walnut chair

[Mark Hennebury]

Nice job and nice to see the progress photos.

[Christopher Charles]

That's a fine looking chair and the bandsaw looks slick as well! Thanks for sharing.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Thanks all for the comments.

I decided to spend some time on the seat this morning.
One of the challenges I find with chairs is how to hold them during work. luckily, the curved seat is not problem with the narrow leg vise I have.

Shaping the edges with a spokeshave.
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I cleaned up the top surface with a cabinet scraper.
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Its not clear from the photos. The sides and back have an upturned edge on them while the front has a downturn.
These two different directions meet at the front right and left corners.
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More work on the leg joints.
I made a spokeshave for this very purpose a few years ago. It is a round bottom spokeshave that is supposed to work in a tight radius, but unfortunately, it can't make it on these faired joints. Part of the problem is the blade length. The protruding blade ends up bumping the leg. I have considered shortening the blade, but even then, the radius of the sole is too large to get into these tight areas.
In some areas, it does work well, and I certainly like using it better than a rasp when it does fit. I'm not sure if a miller falls no. 1 will even work well here. I have been considering making something like a mini draw knife.
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[Derek Cohen]

Jeff, that is a very nice spokeshave you have made! I assume it has a round bottom? You may want to look at the small Veritas cast spokeshave copt of the Preston. Nevertheless, there are other ways to do this task, which I preferred ...

A rasp will have more control, not just for shaping, but where the grain changes direction ...





Scrapers smooth out the ridges as well as shape ...



I have even found a use for the miniature Veritas spokeshave!



And, of course, sandpaper remains a good hand tool ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jeff Wittrock]

Hello Derek,

I love Hans Wegner's 'The Chair', and it was my original inspiration. I remember your rendition in Jarrah was just beautiful.
The main things I wanted to alter were to have a solid wood seat, more rake to the back legs, no side rails, and fairing the rails into the legs.
I have never seen one in person, and looking at your rendition, I am struck by how similar the chair I am making still is despite what I wanted to change.
( Ecclesiastes 1:9 ) I guess there really is nothing new under the sun.


You are right that a rasp is the tool for the job, and for my chair, I see sandpaper in its future.
I just love using spokeshaves and the surface they leave.
The microplane I am using is somewhere between a rasp and spokeshave, but I hate the disposable nature of microplanes.
I have also thought of trying to make something like a fine float.

I have never touched Jarrah, but I imagine it is quite a challenge compared to walnut. I image such a hard wood really feels nice to the hand on curved surfaces with a polish.

[Jeff Wittrock]

I waffled back and forth on whether to use side rails. On the prototype chair, I used them but tucked them under the seat far enough that they were not very noticeable.
After proping some side rails in place, I decided I like the chair better without.

With no side rails, I rely on the seat to provide the support otherwise supplied by the rails, so decided to add some dowels hold the rails in relation to the seat. Screws hold the seat down.

Maybe someday I'll make an updated doweling plate. I often cobble something as an expedient but over the years it works so I just keep using it.
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The center holes are tight fitting. The outboard ones are elongated to allow the seat to expand/contract.
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I figure the screw holes are close enough that there is no need to elongate them.
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[Jeff Wittrock]

Speaking of rasps. I have never had any of decent quality, so it is hard for me to know what to expect from them.

I don't think I can afford any of the hand stitched rasps at the moment.
I read very positive reviews of these low cost "Golden rasps". At ~$14 for two of them, I figured I could throw the dice.
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What's with the gold color? I have no idea, but compared to what I have been using, they are amazing.

You have to weight my impression against the fact that I have been using a rasp I picked up at sears a few years back, so it does not take a lot to impress me in comparison.

These are a bit coarse, but that really is what I needed. I still like using my spokeshaves when I can, but using a decent rasp makes a huge difference. Now I find I really would love to give a quality hand stitched rasp a try. I can't do so right now, but maybe someday.

[Jim Matthews]

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What's with the gold color? I have no idea, but compared to what I have been using, they are amazing.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics...tanium-nitride

[Scott Winners]

Jeff, this is a gorgeous chair. I love seeing this thread bumped in case there are more pictures.

I do have a Miller's Falls cigar shave I am happy to send you, free, I will pay shipping. I have spent hours and hours on the inside of the iron trying to get to a "flat back" and I am done fooling with it. There is a ways to go to get the back flat. I can send pics if you want, send a private message if you are interested.

Otherwise keep up the good work. This doesn't look like a chair I could sit in comfortably for hours and hours, but it is attractive enough I would give it a try.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Work has been in the way of my hobby lately, but I finally finished all the shaping.
Unfortunately much sanding was involved. I hate the dust, but I am finding with some of these tight, faired curves I can't quite get the surface I want without it.

The challenging part with sandpaper is trying to maintain crisp and sharp edges where I want them.
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[Jeff Wittrock]

On Saturday, I was finally able to start finishing with linseed oil.
This is after the first couple coats. I do love the transformation walnut takes on when using an oil finish.

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[Derek Cohen]

Stunning, Jeff. Just stunning.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark Hennebury]

Handsome looking chair!

[Dan Barber]

Beautiful work Jeff!