First Full Neander build- Hello Kitty rocker [Archive] - Sawmill Creek Woodworking Community

Andrew Gibson

10-02-2010, 5:41 PM

Well I started today. I am building a child's rocker for my Fiance's cousin and wife who are expecting their first... this kids thing is starting to be a trend...

Anyway I picked up some Cherry the other day from a guy I found on CL. I think I ended up paying about $1.50 a BF... but this is not a gloat thread.

The cousins wife saw the little rocker I made for a couple friends earlier this year and mentioned that she wanted one. So while I was in Boston the family got to thinking and asked if I could make a chair for them for the upcoming baby shower gift.

The plan is to make a simple child's rocker with A Hello Kitty Inlay in the headrest. I picked up some primary color died veneer from Woodcraft the other day that should work nicely for the Inlay.

Anyway I plan to take pics as I go so I can give pic with the chair so they can see that the chair really is hand made.

Here is my progress so far first four boards surfaced. Both rockers, the back 2 legs and the front two legs will be coming out of these boards. This is my first time surfacing by hand so I will be taking some big steps into the Neander world with this project.

Matt Evans

10-02-2010, 6:03 PM

Looks like a good start.

Keep us posted.

Trevor Walsh

10-02-2010, 6:37 PM

Yes I'm very interested in learning about the inlay by hand. I've seen lots of articles with trim routers used to cut the profile.

Jared McMahon

10-02-2010, 6:58 PM

I'll be watching this one pretty close as well. My Mormon brother-in-law got married a year or so ago, and they already have one kid. I'm sure there are some rockers and hope-chests and whatnot in my future.

Best of luck, and keep those pics coming.

Jared

Andrew Gibson

10-03-2010, 11:53 AM

Well I don't think I will be making much more progress then this today, so I guess I will go ahead and post this up.

First thing I did this morning was to make a quick pair of Winding sticks. I had a cutoff of Cypress in the scrap bin so I used that I plained a face flat, then an edge square. Marked and ripped to width then squared the ripped edge. Quickly flattened the other face... lather rinse repeat, and there is a set of winding sticks. T he sticks I was using yesterday left a bit to be desired.

Then I started into the boards I plained yesterday. I ripped the legs for the rocker out. 2 for the front and 2 for the back. I may square the ripped edge today but I don't know if I will get a chance. I used the Disston rip saw I got on my Boston trip for $12... I do not see myself selling this saw at this point. :)

I remembered why I usually do not get started working usually until noon. there is a big oak on the west side of my little shop that give shade all afternoon. In the morning the sun shines right into my face and really heats up everything on my bench... it's hard to reach over and grab a plane or square when the sun has heated them up to 150 odd degrees. :eek:

The second picture shows the 4 legs ripped out, the waist pieces that will most likely turn into seat rails, and the winding sticks made this morning.

Andrew Gibson

10-03-2010, 12:02 PM

Yes I'm very interested in learning about the inlay by hand. I've seen lots of articles with trim routers used to cut the profile.

I have always used a router with one of the 1/8" bits and a template and the bushing guide to do my inlays with. I picked up an old Stanley router plane and a set of the Lee valley irons for it, so we will see what happens. I might take a day and make another pair of winding sticks from some of the cherry and use the router plane to inlay a band of veneer into the top edge for contrast just to get a feel for the plane and how it is going to work.

I figure that if I mess up I can always make a new back rest. It's not like its a big table top or something.

I think I will have to make a trip to the grocery store and pick up some steaks and potatoes to keep me fueled up for this project.

Andrew Gibson

10-04-2010, 2:34 PM

I thought I should mention that I basically know next to nothing about building chairs. I have built 3 adult rockers and 1 child's rocker.... so maybe I know a little. I just wing it and go for it.

I am using an old child's rocker that belongs to my mom for a template for this chair.

I started out this moring by modifying my bench with a couple cinder blocks to help keep it from walking into the yard when scrubing.

OK getting some stuff done now. Started with the front legs and started fitting the front seat rail. I wanted to do wedged mortise and tenon joints in this chair so that's where I started. I laid out the mortices in the front legs and boared out most of the waste with my brace and #5 auger bit (smallest I have) Then I paired out the waste with a couple chisels.

Then I started cutting the tenons on the seat rail. marked them out, left them a little long so I can trim them down when all the joints are together. I used my router plane to fit the tenon to the mortise. I am pretty happy so far with the way these joints are turning out.

I will trim the tenons and cut the slots for the wedges just before final assembly, I am thinking 2 small wedges per tenon will look very nice.

