The Maloof Chair Joint....thank Sam..the Master

[Mark Singer]

A great chair joint is what I and many woodworkers call the Maloof joint...it is the one where the leg meets the seat. It looks intimidating , but actually is an easy joint to make and a great one for chairs and sofas...etc. I thought this may be helpful as we get more into chair making. It is made with a roundover and a matching radius on a rabett bit. If it comes out tight and is the shoulder just lower the bit a touch...This is a good one to have in your arsenal, it is very strong and with a couple of screws and glue, your cookin'...and it does not mean you have to copy the whole chair...enough woodworkers already do!:eek: Wish I could take the crredit for this one, but just thank Sam...the Master!

[mike malone]

A great chair joint is what I and many woodworkers call If it comes out tight and is the shoulder just lower the bit a touch...This is a good one to have in your arsenal, it is very strong and with a couple of screws and glue, your cookin'...and it does not mean you have to copy the whole chair...enough woodworkers already do!:eek: Wish I could take the crredit for this one, but just thank Sam...the Master!

nice work Mark!!!

[Keith Christopher]

your cookin'...and it does not mean you have to copy the whole chair...enough woodworkers already do!:eek:

Well sure we do, we can't all afford to buy one from Mr. Maloof ! hehehehe. I practiced the joint a couple of times after a magazine article showed how (roughly) his chairs are made. very cool joint. :)


Keith

[Richard Danckaert]

Interesting joint.I'm saving this one.Thanks for sharing Mark.

Rich

[Keith Christopher]

The nice thing about this join is it allows you to shape the wood until they seem to flow together, you can see it in his chairs.

[Mark Singer]

Keith that is characteristic of all his joints...originally he was influenced by the great Danes, Finn Juhl and Hans Wegner...but Sam took it farther and his chairs are fluid and very sculptural...The back is also a great tenon joint that he blends..
The nice thing about this join is it allows you to shape the wood until they seem to flow together, you can see it in his chairs.

[M. A. Espinoza]

I've been gearing up to do a Maloof-a-like this summer and just found that Woodline sells the matched set of cutters for the angled joints. They are not listed on their web site, why I don't know.

In my prototype chair I got around the 90 degree issue by just using the ends of the seat glue-up to establish the splay of the legs and then just carving the seat back to where I wanted it. But the angled cutters might be an easier way, I'll likely try both and feel it out.

Here is the snip from the e-mail if anyone wants these cutters.

"The part numbers are WL 6220 ($65.00)the 5 degree 2pc joint cutter, WL 6221 ($65.00) the 3 degree 2pc joint cutter, and the WL 6222 ($25.00) 0 degree rabbiting bit."

[Mark Singer]

You don't need special cutters....i just use a 3/4 radius rabbet and a 3/4 rad roundover. Very inexpensive bits..

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I had never seen that joint! It looks very interesting!

[Mark Singer]

Jeff,

Here is the joint on the chair...where the seat and the leg meet.. As it s sculpted the joinery is revealed....

<CENTER>http://www.furnituresociety.org/cs/cspicts/oct2003/mal_leg.jpg</CENTER>
I had never seen that joint! It looks very interesting!

[M. A. Espinoza]

You don't need special cutters....i just use a 3/4 radius rabbet and a 3/4 rad roundover. Very inexpensive bits..

Yes for a 90 degree joint, what I was talking about was the angled version of the joint on the back legs of the rocker and maybe others. I'll attach a photo.

I'm not real familiar with all of Sam's chairs but I'm using the rocker as the basis for my design.

But yes, you can splay the legs by just angling the mating surfaces. I don't have any affiliation with Woodline but if someone was wanting to follow Sam's lead as shown in his video sourcing those bits could be tough.

I haven't found them anywhere else.

[Mark Singer]

I found the set on line at Woodline...

http://www.woodline.com/Downloads/Maloof%20Bit%20Information.pdf.

It does vary from 3 to 5 degrees...It appears that you can acheive the same thing by rotating the assembly...the seat and leg
Yes for a 90 degree joint, what I was talking about was the angled version of the joint on the back legs of the rocker and maybe others. I'll attach a photo.

I'm not real familiar with all of Sam's chairs but I'm using the rocker as the basis for my design.

But yes, you can splay the legs by just angling the mating surfaces. I don't have any affiliation with Woodline but if someone was wanting to follow Sam's lead as shown in his video sourcing those bits could be tough.

I haven't found them anywhere else.

[M. A. Espinoza]

Mark,

Nice detective work. I dug around the site for a while and never found that. Woodline didn't even mention it in their response. Good data sheet if one needed to have a similar bit set made for other angles.

But it sure seems a lot easier to angle the mating surfaces. Bit depth seems to get pretty critical with those matching cutters.

I think Sam sets his in dedicated routers and leaves them. But for what he gets for the rockers a couple more routers just might be worth it. ;)

[Mark Singer]

M. A,I do the same with popular bits, like small roundovers.... I have 7 in total

I think if you rotate the apron you can keep the joint at 90 degrees. That would splay front and back. You should try to very his design and make it original...I saw one of his original chairs a week ago at the Oceanside Art Museum , it was a beauty...just incredible... I drive up to visit him once in a while....a really wonderful man!