Finished a Library Chair / Steps

[Brian Kent]

Just finished my first chair last night. I'll use it at work so I can reach the top shelves easily.

This is from a set of purchased plans, made according to their specs, except I rounded the edges to make it look a little less rustic.

I had planned on making patterns for the curves, but the bandsaw worked so smoothly that I just went with the line.

[glenn bradley]

That looks great. I love those things. I don't know why. I don't need one, I have no place to put it if I made it, I just want to build one ;-)

[J. Z. Guest]

It is beautiful Brian. What kind of joinery did you use? Is it White Oak? Are you a librarian? I'd chain that down if I were you, or it will never be there when you need it.

[Randal Stevenson]

That looks great. I love those things. I don't know why. I don't need one, I have no place to put it if I made it, I just want to build one ;-)

Dining room chairs. The desert tray should be above the table (maybe on the chandelier as a warmer), so you have to get up, flip it to ladder, and get your exercise/make room for dessert.


Yeah, that's the ticket!

[Roger Warford]

Man, I'm slooowww.... I thought:

1st picture: That's a really nice chair. What's that underneath?
2nd picture: What the heck did he do to his chair?
3rd picture: That's a really nice step ladder... Oh, I see! Very cool.

Now I'm with Glenn. Let's see, where can I put one...

Nice job.

[Jim Becker]

How kewel is that? Wow! I really like it...and handy, too...hmm....may have to go my "my" project list.

[Dan Lee]

Great work. Thats probably the nicest Franklin chair design I've seen. I was going to build one from the Essential Pine Book but yours is much nicer. Where did you get the plans from?
Dan

[Lee Koepke]

Wow.
The projects here never cease to amaze me. Its overwhelming and inspirational at the same time. Very nice work.

[John Thompson]

Excellent Brian.. I've never seen one before, but after seeing it I really wouldn't mind having one as it would come in handy on many occassions.

Regards...

Sarge..

[gary Zimmel]

Great work Brian. The chair/ ladder looks like it will be very handy.

[Douglas Krueger]

The universality of furniture design; was browsing thru a local furniture store here in Thailand last weekend (always looking for new ideas and 'gotta make's' and that same ladder/chair (albeit without the curved front legs) caught my eye. Yup, it was was added to my 'to do' list. Nice work Brian, always pleasing to create functional beauty.

[Brian Kent]

Here is a source for the plans:

http://www.woodprojects.com/fd-714.htm

It is made from White Oak. Reel lumber in Riverside, CA has stacks of 4' cut-offs for reduced price, so I picked through that pile for a variety of straight grain and rayed pieces.

The sides are mainly assembled with mortise and tenon. A few spots use dowels. The steps are secured with long screws through imbedded dowels for strength. All of this was spelled out on the blueprints.

I have often had trouble with brass screws and I knew white oak would win out over brass screws if I wasn't careful, so I did a lot of tests on pilot holes first, then assembled the whole unit with steel screws for the finishing process (which also protected the brass finish) and replaced them with brass screws as a last step.

I had trouble with the cut-out area for the hinges. I used a chisel and a gouge but it is not accurate. It is irregular and a bit too deep.

Any ideas on how to do this more accurately? Forstner bits? Router with template? Router plane? Keep practicing with the chisel?

And can I correct this by building it back up and trying again, or adding masking tape beneath the hinge?

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for the plan reference, Brian. I'm actually thinking about how useful one of these might be around here...

[Dan Lee]

Brian Thanks for the reference.
As for hinges I used similar looking ones on a flip out table extension on a sewing machine center for the wife. Since they were going to be very visible I spent the time making a router template for a perfect fit.

[Glenn Clabo]

Thank you Brian...
I've ordered the plans (you should ask for a referral fee)...and plan on looking at them in terms of making this an extra chair for the dining room. Right now DrLOML is always going out to the garage to get the step ladder/stool thingee...to reach the stuff at the top of the kitchen cabs. I'm hoping I can make it work by some small design adjustments.
Thanks for adding to me 2DO list...