I'm going to try to get the back legs all together today as well, that involves the seat rail, backrest rail and the headrest, that is a total of 6 mortice and tenon joints. hopefully I can get them done today.

Andrew Gibson

10-04-2010, 5:54 PM

Well I don't feel Like I got as much done today as I wanted to... but I think I always say that.

I got the seat rail on the back legs done. I also got the boards for the headrest and the back rest picked out and surfaced... if you want to talk about reversing grain the head rest has it. I ended up giving it a few passes with the #4 to clean it up and see what it was going to look like... I am really happy with it and it has a bit of figure in it as well.

I think it was one of those days of figuring out what the chair is going to look like. I didn't draw this one, because It's pretty simple and the detailes are in the joinery and inlay. I plan to simply round the corners with a spokeshave...

Puting my tools away for the night I realised I am starting to have a nice set of planes, the only thing in the picture I didn't use today was the 60-1/2.

Matt Evans

10-04-2010, 6:37 PM

Puting my tools away for the night I realised I am starting to have a nice set of planes, the only thing in the picture I didn't use today was the 60-1/2.

Yep, not much you can't build with that set of planes.

Looks like the chair is coming together nicely as well. . .

Don Orr

10-05-2010, 2:25 PM

Real nice work so far Andrew.

And I'm glad to see you have our friend Sam along to help.;):D

Andrew Gibson

10-05-2010, 5:39 PM

Real nice work so far Andrew.

And I'm glad to see you have our friend Sam along to help.;):D

Sam made his way down to the shop with my Fiancee when she got home from work. :)

Andrew Gibson

10-05-2010, 6:13 PM

Evening update. Again not as much work done today as I would have liked too. But I made solid progress.

I got the backrest and headrest finished. All the curves are cut and the mortise and tenons fit nicely... I hope you all are not as tired of looking at pic's of mortise and tenon joints as I am of making them... 8 down 12 to go, but all of the remaining 12 are short like the first 4 were. The backrest and headrest both required new sets of math to get looking right.

Now I am trying to decide if I want the back legs to end by following the ark of the headrest or continue up past like in the pic.

I am also trying to figure out if I want the wedges to contrast or match the rest of the chair.

Tomorrow I hope to get through as many of the remaining joints as possible and get the rockers cut out.

Andrew Gibson

10-06-2010, 5:13 PM

More tenons today. got the side seat rails finished up and shaped. I also got a good start on the Rockers. One rocker shaped and cut out and the other marked out and ready to be cut.

Tomorrow the the other rocker will be cut out and hopefully both both rockers will get the tenon treatment and get installed. After that all that is left are the arm rests... still not sure what I want them to look like.

Going surfing Saturday over on the other coast so no woodworking... prey for waves.

I am hoping to be ready to start the inlay Monday. That means I have to get the all the joints finished and the finish plaining done.

I plan to do the inlay then assemble the chair then do the final shaping and rounding of the edges...

Pics from today

Andrew Gibson

10-07-2010, 5:44 PM

Well no major progress today, but I did get to spend the day with my Fiancee and we got the car washed. I also picked up the fabric for the seat... I may take a pic of it tomorrow but it follows the theme of the chair. I managed to get the second rocker faired out so tomorrow I can get right into cutting tenons.

I have an idea for the arms so hopefully I will get to those tomorrow as well.

Matt Evans

10-07-2010, 6:04 PM

Time with the wife/family/fiancee is more important than anything else anyhow. . .

Andrew Gibson

10-07-2010, 9:26 PM

Its always Nice to get to spend the day with people we Love.

Ooh and by we got the car washed I mean we washed the car... wash, wax, vacuum... just forgot the armor-all.

Matt Evans

10-07-2010, 9:39 PM

er. . .

What sort of plane are you using to cut that "modified rabbit?"

Nice car though. I like the "thumper" plate.

I'd post a picture of my vehicles, but would shortly thereafter expire from embarrassment. no point in waxing that much rust. . .

Andrew Gibson

10-07-2010, 9:47 PM

Don't worry tomorrow I will post a Pic of "my" car... flat tire and all. This one is my Fiancee's car... though I seem to wash it a lot... It's a great car to drive, a lot more pep then the old Pontiac Vibe we had.

Rick Markham

10-08-2010, 3:30 AM

It's coming along great Andrew! I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. It's the perfect weather to be doing all of that outside, I'm glad to see you are using it to your advantage, it's been super nice here :) I live for this time of year here.

