those old, square log cabins you see that were built in the pioneer days, and actually earlier than that.  Some are still standing, some falling down and more importantly some being brought back to life and lived in again. 

    So with an idea for a mini sized version, I've started making these miniature sized Log Cabins. From what I've been told, German fathers would actually make these to give to a son as sort of a good luck charm and to bring peace and prosperity to him and his new bride. I don't know if that's true, but its kind of a cool story.

I started making these based just off of pictures I've seen of old ones still standing. The logs I "hand hewn" with a drawknife and each shingle is applied one at a time. I put in some chinking compound a little paint/stain and wallah, I have a fairly authentic looking mini log cabin. I've kinda got the bug from making these. It's almost a sky's the limit as what you an do, and you can go as primitive as you want. I would love to someday, either find an old one still standing and move it to my land or build one from scratch, but until then this is going to have to satisfy. Hey, maybe it could serve as a blue print for one I someday plan to build, and that alone is worth the time involved to make these. 

Skewing around...

For years, I always used sandpaper to clean up my lathe turnings. Then about 2 years ago I ran across a video Peter Galbert has on YouTube on using the skew in place of sandpaper, and it changed my lathe turning completely. It has taken about that same amount of time to get it to work consistently for me, but I never gave up. I saw how nice and crisp the turning can get and how polished you can make the turning without ever touching it with sandpaper. I do have to admit, it's not as easy as Pete makes it look in the video but he explains it very well. So after a couple years of really working at getting the hang of this tool, I can now say I'm pretty much, "OK" at it. I would love to get as good as Elia Bizzari, or the master himself Curtis Buchanan, but they both have years on me and this is a tool that takes work and time to master.

The one major thing you have to know is, the skew has to be super sharp. Now I'm not talking just sharp, there's not just a quick run over a stone and use it for the next 6 or 8 turnings kinda sharp, I talking scary sharp, like in between EVERY turning it needs to be touched up and polished. The kind that should be able to cut the end grain on pine and leave that waxy, smooth, polished look behind, or the kind that all of a sudden you look down and there's blood all over, sharp, yeah, y'all know what I'm talking about. This is that kind of sharp.

For me, I've never had a set of stones to sharpen with because in my full on power tool days, I bought a Veritas sharpening system. It works great and I get great scary sharp results with it so I've never bought the bullet on good quality stones. So even if your using a powered sharpener or stones scary sharp is the only way to get your skew chisel to behave properly. If your using sandpaper on your turnings you should at least give it a whirl and try the skew. I'm not going to say it's a tool you just pick it up and sandpaper is a thing of the past. But if you hang in there and work at it, the skew could someday replace your need for sandpaper on the lathe. I'm getting there but I'm not where I'd like to be.

Shaping a Windsor Chair Spindle

 After browsing over my past videos uploaded to YouTube, I watched the one on Spindle Making. While I'm never happy with the way most of my videos come out, that video I am defiantly not happy with. It shows basically nothing but a "buffoon" hacking away at a stick of red oak. I didn't speak one word as to what I was doing or how I got to that particular point in the process. It's just a close up of me trying my best to make a video on a subject I thought I knew something about.

So with spindles to make for the chairs I'm making now, I thought this is a good time to redo a spindle video. Maybe I can give someone wanting to make a Windsor, a little more detail on how to shape them than I had when I first started.  I'm going to leave the old spindle video up and let you all comment on which one gives more info on the process and helps you make a spindle. I'm pretty sure which one it'll be but I'll let you tell me in your own words. Who knows I may have to make another with better ideas from you.

Steam Bending Windsor Chair Parts

I'm working on another chair order and need to steam bend the bows for 4 sack backs. I thought it might be helpful to show how I go about the process for those wanting to make a Windsor. In this video, I'm starting with the already shaped pieces ready to bend.

I began by riving out the bows to roughly 1" x 1" x 48". After shaping them with a draw knife and spokeshave at the shaving horse to their pre-steamed sizes, they're ready for bending. I'm self taught at this and never learned how most chair makers go about it, so I don't move the bends from a bending form to a cooling form. I tie off the bent bows and hang them on the wall to cool. I have never had any problems doing it this way and it saves not only material for more jigs, but also a ton of space in the shop. Hope this video gives someone out there a little more encouragement to dive into Windsor Chair making. Steam bending can be used for several aspects in woodworking and it's also pretty cool just to watch happen in front of you.

New Year...New Froe Club

I was splitting out some spindles for some chairs today and after a few hard whacks my froe club broke in two. I made the broken one back in June 2011 out of hard maple. I know the date because I wrote it on the one I was replacing the now broken one with. I am trying to find what woods work best for a froe club that I have on hand. Red Oak, White Oak, Hard Maple, and Walnut are the spieces I use for chairs most often and almost always have at my disposal. I would like to find a piece of Dogwood but haven't had the luxury yet for it to be placed in front of me to try. I am writing the date I retire the old broken one so I can see how long the next one will last.  

So after using the red oak one for about a year and getting a pretty good amount of use out of it, now the maple one has only gone about 7 months. I am trying out a white oak club. Here is a short video on how I go about making my clubs. This is roughly the size I start all the clubs I've made with 4" sq and 17" long. It works great for me and I love the balance this size gives.

Flat Screen TV Cabinet

 After over a month of working on this "beast", I finally wrapped it up today. The finish alone took a week to apply and get to what I think, is a pretty realistic looking primitive finish. I made this piece for a client to house a large 55" flat screen and the components that go with it.  It's made in two pieces, the wood is poplar and and has bi-folding upper doors.

