Finally finished the swing

[Mike Henderson]

I finally finished the swing I've been procrastinating on all summer because of the heat in the shop. Wood is white oak. I laminate bent the seat and back slats and the arms. I think the arms look nice reflecting the bend of the seat - what do you think?

Lots of mortise and tenon joints - I was really sick of cutting those by the time I got this finished. The M&T joints were glued with System 3 T88 epoxy because it has a long working time. With all those M&T joints, I needed the extra time during the glue up.

The finish is sprayed water based exterior polyurethane. I know it won't hold up outdoors but when it starts looking bad, I'll spray it with white latex - but in the meanwhile, I'll get the natural wood look.

Note the three wide slats on the back. I put those in so that I could carve some design into them but I haven't chosen a design yet. I'll eventually choose something and can carve it at any time in the future. If you have some suggestions for a carving, please send it to me.

Mike

[Doug Shepard]

Very nice. It looks a lot more comfy than the ones you normally see. What kind of wood? Are you hanging this on a porch or a frame?

[Alan DuBoff]

Mike,

Beautiful, like all of the work you've posted. Great looking bench!

[Steve Wargo]

That is very sharp. Nice piece.

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice. It looks a lot more comfy than the ones you normally see. What kind of wood? Are you hanging this on a porch or a frame?
It's made from white oak. I had a lot of trouble with shakes in the wood. I removed any shakes that I found before gluing but had a few shakes show up after I put everything together. Since it's not a piece of fine furniture, I could sand the worst of it out. I don't know if shakes are common in white oak or if I just got some bad stuff. [correction 9/24/06. It was pointed out to me that the problem I encountered is known as honeycombing and not shakes. See later in this thread for more details.]

The difficult thing, of course, is to cut the slats exactly the same length (not counting the tenons). If one or more slats are short they will show up as not fitting properly between the two pieces of wood with the mortises - there will be gaps at the top or bottom. And if one or more slats are long, they will prevent the proper fit of the rest of the slats - so great accuracy is needed in cutting the tenons on the slats.

I plan to hang it from a pergola I built a couple of years ago. It will replace a swing I built at the same time as the pergola. Problem is, I built that first swing from poplar and poplar just doesn't hold up well outdoors. Bad choice on my part.

Mike

[Roy Wall]

Mike -

That is beautiful........really nice work! I'd keep it indoors......the curves and shaping is excellent.!

[Jim Becker]

Wow...that's really an incredible piece, Mike. Exquisite curves.

BTW, for future outdoor projects that you want a clear finish that will last a little longer, try exterior oil-based alkyd deep tint base...it dries clear, has UV inhibitors and lasts longer than a varnish in the weather. Your wood will still grey out over time from exposure, but there is no stopping that!

[Maurice Metzger]

Pret-ty snazzy! Looks half in motion just sitting there. Very nice.

Maurice

[Kent Parker]

Great piece Mike!!. Obviously lots of detail in the joints. Looks like a bench you would not want to get out of! Love the curves!!

Cheers,

Kent

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very, very nicely done Mike! I hope my wife doesn't see that piece! I couldn't begin to duplicate it! Gorgeous work!

[Dennis Peacock]

Mike,

That's very beautiful and nice work.!!!! It would look even better on the LOML's front porch though. :rolleyes: :D

[Alan Turner]

Very nice. Please do not show this to my bride as I am pretty busy these days, and it would go on the TTD list in a heartbeat.

[Zahid Naqvi]

beautiful work Mike.

[Jerry Palmer]

Wow, very nice.

[Maurice Metzger]

Mike, after thinking about it some more, I have to say it's really impressive - M&T joints, just enough thickness for strength, beautifully bent form.

IMHO this should not ever end up with white latex paint. You should take steps to preserve the natural appearance, not that I know what those steps should be...

The only possible complaint I could have is - where are the construction photos? I know from your previous work that you have 3 hands, so why weren't you taking pictures during that massive glue-up?

Just kidding,

Maurice

[Mike Henderson]

The only possible complaint I could have is - where are the construction photos? I know from your previous work that you have 3 hands, so why weren't you taking pictures during that massive glue-up? Maurice
Sorry - I didn't take any pictures during construction but the glue up was difficult, especially for the back. I glued up in two steps - I did the seat first then glued up the back. The seat was no problem because the boards pull together. The back was more difficult because the pull is not in a straight line.

Note how the top and front are rounded over. I couldn't do that until after the glue up because I wanted a flat surface to clamp against. The round over was done with a plane to get it pretty close then sanded to get a smooth round.

The coves on the top and back-bottom were done on the table saw.

Mike

[David Wilson]

Mike
All I can say is "Outstanding work"

[Frank Chaffee]

Mike,
Terrific design and construction of your swing! It more than rocks!