I need to get off my bubkiss and start working on some new projects, I've been preoccupied with education recently. Maybe I will get some time tomorrow to put into my dresser project, that has been on hold. Though I doubt it, the old lady is having a "yard sale" in my yard,(before anyone asks, I am not selling any of my tools so stay home and sleep in ;) ) she has filled my assembly area with all her junk to be sold:eek:... I told her "if it ain't out by saturday morning we will be having a bon fire instead of a yard sale!":D

You have one more bench plane and a router plane than I do... hmmm... I'm gonna have to work on that :rolleyes:

Andrew Gibson

10-08-2010, 7:24 PM

More Progress made today, you could say it was 2 steps forward and one step back. I got to the third tenon on the rockers... and when fitting the tenon it broke right off in the mortise... OK I said and thought about it for a bit. there was no way I was going to try to make a new back leg for this chair... I found some 3/16" key stock and some 5 minute epoxy and basically dowelled the tenon back on... probably the strongest tenon in the chair now.

I got the first arm finished up today as well. figured out what I wanted it to look like and all. Now I just have to make the other arm, but not tomorrow, Surfs Up!

I took a Pic of all the saws I used today... I think I counted 6.

I also took a pic of my little shop and my shade tree... anyway here are the pics

Andrew Gibson

10-08-2010, 7:29 PM

A couple more Pic's

my shop and tree and the chair as it stands tonight.

Andrew Gibson

10-08-2010, 8:44 PM

Rick you mean to tell me that I am winning the hand tool hoarding award for central Florida? I don't even have a speech prepared.

Don't worry I think you have a much stouter collection of tailed tools then I do.

Rick Markham

10-08-2010, 9:26 PM

Andrew, you are slightly ahead, though when I made my bench plane count, I neglected to count my no. 3 I restored which is buried amongst the debris on my workbench right now. Lots of pieces of burls have been showing up at my house :D and they are all on my workbench. You are still one router plane ahead of me :eek: I think we might be having the smallest shop space contest right now actually, You might have a slight edge on me in that regard as well. (not counting your outside area, or mine)

Let the Central Florida "Tool Pig" off begin :D

My assembly area is still crammed with stuff, wanna come toast some marshmallows in the junk bon fire? :D

Andrew Gibson

10-08-2010, 9:49 PM

when I made my bench plane count, I neglected to count my no. 3 I restored which is buried amongst the debris on my workbench right now.

Let the Central Florida "Tool Pig" off begin :D

My assembly area is still crammed with stuff, wanna come toast some marshmallows in the junk bon fire? :D

Aah the #3. probably my favorite plane... I really need to figure out what type mine is... I know its in the single digits.

I know I used to have your number Rick. But now I have no idea where I put it... If you send me your number I will give you a call tomorrow when we are on our way back from Cocoa and maybe stop by for some of those mallows.

Edit. Rick your name always confuses me... I always want to type Mark... I guess it's the Dyslexia.

Rick Markham

10-09-2010, 2:52 AM

PM sent Andrew! LOL, it's not just you, I actually get the Mark thing a lot. I answer to nearly anything... nearly LOL

Andrew Gibson

10-09-2010, 10:11 PM

Back from the beach. First time surfing... I am going to be seriously sore tomorrow... Im sore now.

I actually stood and road a few waves... watch out next time I will be a surfing machine.

here is an action shot... well it's the best pic that was taken...
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/handyandy3459/100_1195-1.jpg

Rick Markham

10-09-2010, 11:19 PM

Andrew Gibson

10-10-2010, 8:51 AM

Looks like a good day Andrew! Sorry I got sucked into a family oriented catastrophe. It's been years since I went surfing... paddling out is what killed me. You seem to use muscles that you don't use for anything else

No problem with the family stuff... it happens.

As for the muscles your right... now I am trying to figure out haw I can hit them in the gym without upseting my novice program to much... maybe I just need to get stronger.

Andrew Gibson

10-10-2010, 6:55 PM

Well I decided to get a start on the Inlay portion of this project and after about an hour worth of work, I think I am approaching this from the wrong direction.

My only other inlay experience is with single piece inlay done with a router and 3 compass rose inlays. the compass rose inlays are knifed out...

I believe now that the best way to make the hello kitty inlay will be to make a veneer pack and saw it out with a fret saw... I have been told that I should aquire at least 1 new tool per project. It would look like a fret saw will be that new tool for this one.

anyway here are some pics of the initial attempts.

