Maloof Low Back Chair, Making the Tapered Legs

[Andrew Joiner]

I'm making some chairs with legs like the back legs on Sam's chair:

http://americanart.si.edu/images/1995/1995.29_1a.jpg

After bandsawing to shape how would you radius the edges? I plan on using roundover router bits blending in with a block plane and sandpaper to get flowing curves.

Anyone know how Sam did his?

Thanks

[John Coloccia]

Personally, I would probably rough it with rasps, my Iwasaki carving "files" (which are more like razor sharp floats than files) and a spokeshave, and then blend with 36 grit sandpaper, and then touch up with finer file, spoke shave, plane, sandpaper or whatever else I can get my grubby little hands on that I think might work. I also use a Surform to blend sometimes. If I'm feeling particularly brave, sometimes I carefully waste some of the excess material with the bandsaw first, but you have to really be on your toes re: material support and the location of your fingers. It can be done safely but you need to be awake and cognizant of proper work support.

To get into some of the curves, I have some hardwood curtain rods and dowels that I've wrapped with leather (using contact cement) and that I can wrap some sandpaper around.

I've no idea how Maloof did it.

The problem I might see with rounding with a bit is that once you have that round shape there, it's really hard to turn that into the graceful curves on that chair. It is for me, at any rate. Try it yourself on paper. Draw a graceful arc, and then take a compass and draw a circle over it. You'll see just how complex it is to get from one to the other. That's just my opinion.

[Darren Brown]

Andrew,

I don't know how Sam did it but I used a Lie Nielsen Boggs curved bottom spoke shave, a rasp, and sandpaper, more sandlpaper, followed by some sandpaper. You have to be very carefull using roundover bits because in order to mimic his legs exactly, you would need a giant radius. Plus it is much easier to control the "flow" of the legs if you do it by hand.

Darren Brown

[Darren Brown]

John said it a little more eloquently than I did.

Darren

[Brian Penning]

This might help...http://www.philsville.co.uk/maloof3.htm

[Brian Kent]

Here is a picture of the tools used to sculpt chairs in Sam's shop.

His philosophy was not to use just wired or hand tools, but to use anything that works.

Brian

[Prashun Patel]

You will have to discover which way works for you. There are many ways to skin the cat.

What worked for me was using a Lee Valley contour plane, Dragon rasps, Microplanes, and a 102 block plane.

Using a roundover bit will hog off much material quickly, which in theory speeds the process. In practice, any of the above tools and a good spokeshave will move very quickly with a lot more control.

[John Coloccia]

Oh, I like Dragon rasps! Has anyone found a source other than StewMac yet?

[John Coloccia]

Found a video of Maloof....an interview actually. If you watch the whole thing, you'll see how he shapes some of his pieces. Looks like he uses his bandsaw to rough out shapes. I can barely watch with the technique he's using...could he still count to ten when he passed? Check out the router cuts he's making at about 9:00. LOL...holy cow.

Anyhow, here is the master himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKIoezZUK6s