I really admire you for undertaking the laminated bent M&T’s, whose length control must have been a challenge. As to the curvature of the arms… well, uhh, okay, YES, they really tie the seat and back shapes together quite nicely!

Even with no finishing schedule the white oak will last a very long time, and personally, I like the grey it weathers to. Regarding the longevity of the swing, I would only pay attention to the M/T joints of the seat back slats, as the juncture between wet and dry is where white oak tends to fail.

The next time you build something like this let us know, and we will chip in to get a photographer on site.

Frank

[Mike Henderson]

Regarding the longevity of the swing, I would only pay attention to the M/T joints of the seat back slats, as the juncture between wet and dry is where white oak tends to fail. Frank
I was aware of the problem of water capture in the M&T joints if there were any gaps in the joints so what I did was put excessive (and I mean really excessive) epoxy in the mortises at the bottom of the back slats. It made a real mess and was a pain to clean up, but I guaranteed there would be no pockets or gaps where water could collect there. I wasn't as concerned about the other M&T joints - at the top of the back it'd be hard for water to go up into the joints. On the seat M&T joints I just put an adequate amount of epoxy which I think filled the joints okay.

I feel confident the swing will outlive me.

Mike

[John Schreiber]

Mike, Haven't posted here in ages, but that bench is similar to one which has been on my back burner for years and I'd love to learn from what you did.

How long is it? I've been hoping to make one long enough for a good nap, which means making it long enough and strong enough to support at least three adults. Why did you put the forward chain support so far out? Where will the back chain be connected? With those three beautifully shaped laterals, does the stiffness seem right? Does it want to wrack when it gets weight on it?

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, Haven't posted here in ages, but that bench is similar to one which has been on my back burner for years and I'd love to learn from what you did.

How long is it? I've been hoping to make one long enough for a good nap, which means making it long enough and strong enough to support at least three adults. Why did you put the forward chain support so far out? Where will the back chain be connected? With those three beautifully shaped laterals, does the stiffness seem right? Does it want to wrack when it gets weight on it?
I built this swing to fit the space I have for it. That is, I built the pergola on a concrete pad and was constrained in the size of the pergola by the pad. When I built the first swing, I centered it between the supports for the pergola with what I felt was adequate space on each side. This worked out to about 57 inches across the top of the swing.

But let me stress that you can make one almost any size.

The front support is too long and will be trimmed back. It needs to be long enough that when you hook up the support chain, the chain clears the arms and leaves enough space that your hands don't hit the chain when run your hands over the arms. My first swing had the chain connectors at 69 inches but I brought the arms inward in this design.

One thing I want to point out that may not be apparent in the pictures. When you put your front support in, move it as far forward as possible. The reason is that if you put it back, when you slide forward to get off the swing, all your weight will be forward of the support and the swing will tip forward. I have that problem on my original swing so I put the front support far forward.

Regarding strength - the slats are 1/2 inch with 5/16 inch tenons. (added note: The tenons are one sided. That is, the mortise is offset 3/16 from the show edge, and there's no tenon shoulder on the back of the slat. This is to maintain some meat between the mortise and the edge of the wood. There's no need for a shoulder on the back since it's not visible.) Individually, the slats are not that strong (but try to break or bend a piece of 1/2 inch oak) but when they are aggregated, the overall strength is quite high. I haven't hung the swing yet so I can't absolutely comment or racking, but I have tested the strength by only supporting part of the swing and sitting on it and it seems plenty strong to me.

For the back chain supports, I added some laminations behind and below the arms and will put the chain supports through that. I also added laminations on the slats that the arms connect to for additional strength.

The first picture is of the pergola. The second picture is the front hanger on the old swing - note the distance between the chain and the arm - this has been a good distance. The third picture is the back hanger on the old swing. I'll do one more posting to get more pictures.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

The picture below shows the detail of the rear hanger. The hanger will go into a hole slightly below the arm. Note the added laminations on the back of the slat above the arm.

If you want to build one like mine, I could send you a paper patern of the curves for the bottom and back slats. From that you could make your bending form. If you want to see a picture of my bending form, let me know.

Mike

[Brian Buckley]

Mike,
I would appreciate a picture of your bending form. This is a beautiful swing, thanks for sharing.

Brian

[John Headley]

Beautiful work, and a great post. Your talent shows, thanks for sharing.

[Alex Berkovsky]

Sorry - I didn't take any pictures during construction...Mike,
How could you? :mad: ... ;)

That is the most beautiful swing that I have ever seen; I wish we could see the construction progress pics. Can you please make another one. :D

[Mike Henderson]

Mike,
I would appreciate a picture of your bending form. This is a beautiful swing, thanks for sharing.