Andrew Gibson

10-10-2010, 7:48 PM

Anyone have any advise on where to get a good yet inexpensive fret saw, and advise on what blades to go with... I was thinking either 2/0 or 3/0.

Andrew Gibson

10-12-2010, 4:21 PM

OK, well I have the chair in basically finished condition. all peaces are present and accounted for... all flat surfaces are finish plained and all tenon ends are planed flush.

Things left to be done are the inlay... just need to get that fret saw. I found one, going to order it tonight. All the edges need to be eased. The curved parts need to be scraped and sanded. The joint between the legs and the rockers need to be refined.

Other then that the chair is ready for final assembly.

I need to find something to use for the tenon wedges. I thought for sure I had a couple pieces of walnut laying in the scrap bin but I can't for the life of me find any.

Here are the pic's

Andrew Gibson

10-13-2010, 7:21 PM

No pictures today but progress was made. I laid out lines on all the edges to be rounded with a compass, then started in with my gramercy saw makers rasp. It worked quite well. I am giving all the sharp edges somewhere between an 1/8" and 1/4" round over. I think I got all the edges that I need to rounded, so tomorrow I will try to turn my attention to smoothing everything. Maybe a quick pass with a cabinetmakers file and then start in with some paper and get everything nice and smooth.

Rick Markham

10-14-2010, 1:39 AM

What fret saw did you end up deciding on?

Andrew Gibson

10-14-2010, 8:49 AM

What fret saw did you end up deciding on?

I ordered one off the bay... 260666422840 I thought it was a decent price, and looks like the same saw that everyone else wells for anywhere from $20 to $40
It has a 4" throat and comes with 144 blades. 24 in each size from #2 - 4/0.

So hopefully I will be set as far as blade choice is concerned as well.

Hopefully it will get here quickly as I am just about out of things I can do on this project without the inlay.

Being that I didn't spend an excessive amount on this saw, maybe I can justify one of those fancy knew consepts saws... Maybe put it on my christmas list with all the other tools I want.

Rick Markham

10-14-2010, 10:50 AM

The knew concepts saw is the one I have been looking at myself. I've been "making due" with the coping saw that I have. It's not horrible, but the knew concepts saw with the jewlers blades would be much better for some tasks. Too many "other" things on the list in front of it though... :rolleyes:

Andrew Gibson

10-14-2010, 3:08 PM

OK here is a pick of a sanded chair... I will probably hit it with another grit or 2 and have the sanding as complete as possible before I do the inlay so that I don't muddy up the nice white veneer with sanding dust.

Sits and waits for the mail man.

David Weaver

10-14-2010, 3:23 PM

Possibly the same saw as the zona fret saw. if the blades are any good, they are probably worth the price of the saw that you paid.

You should be able to set plenty of tension with it, just tighten the blades in and jab the back of the saw on your bench and use your weight on the back of the frame to make tension and just tighten the screw. You can get way more tension than you'll ever need doing that - enough to pull the blade out.

Andrew Gibson

10-14-2010, 4:21 PM

Well one more for today, got the seat done.
The thought of covering the seat with plastic has come up, but the fabric is nice and soft to the touch and as the baby is still on the way I think I will leave that choice up to the parents as all you need is to get the plastic and a staple gun... or just call me and have me do it.

Trevor Walsh

10-14-2010, 7:50 PM

What kind of seat is there going to be? Danish cord? Shaker tape?

Andrew Gibson

10-14-2010, 10:19 PM

I just made a padded seat by cutting a piece of osb that I had to fit, then I added a piece of high density foam a layer of batting, then covered with the Hello Kitty fabric I bought.

Andrew Gibson

10-18-2010, 8:22 PM

Well my fret saw arrived today. The blades that came with it were in the wrong pack. So I received 144 of the same sized blades. All about 40tpi... my eyes are not that great at counting that many teeth with no magnification, so I counted roughly 10 teeth per 1/4". I sent a message to the seller so we will see what happens.

Regardless I plan to get started on the Inlay with the blades I have. We will see how it goes.

Here is a pic of the saw... Tomorrow should include pics of it in action.

Andrew Gibson

10-19-2010, 6:07 PM

more progress... today was the start of the inlay work. I have to say I am satisfied with the result, but this was the most tedious thing I have ever done in woodworking, I am just a little ham handed to be dealing with these tiny pieces.

Lets see if I can lay this out in steps.