                                               
With the doors open you can see how much room is saved by the bi-fold doors. The doors are over 25" wide and would take up a lot of room when swung open if made into a full door. The color on the interior is a mixture of Butternut Squash, Black, Cream, with a touch of Mustard. Once the mixture is applied it looks horrible, not something you want happening on such a large piece. When the paint dried it gave a dirty brownish, black color that "resembles" old wood left to age. The results I am fairly happy with although I will continue trying different variations till I get the inside to look like the grungy brown, black color you see on most primitive interior cabinets.

This shows a close up of the door joinery. I used through mortise and tenons and put riven pins on a diagonal. This piece has fairly heavy doors and I wanted there to be no issue with sag. This method should help keep it as square as possible.

The color chosen, was a 3 color milk paint finish, or as I call it, my "Time Worn Finish". Black was the first coat, then a mixture of Butternut Squash, Yellow Ochre and Black to get the "pumkin'y brown" color you see, followed by a turquoise and white mixture. I put on one coat of oil/varnish to give some protection but not do away with the "dry paint" look and feel. I did the aging with scrapers, sandpaper, and a ton of elbow grease. It's not everyones preference, but for the primitive antique'r, it gives you a way to have a large flat screen TV in a cabinet that fits the TV, and still get a worn primitive look, kind of a 17th century meets the 21st century, cabinet.  It can be made out of any wood for a more formal look if needed.

The finshed cabinet in it's home.  

Rusting screws for a primitive antique look

I have always liked the look of painted antiques and how the paint seems worn (battered in some cases) and all the patina that naturally comes with age. Some of the patina is difficult to emulate, while other aspects are fairly easy. One such way to help make a new piece have the aged and more authentic look is to use rusty hardware (hinges, screws, square nails, etc). You can buy this look already done but it's expensive. I have been doing the rusting process myself for several years and it's relatively easy and much cheaper, while not entirely safe if you don't take some precautions. 

First you have to get all steel nails, screws, hinges or whatever you plan to rust. I purchased 200 #8 x 1" slotted screws for this demo and they cost me $12 in bulk. They come with a zinc coating on them all bright, shiny and new. To get them to where I want them, all rusty and grungy looking, I began with a dip in a bath of muratic acid, the kind used for swimming pools. I get mine at the big box store. It's diluted quite a bit and works good for this process although a respirator and doing this outside is a must (shop tools and their steel surfaces will rust as well just from the fumes in the air). The fumes from the acid is very unpleasant to breathe. After I have the respirator on and I'm in the grass outside away from any concrete (muratic acid will eat concrete) I pour the acid into either a plastic or glass jar till it just covers the screws etc. You'll see a yellowish bubbling froth start to appear. After a few seconds the froth dies back down and has eaten all the plating that is put on the screws. It gives a dull grey appearance.

Next I pour the acid back into the jug it came in (it can be used over and over) and pour in plain water into another plastic or glass jar. Dump the screws into the water, let them set for a few minutes then simply pour out the water and place the screws on a shop rag and let them air dry. It usually takes 24 hours for them to be ready to use. If it doesn't get enough rust the first go around I squirt more water on them and let it set again and completely dry. It's rare that I have to do it more than twice. Then once dry, they look like the aged, old screws almost every antique has.   If it was this easy to get the aged patina on wood, my job would be simple.

Taking Quailty pictures of your work pt. 2

    I thought it may be beneficial for some of you to see how I actually set up to take the pictures for my Website. All you need are three lights, a backdrop, a camera and tripod. 

   The first light is called the key light, it rakes across the piece at about a 45 degree angle to the camera and sets closest to the piece. The next is called a fill light, it rakes across on the opposite side again at a 45 degree angle. So it doesn't overpower the key light, it gets moved back and forms a wider light cast. The last light is called the back light. It does just what it states, it lights from the back, (notice it's just a cheap clip on light stuck on a dolly).



This is pretty easy to do and you can do it all with cheap incandescent clamp on lights. If you want to learn more, YouTube has several videos on the subject and they make pretty good sense. That's where I went to learn a bit more.

  

Notice the shadow

 

Shadow is gone

     All I do is roll out the back drop, set my piece of furniture on, and start playing with shadows or rather try to make them disappear. If you can get it to look like the piece is floating your doing it right. It's probably easier to do on a white backdrop or lighter color but when I originally took my pieces to the photographers, all she had was a black backdrop, and I wanted my website to be the same on future inclusions so I had to get the black one. 

   

    Now once the lights look good to you,  start snapping photos without the flash on and check each picture to see if it's appealing to your eye. If you see hard shadows adjust the lights till it's gone or in a little less visual position. It takes some finagling but it's not difficult. You just need a bit of patience, and you can get really pretty decent photos for next to nothing, maybe $200 or so. Once you get it set up, you can do all your own pictures, whether for a website or to send in to a magazine for awards, contests, articles etc. I have had a few pieces in a couple different home magazines and all but one I took myself.

   

     Magazines usually don't want any distraction material such a teddy bear in a chair or just a piece placed next to a wall where trim and wall paint pull the eye away from the piece.  That's why a back drop works great. All your focus is on the piece your photographing and not the distributive elements. Plus it looks so mush more professional without distractions. Your pictures will take on a higher quality and be more visually stimulating to potential customers, a plus if you are trying to sell your wares.  

While this picture isn't horrible, it's still has too many distractions. The light socket for one thing, but the contrast from the wall color and the trim plus the floor, are very eye catching and takes the viewers focus from the actual piece your trying to draw attention to.

This has better visual focus and keeps the eye looking at the chair instead of a disruptive background.