Brian
Here's a couple of pictures of the bending form. The first picture shows the bending form itself - made from MDF. The top of the form is for the seat bottom while the bottom is for the seat back. If you have a lot of different things to bend, you can use the sides, also, to shape things. So with some planning, you can get four shapes on one form. The shape is sketched on the side of the form and cut with a bandsaw. I usually sand the form to get it smooth and flat after cutting it. Check with a square to make sure it's square across the whole bending area. Put cellophane packing tape (wide Scotch tape) on the form to keep the piece being bent from sticking to the form. If you're going to use the form a lot, you can put formica on it.

Note the two clamps that I put on it to show how it's used. There's two ways to put the shape into the form and I did it wrong. Shapes should always be done "male" instead of "female". That is, any curves should go upward on the form instead of downward as I did in this form. The reason is interference between clamps. Note how the two clamps touch which makes it difficult to get your hand on the handle to tighten them. If I had made the curve upwards on the form, the handles would move away from each other and would be easier to tighten. The problem on a male form is the placement and number of holes in the form for the other end of the clamp. If the curve is sharp, you can wind up with not enough holes for your clamps. But you can usually get around this by staggering your holes and using some longer clamps.

My recommendation is to always make the form male if you possibly can.

The next couple of pictures shows the cauls that I use when clamping. These are just pieces of strong wood with cellophane tape wrapped around them to keep them from sticking to the thing being bent.

This form is much wider than what I usually use because I had to bend a couple of wide pieces (the wide slats on the back).

If anyone would like a pattern for the shapes, send me your snail mail address. I'll lay the form on a piece of paper and trace the shapes onto the paper and send it to you. You can build a form and trace the shape onto your form (in male shape instead of female as mine is).

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Oh, one more thing - when you use the bending form CLAMP IT DOWN! The picture shows how I do it. I put a clamp on the form and then use clamps to clamp that clamp to the table.

When you clamp up a piece to be bent, the form gets really top heavy. It's really embarrassing to have the whole form fall off your bench. It'd be exceptionally embarrassing if it fell on your foot.

Mike

[Tom Sontag]

It's made from white oak. I had a lot of trouble with shakes in the wood. I removed any shakes that I found before gluing but had a few shakes show up after I put everything together. Since it's not a piece of fine furniture, I could sand the worst of it out. I don't know if shakes are common in white oak or if I just got some bad stuff....Mike

Shake is a log defect that would be obvious when buying the wood. Honeycombing is a drying defect common to oak, especially thicker oak. It occurs when it dries too fast and/or case hardens and the inside fibers tear apart. I suspect you found honeycombing.

Your biggest error in the above is alleging that this is not fine furniture. Just because it goes outdoors does not mean you have not created furniture that is very fine. I love the piece.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Very beautiful, Mike. I love the curves, and the workmanship looks top-notch.

[tod evans]

well thought out and executed piece! nice work mike...tod

[Mike Henderson]

Shake is a log defect that would be obvious when buying the wood. Honeycombing is a drying defect common to oak, especially thicker oak. It occurs when it dries too fast and/or case hardens and the inside fibers tear apart. I suspect you found honeycombing.

Your biggest error in the above is alleging that this is not fine furniture. Just because it goes outdoors does not mean you have not created furniture that is very fine. I love the piece.
Tom, yes, what you describe is what I found in the oak. The fibers would separate inside the wood along the grain line.

I though that was called shake. It was described to me as caused by stress in the wood during growth, possibly caused by bending of the tree by storms.

Would you correct me and give me a definition of what shake is, please? And is my description what you call honeycombing?

Mike

[harry strasil]

http://www.vermonttimberworks.com/home/working_pages/wood_finishes/shake_checking/index.html

[Tom Sontag]

Harry's link is a decent start. Woodweb has plenty of info:

shake defined and discussed: http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Cutting_shake_out_of_logs.html

As noted, shake occurs along annual ring lines and is usually a complete separation of one side from another. It almost looks like it could be glued back together the break is so complete. Honeycombing is interior checks, often extensions of end or surface checks (which poorly dried oak is subject to). Honeycombing looks like one side is partially torn from the other; it is a much uglier and rougher looking defect. Oak needs to be dried slowly and will tear itself apart with checks and honeycombing when dried too fast.

I am not sure which you had. One clean break up an annual ring would be shake, and I have seen that in oak. But honeycombing I think is more common. And since you described multiple flaws, I guessed checking/honeycombing.

Surface checks on oak can occur in just one or two days if the freshly cut boards are left in the sun. The surface dries and shrinks while just below it is still full of water. Result: the surface fibers tear away from each other. If still left in the sun, you would get deep fissures from the surface way down into the board. This would be one kind of honeycombing. HTH

[Mark Singer]

Mike really great piece...great details ! This looks like another difficult piece and you pulled it off in style! Wonderful!