1. gather tools and inlay

2. Make a veneer pack. Take all the colors of veneer you will be using, and cut pieces a little oversized for the overall picture, stack them up and tape them together with your picture on top. I made sure that the black was in the middle because each color only touches black, if my cutting got a little off of vertical I would still get a decent fit. I also added a backer piece of veneer. just a piece of maple veneer I had. It helped keep the other pieces from blowing out.

3. Take your drill and a needle and drill a pilot hole for your saw blade. Use a needle or some other pin to make your pilot hole. A drill bit will remove material, where a needle will simply move the fibers out of the way, and they will settle back into place when all is done.

4. Start from the inside and work out. I started with the eyes and nose, then the bow, then ear, then face, then finally the black outline. I did this in thoughts that it would give more support to the pieces, and I think it was the right way to approach the process.

5. At some point you will most likely have to reverse your cutting direction if your inlay is longer then your saws throat. I i found it best to take a minute and decide the best place to put my pilot hole so I could saw in one direction, back up turn around in the pilot hole, then saw in the other. I hope that makes sense.

6. Make sure to take nice long strokes, I find myself wanting to make short choppy strokes with the saw, however I get much better results with long smooth strokes using all of the blade. also always saw through turns. I wanted to simply spin the blade and continue on, but you have to saw in place to get the blade to turn.

I did have some breaking in the black boarder. I did my best to get it to come out as one piece, but it is to be expected that the border would break in at least a few places.

7. To put all the pieces together I laid out some strips of masking tape, then laid each piece into place one at a time; doing my best to orient each piece correctly. once all pieces were paid into place I took veneer tape and taped over the top. I could only get perforated tape at woodcraft so I did 2 overlapping layers of veneer tape to make sure all the small pieces are securely taped together when I go to remove the masking tape from the back.

Right now I have the inlay pressed between two cauls and weighted down to keep the inlay flat while the veneer tape dries.

hopefully the pics are close to in order :)

Andrew Gibson

10-19-2010, 6:15 PM

A few more pics.

I believe this method of marquetry is referred to as the Italian method. the French method involves sawing at a slight angle but only allows for cutting 2 layers at a time to get a proper fit.

If I missed something let me know. I will fill in.

Andrew Gibson

10-20-2010, 5:09 PM

The fun part happened today, cutting in the inlay. I know there was at least some interest in how this is done, and I have to say that it was not that difficult. I definitely perfer doing this by hand much more then with an electric router. The amount of control I have over the router plane is far greater then that of an electric router.

I started out by taking the inlay and positioning it on the headrest how I wanted it. I then taped it down in a couple places so that it would not move. Then I took a mechanical pencil and sharpened it on some fine sand paper and traced the inlay so that there was a fine pencil line all the way around. Once you get all the non taped places traced, go back and remove each piece of tape carefully and fill in your traced line. Once the inlay was traced I went in and knifed a line along the inside of the pencil line. While I was doing this I was thinking leave the line.

I went slow and made a light knife line, then went back and deepened the line. Next I took the router plane and set the depth of cut by shimming the plane with a couple pieces of copy paper. this seemed to be a good depth of cut. My router plane does not have a depth adjuster so the copy paper made for a good thickness shaving. I simply started in the middle and worked my way out. You just have to be careful when working close to your knife line. Also be careful not to bruise your edge by hitting it with the back edge of the blade.

After 2 passes with the router I went back around and deepened the knife line. When I started I scored the waste area with a chisel, I am not sure this was necessary but it didn't hurt. I believe in all I made four passes with the router to bring the recess down to depth. I used a piece of the thickest veneer I used in the inlay as a depth gauge.

I ignored the whiskers and did them last. I simple took a chisel and knife and worked out the waste as best I could. After that I took the inlay and did a dry fit. Everything popped into place with a minimum of effort or persuasion.

Here is a trick I picked up monday from a local woodworker I met with. He does a lot of restoration work. He told me to take a small drill bit and drill a hole through the back so that the excess glue would have a place to go so it would not try to force the edges of the inlay up. There was a small pin hole knot right in the middle of the back so I gave it a go. I don't think anyone will ever notice.

I spread glue all over the recess then coated the back of the inlay with glue as well. This is one of those times when a small brush would be nice, but I had a finger so that's what I used. Lay the inlay in place and work all the way around making sure all the edges are seated, then work the rest of the inlay to get it nice and seated. Lay a piece of waxed paper over then a clamping caul and clamp away... I forgot to grab a backer block for the back so I will most likely have to hit the back with the smoothing plane to get rid of the clamp marks... no big deal.

Hopefully all will be good when I take it out of clamps... It will be hard to leave it alone for the rest of the day, but it would most likely be best to keep it clamped up until tomorrow.

