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over the hills and far away
Good Day to the Creek,
For those keeping score at home, this is the third time I use my arch offcuts in assembly.
If you want to use parallel clamps, I suggest you keep them in one piece, and keep them handy.
Attachment 99384 Attachment 99385
-used as cauls to glue side slat tenons pinched between rails
-taped to crosscut sled as ramp to trim and square arm bent lams
-as clamping cauls to attach bow arms onto sides
Yes, they look similar to my dry fit pics...
but now there is an actual glued woodjoint to show.
I put another 2 hours into each side, for painstakingly tuning the arch joint, handplaned foot and tenon chamfers and fussy glue-up.
Many dry fits took patience, but anything less than tight and tidy arch joints would have bothered me for decades. (as would wood filler)
Attachment 99386 Attachment 99387
Both sides of the story. I am glad to be over the Big Hurdle! whew
Attachment 99388
Still with us? Thanks for lookin'
W
*Bonus trivia question: I will buy a Coke for the first Creeker to post which
band did the song in my post title. (hey, no googling)
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truly nearly blew it (pic)
Hello Everyone,
Not much shop time this week. I did manage to glue my stretchers.
It took less than an hour...but what an hour it was...
Usually, before a critical glue-up, I prepare to do it.
Take the clamps down off the wall, and open the jaws wide.
Glue ready. Tape off to protect where the bars might harm sanded parts.
Catcher cardboard underneath, to protect cast iron flat reference surface.(my saw)
Skew chisels ready to winkle away squeeze-out. Assembly mallet.
A couple folded and moistened paper towels, to try and keep hands clean(ish).
Cauls ready. Note the starting time for complicated glueups.( gotta beat the clock!)
For tricky assembly, I sometimes even do a little 'skull' practice.
That is to say, a mental walkthru of the glue hustle dance steps before starting.
Normally I make a huge effort to get my shot together.
But this time.......
Somehow all that went out the window, and cold air rushed in! :confused:
So after work, I ran enough shop heat to apply white glue.
I have bought, and been using white glue on this chair project, due to the longer open time. (I'm a yellow man)
I did just read, however, that white PVA is not quite as strong as yellow. I hope that's not true!
I was under the impression that they were comparable, except for open time. uggh
Knowing my stretchers had been fitted back at the end of August, I just went casually ahead.
I smeared glue up to 1/2" away from the ends of all four thru tenons.
No big deal, I inserted them all they would go, which was just a little, and started clamping to drive them in.
Well, the length of those tenons exceeds the jaw range of parallel clamps, costing time.
Compounded by the fact that I wasted time running around doing all the things I should have done before starting.
I forgot to check the clock, But I was sure it was beyond 20 minutes(ish)!
I was still searching high and low for paper towels to wipe my hands.
(I considered sacrificing my pet Rush shirt I was wearing. mm)
The joints were not closed. Tick Tock.
Much to my chagrin, the joints would not close.
A nice snug fit, plus glue= panic. (in my excited voice) That's bad math!!
As I realize my predicament, I know that I could scrap my chair right here, right now. (and for an audience too!)
Sam Maloof said to leave room for glue. Good tip.
I scamble to locate my soft faced dead blow hammer.
It has been my pet persuader since my machine shop days as a kid.
In a flurry of mad swings, tick tock, I coax this side a little.
In ever-more-excited whaps, I get that side to move a hair.
I had to keep the side frames pretty parallel, or the racking just seized the show.
I took it all too lightly. Skipped my prep routine.
My head was already at dinner. Did not have my persuader handy.
Flirted with a mini-disaster. Receded my hairline ever further.
But finally got them to close. I was drained and panting by the time it was over.
Funny how quick the shop can humble us.
Mad at myself, for having fussed so many details thus far, and then
fumbling and fudging final frame assembly. (quadruple f score)
My tail may be between my legs, but my chair stands upright now!
What a jack...um..er... donkey.
w
Attachment 99818
ps I damaged a pair of leg veneers in my frantic hammer smashing. fudge
It's hard to hammer around all those corners... splintered mess
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my underarms needed help...
Good Day to SMC,
The stressful struggle to secure stretchers was a misadventure for sure.(bad for your underarms)
In hindsight, I recall my concern, when fitting those true through tenons...
the chair has tons of structure against racking from front to back.
I hand-fitted the f & b stretchers more snug than usual, which is a huge finesse job,
in an effort to ensure no side-to-side wobble in the chair.
Which, I fear, would have sent me looking for a match.(bonfire!)
It takes many patient test fittings. Try to insert the tenon. No go.
Take a hair off the tenon. Try again. And again. uggh
I just wanted to give it every chance against side racking... for now, and later. (seasons fly by)
You also gotta try not to lever out your mortises too much upon disassembly, lest you injure them.
See? Tons of side structure, but sparse front and back structure.
Attachment 100376
I was prepared to template rout a set of matching corbels.
A big part of jig rigging, is knowing when not to jig.
I realized it may be a looong time before I need 8.75" corbels again.
So, quicker than I could have rigged the jig, just bandsaw and edge sand. Done.
I did make a keeper pattern though... for a rainy day.
Attachment 100377
I will say it for the last time (thankfully):
If you are working with parallel clamps, and curved parts...
keep your offcuts whole, and keep your offcuts handy.
Here, the top rail offcut is utilized a fourth time, and the corbel offcut also as a caul.
Yes, I like to use lots of clamps. Not for crushing pressure.
But for medium, all-over pressure, with oodles of control.
(when I saw some of my posts here, it looked like a Bessey commercial!)
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Would have been a colourful glue-up without clamping cauls!
A tip of the hat to Gary... I ripped 1/8 x 1/8" stopcuts at the tablesaw,
to catch glue, and got zero squeeze-out on the surface mounting.
Sweet tip! I caught that Nathan liked it too...
My Darling blue tape was true again. On the saw table for the stopcuts.
And held the cauls so I could get a clamp on them with both hands. yeehaw
Just a little sanding, and I will have my decorative, under-arm brackets.(good for your underarms)
Attachment 100380
I made them protrude a little more than the plans pattern. I can only be me.
Hope ya get some shop time,
W
ps The chair sits solid, without wobble, at least so far. We'll see what Spring brings?
Looks like I won't be needing a stick and some marshmallows. whew
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As promised... the chair work started today.
I made quite a bit of sawdust today as I began work on the chair. It was nice to move all the wood off my bench and grab a box of chalk to start laying out the cut lines.
I bought a small bit of flat sawn white oak (FSWO) which I plan to use for the seat slats since you will never see that part anyway. I came out a bit cheaper on lumber that way. That FSWO piece was the first I laid out as I knew which parts I was going to use it for.
Next a began work on the legs. I am laminating 3 pieces of 3/4" QSWO toegther and using select veneers for the front and back to cover the seams. I got the legs demensioned and cut and the veneers cut as well.
Total:
(12) 3/4 x 24" x 2 1/4
(8) 1/16" veneers x 2 1/2 that will leave 1/8" overlap to trim flush.
My bandsaw, planer, jointer, and tbale saw got a workout today and WOW, I love the way QSWO smells.
I will be moving on to the glue up of the legs next.
Then I will clean the shop and prep for the next step. I am attaching a couple of pics of the veneers and legs before i do the glue up: more to follow!