Stick Chair

[ken hatch]

I may be winning the battle with Desert Bloom but I'm sure the war is lost. Whatever, I'm back in the shop for a little bit the last couple of days.


This morning I cleaned up the leg blanks:

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It was quick work, a couple or three passes with a #5 on each facet did the job.


Not so quick work will be cleaning up the seat blank. The bandsaw did a good job getting close to the line, but the rest will be like that movie where John Candy was trying to go home for Christmas. Only instead of planes and trains it will be planes, spokeshaves, drawknives, chisels, and whatever else I can find to cut and smooth the edge.

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Once the edges are cleaned up I'll decide which side will be the bottom and mark out the mortise locations and sight lines before beveling the bottom edges. More toys will come out to do the mortises and tenons and finish shaping the seat. I still have not decided on arms or not.

ken

[Graham Haydon]

Looking forward to this one, Ken.

[James Pallas]

Looks interesting so far. Do I detect some kind of bench competition going on? It appears a chair working on each bench. As many benches as you have you could have a whole set of chairs working scattered about your shop:)
Jim

[ken hatch]

Looking forward to this one, Ken.

Thanks Graham,

This one may be a little slow between, Desert Bloom, work, and MsBubba's line of sight honey does (she just retired) :p.

ken

[ken hatch]

Looks interesting so far. Do I detect some kind of bench competition going on? It appears a chair working on each bench. As many benches as you have you could have a whole set of chairs working scattered about your shop:)
Jim

Jim,

LOL. I wish it were so. I must say having a couple of extra benches makes shop life easier. Now if I could figure out how to get another couple or three hundred sq. feet.

ken

[James Pallas]

Ken, Having spent a great deal of time in the Southwest, you should have square miles of shop space at this time of year. Of course you need to have a way to keep the juniper pollen away and an picnic table umbrella over your bench.
Jim

[ken hatch]

Ken, Having spent a great deal of time in the Southwest, you should have square miles of shop space at this time of year. Of course you need to have a way to keep the juniper pollen away and an picnic table umbrella over your bench.
Jim

Jim,

It is nice in the desert right now but for the bloom. In a month or less the mid-day temps will have most, except for true desert rats, back indoors with the AC on high.

ken

[John K Jordan]

It is nice in the desert right now but for the bloom.

Having never lived in the desert, what is the problem with the bloom? Google showed me pictures of incredible flowering and stories of hundreds of thousands of people tromping through the hills. Do strangers show up and drop in for brunch?

JKJ

[ken hatch]

Having never lived in the desert, what is the problem with the bloom? Google showed me pictures of incredible flowering and stories of hundreds of thousands of people tromping through the hills. Do strangers show up and drop in for brunch?

JKJ

John,

The photos show fields of wild flowers, think of each as a pollen machine together pumping tons of pollen into the air. Then there is also a plant called "desert bloom" (Baccharis sarothroides) which really kicks allergies into high gear, kinda like Cedar Fever in the Hill Country of Texas.

The Brunch deal, Casa Chaos is always open for wondering and/or lost woodworkers:).

ken

[John K Jordan]

The photos show fields of wild flowers, think of each as a pollen machine together pumping tons of pollen into the air.

Ah, I understand now. Grass pollen started in Feb/March, now zillions of flowers and flowering trees are helping. Some say due to the rain it's one of the worst pollen years in a while. It will probably last until July. Then the summer and early fall pollen and mold season. That, plus the dripping humidity in the summer makes some people move to the desert! :) I've known several people with respiratory problems who moved to a drier climate for that reason.

My honeybees love it!

JKJ

[ken hatch]

Whatever the question, sharp is the answer. I guess if prepping the seat blank with hand tools were easy the world would be awash with hand made stick chairs.


Shaping the underside bevel:

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The bevel is slow going with many very obvious changes of grain direction. A drawknife is of some use and a small woodie or a #3 or #4 works well on the end grain but most of it will be done with one or more of the several spokeshaves in the tool cabinet.


When the bevel is finished I'll clean up the bottom and then start to saddle the top. That's when most of the specialized chair making tools come out to play. BTW, I now have a 6 degree reamer and tenon cutter vs. the 12 degree ones I have been using. It will be interesting to see which I like best.

ken

[Stew Denton]

Ken,

+1 on looking forward to the build.

Stew

[Tom Vanzant]

Ken,
I well understand the desert bloom. Friends north of Kerrville couldn’t leave their house for a couple of weeks when the cedar “burst”. Here in Houston, we just got past oak bloom. Our pollen count a couple of weeks ago hit 5488 grains per cubic meter! 1500 is considered very high. I should buy stock in Kleenex.
Tom

[ken hatch]

Ken,

+1 on looking forward to the build.

Stew

Thanks Stew.

Using a 6 degree reamer on the seat blank:

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I think I'm going to like the new reamers.


I had an OF moment earlier that if I were using the 12 degree reamer could have been a problem. I haven't a clue why but the first thing I did this morning was take a plane and clean up the top and bottom of the seat blank, removing all my sight lines from the bottom. No sight lines when using the drill powered 12 degree reamer could have been a problem, that sucker can get away from you in a second. Today it wasn't a problem. The center line nail holes were still there so recovering the slight lines was easy and the hand powered 6 degree reamer is a lot easier to control.


Chair building will be slow this week. I've a six day line right in the middle of the day. Oh well, the day job does keep beans and tortillas on the table and for the most part me out of trouble.


ken

[ken hatch]

Ken,
I well understand the desert bloom. Friends north of Kerrville couldn’t leave their house for a couple of weeks when the cedar “burst”. Here in Houston, we just got past oak bloom. Our pollen count a couple of weeks ago hit 5488 grains per cubic meter! 1500 is considered very high. I should buy stock in Kleenex.
Tom

Tom,

This is the first year that it has kicked my tail. I don't know if it is a heavier than normal bloom, I expect it is because of the wet Winter, or I've become more sensitive. Whatever, it has been a PITA or maybe that should be a PITN. BTW, MsBubba and I are talking about leaving the Desert for the Hill Country to be closer to the Grandpeanuts. That way we can trade Desert Bloom for Cedar Fever :p.

ken