Andrew Gibson

10-20-2010, 9:29 PM

OK I could not wait any longer.
took it out of clamps, scraped off all the tape, and gave it a pass with my #4 to clean it up. all it needs now is a to be sanded with some 220. and finished.

I actually think people will think it's painted on or something. Other then the figure in the white it looks like its painted on now. I am very happy with it... Tomorrow will be spent making wedges and doing final assembly. I was gifted a piece of purpleheart (I got to raid someones scrap pile :)) so I am thinking purpleheart wedges should be just the ticket.

OK here is the pic... hopefully I am not talking to myself at this point.

John Smithe

10-20-2010, 10:15 PM

excellent work

Pedro Reyes

10-21-2010, 12:53 PM

... hopefully I am not talking to myself at this point.

You are certainly not. I've been checking in on this one often and I admire your work. Kitty and all.

I actually have one question, I read you had 40tpi blades on your fret, is that what was used on the thin sandwich of veneers? I have never done any inlay, no veneer, but I would like to inlay something simple, that yoga symbol (Om I think) my GF does yoga so at some point a box or jewlery case with that is called for.

Anyway, fantastic work, looks great and I'm sure it will be an heirloom, congrats.

/p

Jonathan McCullough

10-21-2010, 1:55 PM

Wow Andrew. That is fantastic work. Color me impressed and a little jealous. What were your reference materials for learning how to do this? Could you recommend books/videos/websites to learn more? Did you take a class? If this is your first time, bravo also for having the fortitude to let us follow along. Given the same opportunity, I know I'd have found a way to embarrass myself!

Andrew Gibson

10-21-2010, 3:31 PM

Pedro. the blades I used are about 40 tpi, I ordered the saw and blades on eBay, I think i posted the link. the seller sent me all the same size blades, lucky they were a good size and cut well. I am fighting with the seller to get the blade mix that I was supposed to.

John, I learned how to make the veneer pack at a local woodworking club meeting. a gentleman did a tutorial on scroll sawing and this is how he did it. I just used a non tailed saw :)
I also have to get started into your book.

I have done a little inlaying before but always with a electric router. I liked using the router plane much more. it just took a little more time. This was my first time using the fret saw and veneer pack method, and using the router plane.

to be honest if I was going to do it again and i had the option I would try to find or saw out some veneer myself of around 1/16" or so, I think it would be stronger and make it easier to work with, but the thin stuff will get the job done.

Andrew Gibson

10-21-2010, 5:54 PM

Well we are nearing the end of the journey. all of the hard work is done... or maybe it is just beginning, I Don't know for sure.
Today was final assembly day.
that meant cutting slots in all the tenons, cutting wedges, gluing, scraping, sanding, sanding, sanding, and finishing.

I cut the wedges for the chair with my DT saw, and a couple of cherry wedges to fill in those odd couple mortices that were a little off. I simply used a chisel to split the wedges down to with. make sure that your wedges are oriented across the grain, if they are in line with the grain it will be sure to split something. There was one mortise that has a tiny gap between the mortise edge and tenon, I left it because a wedge would split the wood as it is with the grain and not across it.

All the pieces were laid out and I got to gluing. first in did the back, then the front section, then I joined the 2 sections, then the rockers went on last. I hope that makes sense. I had to be really careful not to get globs of glue on the inlay, next time i will mask it off, but i made it through with no issues... I need to learn to get a damp cloth and wipe down the darn thing next time i do a glue up, it would have saved me an hour for sure of sanding and scraping.

Once the glue dried I took my tenon saw and cut off the majority of the waste from the wedges, then went after them with my 60-1/2 block plane. I finished with nice clean wedged tenon end grain. Like I said after this it's scraping the glue and sanding. I think we all know how to do that.

I decided to go with danish oil for the finish. I will top coat with polycrylic that I have but I wanted an oil to bring out the warmth of the cherry. the polycrylic does nothing for the wood I tested it on. The watco danish oil it the natural color, and adds very little color to the white face of the inlay, this is what I wanted. I did my first coat of oil. I will do my final sanding tomorrow and another coat of oil, then let the whole thing sit for about a week, at which point I plan to spray the poly. at that point i guess the neander build will be tainted. :rolleyes:

I should add that every chair that i have built has come out with a "slouch" they always seem to lean to the right a bit... you can measure them and everything is right, but they never go together and stay nice and straight... I say it gives the chair Wabi-sabi... beauty is in the imperfection.